Mickey's Eleven

Mickey Rooney stars in this two-reel comedy as Mickey (Himself) Maguire, the pint-sized, cigar-smoking kid. He leads ten of his friends in playing football against the bigger kids, even though, as the titles tell us, he doesn't need them to win; it's just the rules that require the others.

It's based on Fontaine Fox' Toonerville Trolley comic strip, and at this point, the movie series had not shed its origins. There are references to the Powerful Katinka and some adults who suffer as a result of the hijinks.

Like others in the series, it has suffered from age. Jokes include painting the football like a watermelon so the Black kid will catch it, and there are plenty of mechanical gags. Even so, it's a pleasure to see Rooney this early in his career, starring.