Helping Hands

This M-G-M comedy short, Helping Hands, is the two hundred second entry in the "Our Gang" series and the one hundred fourteenth talkie. Inspired by a letter from his older brother who's in service, Spanky decides to form his own military outfit complete with drills and marching. An officer sees this and convinces the gang to really support the war effort by doing scrap drives and other activities associated with the patriotic movement of the time. With the U.S. preparing to fight World War II, M-G-M used Our Gang to add to the propaganda they-and other studios-were intent to spread to their audiences all over the country. I actually laughed at one bit where the one kid-after saying "Who goes there?"-pops Spanky with his pop gun, which uses just a cork for ammunition, before Spank explains only strangers should get that treatment. Darla was also, once again, entertaining singing her number. In summary, Helping Hands is not a great Our Gang comedy but it's an interesting artifact concerning what the world was about to go through during the time it was made.

Released just prior to Pearl Harbor, Helping Hands is Our Gang goes to war... in the form of learning how to bolster the national defense by conducting scrap metal drives and buying defense stamps. Utterly weird and inconceivable by earlier Hal Roach standards, this kind of stuff became the norm for MGM. Yeah, the plot line is understandable given the times, but the laughs are non-existent. Instead of gags you get a sermon. This mentality along with MGM's gradual infusion of untalented kids that replaced the veterans would mean the death knell of the series. I can't imagine a 9-year old wanting to watch Helping Hands today. Pretty bad, folks!