Originally Posted by DeWilson

But are the OUR GANG shorts UNCUT - There are several WWII era shorts that have a heavy "Kill Japs" and "Kill Nazi" flavor and even dialog in them!.

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Originally Posted by Joe Karlosi

One thing I was wondering is, wouldn't this particular release be a candidate for "official" Warner release on a regular DVD set? It's one thing to release obscurities that aren't as likely to sell much, but I think the name OUR GANG (or THE LITTLE RASCALS) would ensure a good amount of sales. I think this is what some fans wrere concerned about regarding The Warner Archive.

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Ken_McAlinden said:

The Our Gang Collection

Directed By: Gordon Douglas, George Sidney, Edward L. Cahn, Bud Murray, Herbert Glazer, Sam Baerwitz, Cy Endfield

Starring: George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Darla Hood, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, Eugene "Porky" Lee, Tommy "Butch" Bond, Mickey Gubitosi (aka "Robert Blake"), and Billy "Froggy" Laughlin

Studio: Warner Archive

Year: 2009

Rated: Not Rated

Film Length: 572 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Subtitles: None

Release Date: September 1, 2009

Late last year, fans of the Our Gang series of shorts were treated to a box set with a complete and (mostly

) uncut collection of the Hal Roach produced talkies in the series from RHI entertainment and Genius Products. These were the shorts that many adults likely remember from the syndicated television packages that kept the "Little Rascals" eternally young several decades after they all reached adulthood. This left two eras of the Our Gang theatrical short series unanthologized on DVD in the US and Canada. The Roach produced silent entries in the series from 1922-1929 and the MGM produced one-reelers from 1938-1944. This five-disc release addresses the latter, and contains all 52 shorts produced by MGM, who had been distributing the series for over a decade before taking over production.

The Films ***½

The conventional wisdom says that when Hal Roach handed over the production keys of his Our Gang series to MGM in 1938, the series lost its way, got progressively more forced and unfunny, and died on the vine in less than six years. While there is a lot of truth to this party line, there were also a number of very entertaining shorts produced by MGM, especially in the first couple of years. There was also some ebb and flow to the quality of the shorts in the series rather than a steady decline, but by the last few years of its run, things did get pretty dull.

After the first two theatrical shorts were directed by Roach-era holdover, Gordon Douglas, George Sidney directed most of the shorts for the first year at MGM. Edward L. Cahn picked up the baton in mid-1939 and Herbert Glazer directed most shorts produced after mid-1942. Sidney's shorts tend to be the best of the three primary MGM directors, although as is the case for all three, the shorts he directed near the end of his run are not as good as his earlier ones. Compared to the Roach shorts, the MGM one-reelers are much more heavily plotted and the young actors were apparently required to adhere closer to the scripts, resulting in some awkward line readings. This is not initially a fatal flaw, but combined with growing tendencies by MGM to insert "moral lessons" in the scripts and stick with their most popular child stars for too long (Alfalfa and Spanky were in their early teens when they left) the charm of the series was eventually diluted.

Fans of Our Gang's Roach-era heyday will sometimes direct a lot of vitriol towards the children who were added to the cast through the MGM years, but I think that most of the problems can be firmly pinned on the writing. Mickey Gubitosi may strike a viewer as strident and annoying in a film like Baby Blues, but any seven year old kid given the specific dialog written for his character (let alone the amount of dialog written for his character) in his first scene crying for attention while his mother deals with pregnancy issues, is going to come across as selfish, petulant, and annoying. When characters like Alfalfa and Darla were replaced by Froggy (a one-joke character who did little but mess-up aphorisms in a bizarre Popeye-ish voice) and Janet (a polished musical performer who did not quite fit in with the amateurish charm that defined the series at its best), it was difficult to say whether it was the performers themselves or the rigid scripts that were turning the characters one-dimensional, polishing all of the rough edges, and robbing the series of its charm.

The shorts are presented chronologically on the discs as listed below. The first short of each calender year is indicated via parentheses as well as bits of casting trivia.

1. Joy Scouts (first appearance of "Mickey")
2. Dog Daze (Scotty Beckett's final appearance - as "Wilbur")
3. Auto Antics (Final appearance of "Porky")
4. Captain Spanky's Showboat
5. Dad for a Day (Bit part for Arthur Q. Bryan - the future voice of Elmer Fudd)
6. Time out for Lessons (Final appearance of "Woim")
7. Alfalfa's Double (1940)
8. The Big Premiere
9. All About Hash (First appearance of Janet Burston - although her character was not named "Janet" and she would not be a series regular for another two years)
10. The New Pupil (First appearance of "Froggy" - although he is called "Harold")
11. Bubbling Troubles (Final appearance of "Butch")

Disc Three

1. Good Bad Boys
2. Waldo's Last Stand (Appropriately titled final appearance of "Waldo")
3. Goin' Fishin'
4. Kiddie Kure (Final appearance of "Alfalfa")
5. Fightin' Fools (1941) (Final appearance of "Leonard" aka "Percy")
6. Baby Blues
7. Ye Olde Minstrels
8. 1-2-3 Go!
9. Robot Wrecks
10. Helping Hands
11. Come Back, Miss Pipps

Disc Four

1. Wedding Worries (Final appearance of "Darla")
2. Melodies Old and New (1942) ("Janet" becomes a series regular)
3. Going to Press
4. Don't Lie
5. Surprised Parties
6. Doin' Their Bit
7. Rover's Big Chance
8. Mighty Lak a Goat
9. Unexpected Riches (Final appearance of "Spanky")
10. Benjamin Franklin, Jr. (1943) (First appearance of "Dickie" and "Happy")
11. Family Troubles

Disc Five

1. Calling All Kids
2. Farm Hands
3. Election Daze
4. Little Miss Pinkerton
5. Three Smart Guys
6. Radio Bugs (1944)
7. Dancing Romeo
8. Tale of a Dog

The Video ***

All of the shorts are presented in 4:3 black and white video appropriate for their original theatrical presentations. The transfers are solid, although they are clearly derived from sources a few generations removed from the original negatives. A few of the slightly rougher looking shorts may be derived from prints, but everything appears to at least be sourced from 35mm elements. Densities look very consistent although contrast and grain levels will sometimes vary with the source element from title to title. Light element damage including both positive and negative speckling is noticeable but never severe or distracting. The video transfers all appear to have been done recently (within at least the last ten years) with no signs of combing or composite video artifacts. Altogether, the presentation exceeded my modest expectations.

The Audio **½

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio has substantial background hiss, but has otherwise very good fidelity without noise reduction artifacts. The fidelity does improve as the series progresses, but since the shorts are arranged chronologically, there is never a severe change in audio quality from one title to the next. There are occasionally noticeable changes in average volume level from short to short that can be jarring when watching via the "Play All" option. No subtitle options or alternate language tracks are present.


The Extras ½

The discs have no extras.

Packaging

The five DVDs come packaged in a "fatboy" case with two hinged trays, one containing two discs on opposite facing sides of the tray and one containing a single disc. The first and fifth discs are in the inner parts of the case. Menus are straightforward with the only options being "Play All", and "Theatrical Shorts". The menu for selecting shorts uses the title card as the graphic representing each short. Kudos to Warner for actually calling them theatrical shorts rather than "episodes".

Summary ***

Warner Archive's The Our Gang Collection gives Our Gang/Little Rascal completists exactly what they want and nothing more. All of the post Hal Roach MGM one-reel theatrical shorts in one box set of five burned to order DVD-Rs. Transfers are solid although clearly derived from sources a few generations removed from the original negatives. This results in some higher than ideal contrast with occasional light positive and negative "speckling". Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio has substantial background hiss, but has otherwise very good fidelity without noise reduction artifacts. Hardcore fans will be pleased to own the complete set, and casual fans will likely enjoy the first two discs in the set, although as the series progresses through the 1940s, they seem to be running our of creative and comedic gas.

Regards,

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Ken_McAlinden said:

The Our Gang Collection

Directed By: Gordon Douglas, George Sidney, Edward L. Cahn, Bud Murray, Herbert Glazer, Sam Baerwitz, Cy Endfield
Starring: George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Darla Hood, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, Eugene "Porky" Lee, Tommy "Butch" Bond, Mickey Gubitosi (aka "Robert Blake"), and Billy "Froggy" Laughlin
Studio: Warner Archive

Year: 2009

Rated: Not Rated

Film Length: 572 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Subtitles: None

Release Date: September 1, 2009

Late last year, fans of the Our Gang series of shorts were treated to a box set with a complete and (mostly

) uncut collection of the Hal Roach produced talkies in the series from RHI entertainment and Genius Products. These were the shorts that many adults likely remember from the syndicated television packages that kept the "Little Rascals" eternally young several decades after they all reached adulthood. This left two eras of the Our Gang theatrical short series unanthologized on DVD in the US and Canada. The Roach produced silent entries in the series from 1922-1929 and the MGM produced one-reelers from 1938-1944. This five-disc release addresses the latter, and contains all 52 shorts produced by MGM, who had been distributing the series for over a decade before taking over production.

The Films ***½

The conventional wisdom says that when Hal Roach handed over the production keys of his Our Gang series to MGM in 1938, the series lost its way, got progressively more forced and unfunny, and died on the vine in less than six years. While there is a lot of truth to this party line, there were also a number of very entertaining shorts produced by MGM, especially in the first couple of years. There was also some ebb and flow to the quality of the shorts in the series rather than a steady decline, but by the last few years of its run, things did get pretty dull.

After the first two theatrical shorts were directed by Roach-era holdover, Gordon Douglas, George Sidney directed most of the shorts for the first year at MGM. Edward L. Cahn picked up the baton in mid-1939 and Herbert Glazer directed most shorts produced after mid-1942. Sidney's shorts tend to be the best of the three primary MGM directors, although as is the case for all three, the shorts he directed near the end of his run are not as good as his earlier ones. Compared to the Roach shorts, the MGM one-reelers are much more heavily plotted and the young actors were apparently required to adhere closer to the scripts, resulting in some awkward line readings. This is not initially a fatal flaw, but combined with growing tendencies by MGM to insert "moral lessons" in the scripts and stick with their most popular child stars for too long (Alfalfa and Spanky were in their early teens when they left) the charm of the series was eventually diluted.

Fans of Our Gang's Roach-era heyday will sometimes direct a lot of vitriol towards the children who were added to the cast through the MGM years, but I think that most of the problems can be firmly pinned on the writing. Mickey Gubitosi may strike a viewer as strident and annoying in a film like Baby Blues, but any seven year old kid given the specific dialog written for his character (let alone the amount of dialog written for his character) in his first scene crying for attention while his mother deals with pregnancy issues, is going to come across as selfish, petulant, and annoying. When characters like Alfalfa and Darla were replaced by Froggy (a one-joke character who did little but mess-up aphorisms in a bizarre Popeye-ish voice) and Janet (a polished musical performer who did not quite fit in with the amateurish charm that defined the series at its best), it was difficult to say whether it was the performers themselves or the rigid scripts that were turning the characters one-dimensional, polishing all of the rough edges, and robbing the series of its charm.

The shorts are presented chronologically on the discs as listed below. The first short of each calendar year is indicated via parentheses as well as bits of casting trivia.


Disc One


1. The Little Ranger (1938) (First MGM produced short, one of two directed by Hal Roach holdover Gordon Douglas)

2. Party Fever

3. Aladdin's Lantern (Final Gordon Douglas directed 'Our Gang' short, who subsequently returned to the Hal Roach Studios)

4. Men In Fright

5. Football Romeo

6. Practical Jokers (First of two appearances by Marie Blake, as Butch's Mom)

7. Alfalfa's Aunt (1939) (Second and final appearance of Marie Blake, as the title character)

8. Tiny Troubles (Features Jerry Maren, whose appearance in "The Wizard Of Oz" was released just months after)

9. Duel Personalities

10. Clown Princes

11. Cousin Wilbur (First of two appearances by Scotty Beckett as the title character)



Disc Two

1. Joy Scouts (first appearance of "Mickey")
2. Dog Daze (Scotty Beckett's final appearance - as "Wilbur")
3. Auto Antics (Final appearance of "Porky")
4. Captain Spanky's Showboat
5. Dad for a Day (Bit part for Arthur Q. Bryan - the future voice of Elmer Fudd)
6. Time out for Lessons (Final appearance of "Woim")
7. Alfalfa's Double (1940)
8. The Big Premiere
9. All About Hash (First appearance of Janet Burston - although her character was not named "Janet" and she would not be a series regular for another two years)
10. The New Pupil (First appearance of "Froggy" - although he is called "Harold")
11. Bubbling Troubles (Final appearance of "Butch")

Disc Three

1. Good Bad Boys
2. Waldo's Last Stand (Appropriately titled final appearance of "Waldo")
3. Goin' Fishin'
4. Kiddie Kure (Final appearance of "Alfalfa")
5. Fightin' Fools (1941) (Final appearance of "Leonard" aka "Percy")
6. Baby Blues
7. Ye Olde Minstrels
8. 1-2-3 Go!
9. Robot Wrecks
10. Helping Hands
11. Come Back, Miss Pipps

Disc Four

1. Wedding Worries (Final appearance of "Darla")
2. Melodies Old and New (1942) ("Janet" becomes a series regular)
3. Going to Press
4. Don't Lie
5. Surprised Parties
6. Doin' Their Bit
7. Rover's Big Chance
8. Mighty Lak a Goat
9. Unexpected Riches (Final appearance of "Spanky")
10. Benjamin Franklin, Jr. (1943) (First appearance of "Dickie" and "Happy")
11. Family Troubles

Disc Five

1. Calling All Kids
2. Farm Hands
3. Election Daze
4. Little Miss Pinkerton
5. Three Smart Guys
6. Radio Bugs (1944) (This, and the last two shorts directed by Cy Enfield, who later directed such classics as "Zulu")
7. Dancing Romeo (Final released 'Our Gang' short)
8. Tale of a Dog (Final 'Our Gang' short to go into production - Released as an MGM Miniature)

The Video ***
All of the shorts are presented in 4:3 black and white video appropriate for their original theatrical presentations. The transfers are solid, although they are clearly derived from sources a few generations removed from the original negatives. A few of the slightly rougher looking shorts may be derived from prints, but everything appears to at least be sourced from 35mm elements. Densities look very consistent although contrast and grain levels will sometimes vary with the source element from title to title. Light element damage including both positive and negative speckling is noticeable but never severe or distracting. The video transfers all appear to have been done recently (within at least the last ten years) with no signs of combing or composite video artifacts. Altogether, the presentation exceeded my modest expectations.

The Audio **½

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio has substantial background hiss, but has otherwise very good fidelity without noise reduction artifacts. The fidelity does improve as the series progresses, but since the shorts are arranged chronologically, there is never a severe change in audio quality from one title to the next. There are occasionally noticeable changes in average volume level from short to short that can be jarring when watching via the "Play All" option. No subtitle options or alternate language tracks are present.


The Extras ½

The discs have no extras.

Packaging

The five DVDs come packaged in a "fatboy" case with two hinged trays, one containing two discs on opposite facing sides of the tray and one containing a single disc. The first and fifth discs are in the inner parts of the case. Menus are straightforward with the only options being "Play All", and "Theatrical Shorts". The menu for selecting shorts uses the title card as the graphic representing each short. Kudos to Warner for actually calling them theatrical shorts rather than "episodes".

Summary ***
Warner Archive's The Our Gang Collection gives Our Gang/Little Rascal completists exactly what they want and nothing more. All of the post Hal Roach MGM one-reel theatrical shorts in one box set of five burned to order DVD-Rs. Transfers are solid although clearly derived from sources a few generations removed from the original negatives. This results in some higher than ideal contrast with occasional light positive and negative "speckling". Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio has substantial background hiss, but has otherwise very good fidelity without noise reduction artifacts. Hardcore fans will be pleased to own the complete set, and casual fans will likely enjoy the first two discs in the set, although as the series progresses through the 1940s, they seem to be running our of creative and comedic gas.

Regards,

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Tony Bensley said:

Just a few minutes ago, I gave in to a perverse temptation to view LITTLE MISS PINKERTON (1943), which in my opinion represents the absolute nadir of the MGM 'Our Gang' shorts!

In terms of being as bad as I remember, this stinker never disappoints! In my opinion, pretty much everything about it is bad; the bad writing; Janet Burston's generally bad acting, including an apparent incapability of correctly pronouncing Froggy, which she mispronounces "FROH-GE"; and the whole premise of a kindly Custodian getting murdered in an alleged Comedy! I honestly wonder whether MGM used some rejected "Crime Does Not Pay" series writers for this? It's really that bad!


Even the print on the Warner Archive set that this short derives from isn't particularly good, with slightly uneven framing, and a brief but noticeable tear in the Film during the chase scene. Nevertheless, the visual quality is probably the best thing about this short! This should be called "Little Miss Stinkerton"!


Spoiler Alert:
When "FROH-GE" (Froggy) swallows the key a second time at Film's end, I just wince!


CHEERS!

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