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(More customer reviews)This video starts out with a brief synopsis and commentary on each of the shorts by film historian Leonard Maltin. Kids might want to fast forward this section, but it is useful for anyone who wants to know the history of the shorts.
The tape starts out with "Readin' and Writin'," a film revolving around gang member Breezy Brisbane. It is the first day of school, but Breezy doesn't want to go. His mother wants him to grow up and become president, but that sounds boring to him. He's rather become a streetcar conductor. He goes to a blacksmith to dawdle before school, and the blacksmith tells him that he SHOULD want to be president. Then he tells him about a kid who got expelled from school who pulled all sort of pranks. Breezy decides to do the same so he can go fishing instead of going to school. He brings a donkey into the classroom, glues the teacher's books together, puts tacks on all of the seats, tells new students Wheezer, Stymie, and Dorothy to say silly things to the teacher, and puts a motor horn into the trash can and blows it whenever the teacher tries to talk. Teacher Miss Crabtree finds out that it was Breezy and expels him, unless he will recite a brown-nosing poem that another student's mother wrote for her son to say to the teacher. Breezy gets bored of being alone with no one to play with, so he returns to the school in tears, ready to humiliate himself. This short is just as funny as if one was in the classroom witnessing all of these pranks him or herself. It's a great short.
Next up is "The Kid From Borneo," one of the most popular shorts from the series. It features Dickie Moore, Spanky, and Dorothy de Borba as the children from a feuding family. Their mother's brother is in town, but their father doesn't want her to see him since he is the black sheep of the family. The kids take this news literally and assume that the wild man that their uncle George is road showing is really their uncle George. The wild man happens to love candy; he calls it "yum yum, eat em up!" When Dickie and the gang go to visit George, the wild man sees some candy that Stymie has, making him chase them for some with the kids thinking he wants to eat them! The fun goes to Spanky's house, where most of the gang hides upstairs while tiny Spanky entertains the wild man in the kitchen, feeding him the entire icebox. The short is nothing short of hilarious, and if often regarded as the funniest of the series.
"Sprucin' Up" is one of the later shorts featuring Spanky and Alfalfa. The scene opens with a montage of the gang, each of them finding ways to get out of grooming themselves in various ways. When a pretty new girl moves into town, the kids rush home to look their best for her. Spanky and Alfalfa turn out to be the only two who can infiltrate the house to see the girl, who amuses herself by pitting the two against each other for her affection. Immense charming ensues, and the two boys are left alone competing while the girl goes off to the circus with her rich friend Percy. The short is decent and typical of the later Hal Roach MGM shorts.
"Pay As You Exit" finishes this collection well with the later gang putting on the tragic show Romeo and Juliet. Alfalfa plays Romeo and as you might expect, Darla plays Juliet. That is, until Alfalfa eats onions and Darla deems him unfit to play against. The kids are at a loss for what to do; the audience hasn't yet paid to see the show since Alfalfa promised that they only pay if they like the show. Buckwheat saves the day and steps in as Juliet with a blonde wig. He is adorable in the role, calling Romeo "Homeo" and playing to his audience with an excited fervor. However, the show still manages to go awry with chickens interfering, the balcony coming apart from the set, and Alfalfa falling through the curtain on a ladder. This a short filled with things going wrong with tons of humor and will not disappoint.
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