After producing 88 silent Our Gang shorts, Roach transitioned to sound releasing 80 “talkies” in the series starting with Small Talk in 1929. It took time to fine-tune the adjustment from silent to sound, but soon the studio began firing on all cylinders producing classics like Shivering Shakespeare and The First Seven Years (both 1930). Personally, I find the silent shorts and the sound shorts from the Hal Roach collection to be gems. When the characters made the transition to MGM years later, the shorts were cut from 20 minutes in length to ten, and the magic (for the majority of the shorts) was not there.
To be fair, it was not the studio's fault. The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers and Our Gang (a.k.a. The Little Rascals) works best in an era known today as The Great Depression. The Marx Brothers disrupted the opera, a society party, a college, and the racetrack. The Stooges were milk men, garbage men, pest exterminators, and disrupted the society party, the indoor plumbing, and high-scale events. In short, the wealthy could laugh at the idiots while the poor could laugh at how the wealthy were victimized. With The Little Rascals, the magic recipe was still there until they made the transition to MGM, where the studio attempted to modernize The Little Rascals in what appeared to be a promising post-Depression era.
For years the Our Gang comedies have been available under multiple DVD releases and in dismal quality. Just the other day I was watching a few of those Hal Roach comedies on television and observing how bad the picture quality is. They are in desperate need of restoration. Well, the good news is an effort is being made to restore those film shorts.
THE LITTLE RASCALS: THE CLASSICFLIX RESTORATIONS (Volume 1) contains the first 11 Our Gang sound shorts produced by Hal Roach at the dawn of the “talkie era." From Small Talk to A Tough Winter, with each short newly scanned and restored from original Hal Roach 35mm film elements. A must-have for any true Our Gang fan, Volume 1 features the talents of Jackie Cooper, Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby “Wheezer" Hutchins, Joe Cobb, Harry Spear and Norman “Chubby" Chaney.
SHORTS
1929:
- Small Talk
- Railroadin'
- Lazy Days
- Boxing Gloves
- Bouncing Babies
- Moan and Groan Inc
1930:
- Shivering Shakespeare
- The First Seven Years
- When the Wind Blows
- Bear Shooters
- A Tough Winter
Historical background: Small Talk was originally heavily edited for time and sound quality, initially in television packages for airing across the country and eliminated in the 1980s from television screenings due to poor sound quality. Railroadin' was never shown on television due to missing sound (found a number of years ago in a film vault). Moan and Groan, Inc. and The First Seven Years features the great Edgar Kennedy, master of the slow burn. These fun facts, along with others, emphasize the importance of why these shorts needed to be restored.
The first volume will be released April 13 from ClassicFlix, who is independently funding the restorations. Fans of Our Gang, a.k.a. The Little Rascals, can rejoice that the films are being lovingly restored but there is a catch... sales of Volume 1 will dictate whether the demand is large enough to warrant continued restoration for a Volume 2. Restoration costs are pricey with thousands of dollars per short, which is why we commend ClassicFlix for jumping in and taking one for the team. With the retail price of $27 for the Bluray release, the total comes to a little over $2 per film short and honestly, that is a small price to pay for restored versions.
Click the link below to purchase your Bluray today and support the cause. We all say how much we are willing to help preserve old films and here is our chance to contribute.
https://www.classicflix.com/products/the-little-rascals-the-classicflix-restorations-volume-1
