The MGM Our Gangs (1938-1944) are not nearly as good as the Hal Roach talkie Our Gangs (1929-1938). In fact, Leonard Maltin calls the MGM shorts “unbearable” and nails the reason:
The MGM crew eventually turned the Our Gang comedies into ten-minute morality plays, stressing mother love, patriotism, pedestrian safety, and other American virtues in such a maudlin way that the studio’s Andy Hardy films seem anarchistic by comparison.
But at a quite bearable 67 cents per short, the entire MGM run on 5 DVD’s (total: $34.95) might just be worth considering.
The shorts will shortly be released through the WB Archive direct-sales program. The WB Archive exists to do precisely this sort of thing – make films with limited commercial potential available on DVD.
How limited is that potential? How many of the 305+ million Americans have been clamoring for the MGM Our Gangs?
Let’s take that a step further. How many want their very own copy of, for example, The Boob? Consider this thirty second clip from that Warner Archive title:
Now, in spite of that wildly entertaining clip, I’d still like to see this movie, a late silent (1926) about prohibition directed by Wild Bill Wellman.
Wellman’s own comments about the film don’t serve to make it much more tempting:
I had directed, or rather I misdirected, one picture at the Goldwyn Studios, the title of which escapes me, thank God. Oh, no, I just thought of it: The Boob. In it were George K. Arthur, Tony D’Algy, Charlie Murray, and a young star by the name of Lucille le Sueur, later to be known as Joan Crawford. The [studio] brass took one look at my first directional blooper and bounced me right out of the studio, and fate demoted me to an assistant director once again.
- A Short Time For Insanity, the autobiography of William Wellman
So, historically speaking, the film is important, in that it nearly destroyed Wellman’s career. Other facts of note: The Boob was considered a “lost film” for many years. Though the Archive doesn’t mention it, IMdB does: thisis the movie that’s playing in the town where Buster Keaton encounters a hurricane in Steamboat Bill Jr., and the speakeasy set seen in The Boob was actually created for the silent 1925 Ben-Hur and was “re-dressed.”
That’s enough for me. I’m inviting friends over to see 1-2-3 Go! (1941), the MGM Our Gang about the formation of a safety society, and The Boob, the William Wellman movie that The Baltimore Sun called, upon its 1926 release, “… a piece of junk.”
For many years, when blowing out birthday candles or on other occasions that gave me a free wish, I wished that someone, somewhere, would re-record all of the wonderful LeRoy Shield tunes heard as background music in the Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and Charley Chase Hal Roach Shorts. I don’t know which wish-making opportunity yielded the results: the incredibly wonderful recordings by The Beau Hunks Orchestra.
I still have birthdays, so I’ve switched over to the next impossible dream – seeing The Beau Hunks at a live performance.
I’ve talked to Piet Schreuders and Gert-Jan Blom about playing here in the U.S., and the financial implications of a tour are staggering. Not out of the question; just staggering.
Perhaps inspired by the concept behind stem cell research, Piet Schreuders informs me that there may be a solution that allows the sound and spirit of The Beau Hunks to travel. According to Piet, the formula is that the “…Beau Hunks ‘inject’ a few key members into existing local orchestras, bring their charts, rehearse for three days, and bingo, a good time is had by all. This opens up new possibilities — for instance, a performance on Roy Shield’s birthday in Waseca, Minnesota someday!”
Sounds great to me, as does the recent rehearsal above. According to Piet: “The Beau Hunks orchestra and the German Filmorchester Babelsberg recently combined to give a performance of Leroy Shield’s music and to accompany two silent Laurel & Hardy films. The performance was in Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, on August 24, 2007. This clip shows a rehearsal of the tune “Let’s Face It” the day before, conducted by Scott Lawton. Beau Hunks leader Gert-Jan Blom watches from the front row.”
Isn’t Life Terrible?
"Isn't Life Terrible" is a Charley Chase short from 1925. The title was derived from a 1924 D.W. Griffith film, "Isn't Life Wonderful?" Other Charley Chase film titles that ask questions are "What Price Goofy?" (1925), "Are Brunettes Safe?" (1927), and "Is Everybody Happy?" (1928). Chase abandoned his titles with question marks for titles with exclamation points during the sound era.
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The MGM Our Gangs (1938-1944) are not nearly as good as the Hal Roach talkie Our Gangs (1929-1938). In fact, Leonard Maltin calls the MGM shorts “unbearable” and nails the reason:
So, historically speaking, the film is important, in that it nearly destroyed Wellman’s career. Other facts of note: The Boob was considered a “lost film” for many years. Though the Archive doesn’t mention it, IMdB does: this is the movie that’s playing in the town where Buster Keaton encounters a hurricane in Steamboat Bill Jr., and the speakeasy set seen in The Boob was actually created for the silent 1925 Ben-Hur and was “re-dressed.”