Farm Hands

Farm Hands has one huge thing going for it: Janet Burston's not in it. The death knell for MGM's Our Gang's was the fact that as Hal Roach's holdovers aged they were invariably replaced by an unlikable cast of untalented kids (the sole exception was Buckwheat) in unfunny plots that usually centered around a lesson. This mentality was a radical departure from the earlier, vastly more entertaining Roach/McGowan entries; unfortunately these later MGM installments are what most people have seen. Here, by 1943, MGM had been producing the series for 5 years and allowed it to descend into what might be called benign disinterest only to be summarily shelved when studio bean counters pointed out the last several productions had actually lost money in their initial release. As this final roster of kids go, Robert Blake became a decent actor, but you'd never know it from seeing him as a child. Billy "Froggy" Laughlin is a one-trick pony, riding on the voice (okay, he also had crossed eyes), but he never looks like he's actually enjoying himself "acting"--- he reportedly never did and died tragically in his middle teens in a motor scooter accident. Farm Hands has the kids spending some time on Mickey's uncle's farm and has them screwing up their chores, ultimately winding up in a hay baler. All the gags are pretty watered down but at least this short has some action. 2/10.