Series: Our Gang Director: Robert F. McGowan, Mark Goldaine Producer: Hal Roach Titles: H.M. Walker Photography: Frank Young, Blake Wagner, Bob Walters Editor: Thomas J. Crizer Stars: Joe Cobb, Mickey Daniels, Allen Hoskins, Ernest Morrison, Mary Kornman, Jackie Condon, Dick Henchen Company: Pathé Exchange Released: 27 July 1924 Length: 2 reels Production No.: A-27 Filming dates: December 10-26, 1923 and January 2-12, 1924 & March 7-12, 1924 Rating: 5/10

It's A Bear

Joe is shooting his wornky gun at a target in the yard. He thinks he's doing well because every time he fires his shot it is met with the sound of somebody hitting an anvil. Mickey is delivering milk in wagon with wonky wheels and stops by Joe's yard to serve a woman customer. Joe continues to fire his gun but this time it spooks Mickey's horse. Young Mary manages to catch Mickey's eye and the two end up spending an awkward embrace with one another as Mickey offers her free milk and cookies. When Joe sees this he wanders on over and offers Mickey a go on his rifle in exchange for a pint of milk. Jackie is out hunting with his catapult when he sees Dick wearing antlers, so he does the obvious thing and shoots him and when Dick squares up to him Jackie threatens to beat him up. The two boys notice Mickey, Mary and Joe over by the milk cart and run over to them. Mickey tells them that on his farm they have bears with teeth like 'alleygators' and offers to show them. Ernie and Farina are walking down a country road when the others pick them up in their wagon. The boys (and Mary) arrive at the farm where Ernie takes out his bow and arrow and shoots the cockrel weathervane off the top of the roof of a barn. It lands on the ground in a chicken coup where a real cockrel tries to get something going with it! Mickey teaches Joe how to lasso a pig but when Joe tries he manages to lasso a farmer instead. The farmer then shows what a tough guy he is by spanking Joe. The real tough guy then threatens Mickey as well. Such a tough guy.

Ernie takes the bow and shoots a target on the barn to show how it's done. Mickey takes aim but his shot penetrates a hole in the barn and hits the tough guy farmer inside. When he comes out, Joe fires another shot and hits the farmer in the leg. The tough guy runs after Joe but Mickey lassos the child beating scumbag and he goes down on his face. The kids attract the attention of another farmer (NOAH YOUNG) who calls the boys over and talks to them briefly before leaving with his wife (HELEN GILMORE). Joe finds a punch of tobacco and tries to roll the world's fatest cigarette whilst the other kids are entertained by a turkey chasing a dog around the yard. Ernie reprimands Farina (he calls her a lady in what must obviously be fake intertitle cards?) for chasing all the animals, as Joe throws away the cigarette he considered smoking. Farina chases a goat around but when he hides in a barrel it gets barged by Mickey's horse and ends up rolling down the hill. He gets out of the barrel dazed and just to waste a bit more film time we get slow-mo shots of Farina gazing off into the wilderness, the world spinning around and then him staggering back to the farm (the story is really sagging at this point). The gang see a couple of rabbits and go chasing after them. Joe, meanwhile decides to have another attempt at rolling a cigarette but he gets spooked when he sees a bear in a tree so he goes to lie down. The others venture off and find some wild honey before Ernie accidentally lassos the bear through a crack in a tree. Everybody legs it but with Ernie attached to the bear with the lasso. He manages to detach himself from the creature but poor Farina ends up scared out of his skin when he comes face to face with it. The kids run off, collect Joe and leave the bear far behind them.

Favourite bit Seeing this tough guy asshole, child beating little piece of shit getting shot in the leg by Joe. Somebody needs to permanently eliminate this guy from the planet.

Trivia • Copyrighted June 30, 1924. • The 27th film in the series. • The intertitles refer to Farina as a "she". • Joe, you really need a new pair of pants - and socks! My opinion • It's another mess of a film, thin on plot, made up as they went along (it seems) and for the most part uninteresting. Looks like the cameraman got bored halfway through the film and just started filming anything that came into shot. The farmer who physically manhandles the kids did not sit well with me (I absolutely detest child beaters) and I found those scenes difficult to sit through.

	Joe Cobb Joe
	Mickey Daniels Mickey
	Allen Hoskins Farina
	Ernest Morrison Ernie
	Mary Kornman Mary
	Jackie Condon Jackie
	Dick Henchen Dick
	Noah Young Farmer
	Helen Gilmore Farmer's wife
	Madge Hunt Woman receiving milk
	UNIDENTIFIED Child beater

INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge)

LOBBY CARD (click any image to enlarge)

GLASS SLIDE (click any image to enlarge)

SHOT ON LOCATION (click any image to enlarge) Chris Bungo's "Then & Now" video presentation

Acknowledgements: The Little Rascals: The Life And Times Of Our Gang by Leonard Maltin & Richard W. Bann (book) http://theluckycorner.com/rps/027.html (Robert Demoss/The Lucky Corner) This page was last updated on: 27 July 2023