Bear Shooters (1930)

"Bear Shooters" is a 20-minute live action short film from 1930, so this one is already over 85 years old. It is a black-and-white sound film and if you read the names McGowan, Roach and Walker you maybe realize already that here we have another film about Our Gang / Little Rascals. Chubby, Wheezer and Farina are on board among others and Jackie Cooper is in it as well. And of course the biggest animal actor from its era is on board too. I am talking about Pete the Pup. In general these rascals short films were pretty animal-focused. You read in the title that the gang goes bear hunting and they encounter a gorilla on the way and are basically trying to be safe from the big ape all the time. Admittedly, there was very little story here for a film, even if it only runs for a third of an hour. And the comedy was hardly convincing either. This must be one of the worst Rascals films I have seen. Then again, I am generally not too big on them and I don't think their work has aged that well. The cuteness aspect is eventually all there is to these films. And of course, by today's standards, this simply isn't enough. Thumbs-down from me. Don't watch. Oh yeah and don't be fooled by the photo. No Laurel or Hardy in here, just the kids.

This Hal Roach comedy short, Bear Shooters, is the ninety-eighth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the tenth talkie. In this one, Spud can't go on a hunting trip with Jackie, Farina, and Chubby because he has to watch little brother Wheezer who has coughing jags. He tries to palm him off to sister Mary Ann who only agrees if she's allowed to go on the trip. So off they all go into the woods...I liked the gag of Wheezer accidentally getting Limburger cheese spread on him by Chubby and some of the reaction shots that entailed but otherwise, I thought this was one of the more underwhelming shorts in the series. The climax involving what happens at the end wasn't as hilarious as I had hoped so on that note, Bear Shooters is worth a look at least once.

Bear Shooters (1930) *** (out of 4) The gang decides to go campy and once out there they run into a crazed gorilla who they mistake for a bear. What the gang doesn't know is that they're camping on a criminal's hideout. This is certainly one of the better films from this early period and one that thankfully added a music score to help move things along. There are countless funny scenes here with all the children really getting to shine at one point or another. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for movies with gorillas as I've yet to figure out why so many older films featured them but I thought the ending had some hilarious moments. When the kids capture the "bear" and start shooting him with everything they can get their hands on, this comes off very funny. Another great gag is Chubby and his limburger cheese that he greases Wheezer with. Farina also has a nice little scene where he's fishing and Pete might steal the show with his reaction to the cheese.

This is an early sound Our Gang comedy featuring Jackie Cooper, Farina, Spud, Mary Ann, Wheezer and Chubby among others. By the way, Chubby is probably the oldest of the gang in this film, as he had a serious medical condition that stunted his growth and made him so fat--and he died just a few years later as a result of his glandular condition. I always feel a bit sad about that when I see him in films--especially since he was 16 at the time he did this film, though he looked about 8 or 10.The film begins with the gang planning on going on an outing to kill a bear! The problem is that Jackie has to stay home and watch Wheezer, so they are forced to bring this little pest along for the outing. The wagon they use is amazing to look at--you'll just need to see it to understand. There happen to be some poachers about and in order to scare off the kids, they dress up in a gorilla suit and chase them--talk about contrived!!! However, what was NOT expected was the gang's reaction. These kids were NOT wimps, so they set about to catch the gorilla instead of running! This is a cute but pretty average film from the series. Worth seeing, but not exactly a must-see.