Wonderful. Tis a pity the Our Gang series has yet to receive the full retrospective it so deserves. Hopefully I see it in my lifetime. And yes, there was an avant-garde quality to this one, esp with all the close-ups. The faces & gestures were telling the whole story!
I always wondered if someone at the Roach lot had seen Dreyer's "Passion de Jeanne D'Arc" and thought the close-up concept would make an interesting choice of style for a short.
I think the makers of this had a certain adult problem in mind. They could not make a film about *that*, so they took the dynamics of the thing, and made a kids film about someone who had trouble performing. Also, 'flying my kite' was a slang term in some regions for what the moral guardians of the day sniffily referred to as 'self-pollution'. A lot of late silents and early talkies were like this, one reason for the Hays office crackdown in 1934. What do you think?
Harry Spear a.k.a ( Harry Bonner) is the star of the silent film. He's was a remarkable talent of accelerated ear wiggling on each sides and both sides, kind of close to Mantan Moreland.
I think that there aren't enough Our Gang episodes that feature what's going on with girls in the group. It got to a point where there was only one girl (Darla), and she usually didn't do all that much either. That's disappointing to me, because the girls had a lot of personality.
Fully agree. It got so illogical to the point that Darla, a girly girl, didn't seem to have any female friends (until MGM brought along Muggsy). At least previous girls in the cast interacted with the boys due to being either siblings, peripheral or tomboys. Even Mary Kornman.
@@KarlaHolland most definitely. i think darla’s biggest problem was that they decided that if the boys should fancy any girl, it would be her-so they forgot to give her friends of her own. she seemed to get along well with the boys, though, especially alfie (because youuu knowww haha)
I saw the entire film when it was on VHS via Blackhawk. The use of the fisheye lens etc is the most unique I ever saw in a Our Gang film.
Impossibly cute and just brilliant... thanks for posting!
You don't realize how good these kids were until you see their expressions up close like this! An unusual Our Gang comedy for sure!
Wonderful. Tis a pity the Our Gang series has yet to receive the full retrospective it so deserves. Hopefully I see it in my lifetime.
And yes, there was an avant-garde quality to this one, esp with all the close-ups. The faces & gestures were telling the whole story!
Great quality. I enjoyed this very much. Thanks for posting. :)
Wisht you posted the second reel too!
Very funny, thanks for posting!!!
Mary Ann Jackson is so adorable in this...
I always wondered if someone at the Roach lot had seen Dreyer's "Passion de Jeanne D'Arc" and thought the close-up concept would make an interesting choice of style for a short.
wowwwwww I got that talent too
I can wiggle
It's the whole film I'm talking about - the performance problems come after this clip after he goes back to Jean's playhouse.
Poor Mary
incredibly sharp detail
Do you have all of this video? If you do, could it be posted?
I've always wondered why they filmed this movie in almost entirely extreme close-up
Is that Alfred E Neuman from MAD Magazine?
I think the makers of this had a certain adult problem in mind. They could not make a film about *that*, so they took the dynamics of the thing, and made a kids film about someone who had trouble performing.
Also, 'flying my kite' was a slang term in some regions for what the moral guardians of the day sniffily referred to as 'self-pollution'. A lot of late silents and early talkies were like this, one reason for the Hays office crackdown in 1934.
What do you think?
Harry Spear a.k.a ( Harry Bonner) is the star of the silent film. He's was a remarkable talent of accelerated ear wiggling on each sides and both sides, kind of close to Mantan Moreland.
The whole short: th-cam.com/video/necFNJTyP-E/w-d-xo.html
Uhhhh so I was not born yet
I think that there aren't enough Our Gang episodes that feature what's going on with girls in the group. It got to a point where there was only one girl (Darla), and she usually didn't do all that much either. That's disappointing to me, because the girls had a lot of personality.
Fully agree. It got so illogical to the point that Darla, a girly girl, didn't seem to have any female friends (until MGM brought along Muggsy). At least previous girls in the cast interacted with the boys due to being either siblings, peripheral or tomboys. Even Mary Kornman.
@@KarlaHolland most definitely. i think darla’s biggest problem was that they decided that if the boys should fancy any girl, it would be her-so they forgot to give her friends of her own. she seemed to get along well with the boys, though, especially alfie (because youuu knowww haha)