Little Rascals, Vol. 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)Recently, some friends and I were discussing films of the transition period between the silent movies of the mid 20's and the talkies of the late 20's. I posed the following question: Which actor has had the most enduring impact on succeeding generations of audiences? The responses were givens: Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Rudolph Valentino--and Miss Crabtree. None of us was surprised at this last choice; we were somewhat abashed to realize that none us knew the name of the actress who played the sweet blond teacher of the early Little Rascal comedies. Her name, as we later learned, was June Marlowe, a veteran of more than two dozen forgettable silent films.
She made her initial appearance in Teacher's Pet, and was such a hit that producer Hal Roach quickly used her again in two sequals, School's Out, and Love Business. The reason Miss Crabtree made such a impact in 1930 is the same reason that once one sees her (hopefully as a child), then one can never forget the warmth and love that she doled out and received.
In Teacher's Pet, the previous teacher of the Little Rascals, Miss McGillicuddy, has married, leaving an opening for Miss Crabtree to fill. The Rascals,led by a very young Jackie Cooper, are quite sure that any woman named Crabtree must be a real sourpuss. They plot to drive her away with juvenile antics like sneezing powder and itchy ants. As Jackie heads to school, a lovely woman gives him a ride in her big car. Jackie,not realizing that she is the reviled Miss Crabtree, immediately falls in puppy love with her and tells her all the gory details. She drops him off and when he arrives at school, he sees that his recent female acquaintance and Miss Crabtree are one and the same. After some predictable comeuppances on the part of the Rascals, Jackie is shamed and runs out to cry. Miss Crabtree follows him to welcome him back into the fold with cake and ice cream.
Now this may sound like rather light fare to generate an impact that reverberates even today, but as I viewed Teacher's Pet for the first time in decades, I could see that beneath the juvenile mischief of the Rascals and the smiles of Miss Crabtree lay some serious psychological and social subtexts.
As the movie opens, the Rascals are bemoaning the loss of their beloved Miss McGillicuddy. To Jackie and the other Rascals, Miss McGillicuddy gave them warmth and love. Into this loveless void steps Miss Crabtree, who merely by her presence, re-establishes the primacy of the enduring power of love. With her smiles, her laughter, her voice, Miss Crabtree is transfigured into the icon of the loving Madonna, who need do no more than simply be there to reassure the Rascals and the audience, first of the 20's and now of the turn of the century, that love and caring can never disappear from a world filled with angst. It is to this fount of love that audiences have been responding for seven decades.
In School's Out, Miss Crabtree ever so gently faces some serious issues that intrude on the light comedy of the series. Farina complains sadly that his daddy is in jail more than not. Chubby discloses that his father beats him with 'some fluency.' To these all too common social disasters, Miss Crabtree simply envelops the Rascals with her loving persona, assuring them that if she can't change their condition, she can at least make it more bearable. The plot of School's Out is another piece of fluff involving yet a second case of mistaken identity, this time with her brother, who the Rascals fear will marry Miss Crabtree and take her away as Miss McGillicuddy was taken away. Though this plot may be slight, it still fills the screen with the unmistakeable dread of loss of love. Miss Crabtree is the living symbol that reassuring love can never be truly lost, only postponed.
In Love Business, Miss Crabtree makes her final appearance as the object of the attention of the love-struck Jackie Cooper and of Chubby. Both Jackie and Chubby vie for the hand of the lovely Miss Crabtree, only to realize that love comes in more than one flavor, and if one cannot have the taste that one prefers, there are other kinds.
For these three movies, which are available on one cassette, watching them is an emotional experience. Yes, I grant that June Marlowe does not have the depth or range of later more formidable actresses, but in this series she did not need them. What was needed then--and perhaps now--is a gentle reminder that sweetness and kindness are qualities that can never vanish from our consciousness. It can be no coincidence that millions of fans fondly remember Miss Crabtree as the reason that their lives were touched in a way that resonates decades later.

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