He, Stymie and the other kids are invited to a rich woman’s house for a party that promises a basket of free food to take back to their folks. “Free Eats” introduces Spanky McFarland to the world. He comes with ingenious ways to avoid getting up. “Lazy Days” has Farina doing his best to take the day off.
It’s a rolling disaster on the rails as they have no clue how to stop the engine. Chubby and Joe hijack their dad’s locomotive. “Railroadin'” reminds us that trainyards are not playgrounds. Naturally everything plays out right as Wheezer gets reunited with his sister. The orphans sneak off to visit their old buddy and cause major havoc around the socialite and her rich friends. Little Wheezer gets adopted by a rich woman who doesn’t seem to care about snagging his sister Mary Ann. The cast is extraordinarily raw in their performances, but the antics save the show. The kids are constantly looking confused since no longer was the director talking to them as the camera rolls. “Small Talk” was the first foray into sound for Roach’s juvenile cast and the transition shows. This box set contains all 80 shorts that were part of Roach’s TV package. They were considered a downgrade by most of the kids on the school bus. The later MGM shorts would be packaged as Our Gang. Roach distributed his 80 talkie shorts to television, but couldn’t use the Our Gang title. They were too talkie and stuck us with Froggie and Robert Blake. The MGM shorts are not nearly as fun as Roach’s version.
They kept the series going for 52 more titles. In 1938 he sold the entire unit to MGM (the distributor of the shorts). For over a decade Hal Roach produced the Our Gang shorts featuring the kids. The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection does not contain every short done with Alfalfa, Spanky and Buckwheat. Could these racist moments have distracted the Southern censors from noticing the racial harmony message? The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection does its best to restore the shorts to their original lengths without the scissors of nervous academics snipping away the politically incorrect moments.
When these screened theatrically, blacks weren’t allowed to watch a movie from the floor seats in numerous cinemas. Maybe they threw in a couple blackface jokes in order to keep the Southern theater owners happy. At its core, this theme subverted the dumb jokes. During a time when there were “white only” bathrooms, Hal Roach dared to let black and white children play as equals.
But you must over look those uncomfortable moment to realize that these shorts showed us a world were race didn’t matter. Perhaps they were a bit uncomfortable half a century when they were produced. Admittedly jokes that would be considered extremely racist in today’s culture. Sure there’s going to be stuffy child education experts bemoaning the crass comedy and humor based on stereotypes. The Little Rascals was the greatest kiddie entertainment starring kids.