The Our Gang Collection
Five discs and 52 shorts of kids being kids in an era when it was safe to cross the street by yourself
Tags: Misc DVD 2009 Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 16th, 2009
The “Our Gang” series of shorts is one of those cinematic pantheons that really helped to define the medium of film, as well as serve to help pave the way for the modern sitcom on television. Peanuts owes a lot to this franchise as well, and nearly everybody who is familiar with film before the era of color can name off at least a couple of the characters from over the years.
And so it is with great pride that Warner Brothers has offered up one of three possible sets collecting the shorts. I say “three possible” for a reason, as there are three distinct eras of the franchise. Hal Roach was responsible for bringing not only the Our Gang series to cinemas, but also Harold Lloyd and Laurel & Hardy, and had started out in silent pictures with his own studio but distributed through Pathé. Then in 1928 he began working with MGM and began working with sound. In 1938 MGM completely took over the Our Gang project, which is where this set comes in. The Our Gang Collection (available exclusively online through the Warner Archives) is a 5 disc set collection with all 52 shorts produced during this last era.
There’s quite a bit more history that I could go into, such as the rotating cast of characters, further licensing issues, where the “Little Rascals” moniker came from, and more. I will, instead focus more on this set and its content. Hopefully the other shorts will get collected by their proper license holders for a comprehensive release as well.
Starting in 1938, we find Alfalfa and the gang dealing with heartbreak, and enjoying a wild west/cowboy dream sequence. Then we move on to the return of Spanky, the introduction of Mickey (Robert Blake) and Froggy. A little later we see the departures of Butch, Darla and Alfalfa. It is obvious that the series was running out of steam and fresh ideas in the last couple of years, so it was just as well that the plug was pulled. Still, even with the last set of shorts (almost all of disc 5) not up to the same quality as previous entries, they are enjoyable to watch, and especially treasured by fans simply to have them all together.
It should be noted that these shorts were created in a less sensitive era. There is racism as well as a lot of general mischief, but none of this is actually offensive. One short even has the gang involved in a murder case. So while these may not be necessarily appropriate for unsupervised children of pre-school age, the warning on the back that this collection is intended for the adult collector and not children is a bit puzzling.
And so, after more than a week of watching these shorts off and on, I have to say that this is a very solid collection. For the price asked ($35) there is good value, especially for the collector who is looking to get all of them together.
There are some standouts in the collection, mostly on the first three discs. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some enjoyment to be had in the last two, but mostly those that are already fans will want the whole collection. The audio and video quality is also better than expected, and while these aren’t full restorations, they are obviously mastered from the best available prints and at least cleaned up a bit.
My biggest problem with this collection isn’t the steady decline in quality of the shorts, but that there is not one special feature. Sure, this is five discs with over 9 hours of content for $35 but for something that is part of cinematic history as Our Gang and with its own extensive history, not even a short featurette to be included seems a bit remiss.
The Our Gang Collection isn’t something to sit through and watch from beginning to end unless you’re a die-hard fan of Spanky. Alfalfa, Darla, Mickey, and the rest. If, however, you are a more casual fan, like I am, there is still plenty here to enjoy – just not all at once.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + All 52 of the late era Our Gang shorts | 7.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- The decline in quality over the years really kickis into gear - Not one special feature giving an overview of the franchise's history |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Fans of the Our Gang series will certainly want this. It is worth the money. | |
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Tags: Misc DVD 2009
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 16th, 2009 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
