Railroadin'

This Hal Roach comedy short, Railroadin', is the ninetieth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the second talkie. This one is a partial remake of the silent The Sun Down Limited with Joe and Chubby-newcomer Norman Chaney-at the controls this time with Harry and Farina in tow, but not before Farina once again gets himself stuck on the tracks with the train once again almost flattening him several times! Since this was early in the talkie era, the sound seems mostly live except when obvious undercranking is used and there's no music score-which might have helped make this a little more funny-except when "The End" shows on print. As a result, this isn't very funny but it's still interesting to watch especially when the camera dollies across the scenery at a steady speed. So on that note, Railroadin' is worth a look. P.S. These first two talkie shorts had as the series title, "Hal Roach presents His Rascals' Voices".

"Railroadin'", the second "Our Gang" talkie, was believed to exist only in silent form prior to the late 1970s. In 1929, sound on disc, rather than sound on film, was the more widely accepted method of making talking pictures. As a result, many early talkies suffer from the hiss and scratches and pops associated with sound discs. Also, over time, these sound discs could be broken or lost, resulting in the talkie becoming a silent film forever. For almost fifty years, the sound discs to "Railroadin'" were believed to have met this fate.

Happily, this was not to be the case with "Railroadin'." Blackhawk had prepared a silent version with titles for home movie use, but in the late 1970s, a "Railroadin'" sound disc was discovered and synched with the film by Blackhawk, and later released on video.

"Railroadin's" sound disc does show the wear and tear of time, and some of the dialogue is difficult to discern. That does not deter from the enjoyment of the film, however. "Railroadin'" is thoroughly enjoyable and its fun to watch the kids cavort in a railroad roundhouse.

What is amazing about "Railroadin'" is that in some scenes, the train seems to actually run over Farina! In distance shots a dummy was used, but in the close ups it's really Farina. These scenes were probably filmed with the train moving over him very slowly, and Farina was probably in a small pit. The scenes, though, are very realistic.

"Railroadin'" is as good as the 1929-30 talkie "Our Gang" films get. Solid and clean entertainment for the whole family. 8 out of 10.

It's been noted that the sound track of "Railroadin' " is difficult to hear. I FINALLY figured out what Farina said after the gang had finished admiring all of the locomotives at the roundhouse. This is early in the film. What he had to say was quite a statement on the prospects of what kind a job a young, black kid might find. His white companions stated something to the effect, I'm going to be an engineer and drive that" Farina, on the other hand, declared, "Well, I'm gonna change my name to GEORGE and be a porter!" ALL porters on the railroad in those days were referred to as "George".

Fascinating little film being a railroad fan and employee. AT&SF RR historians will like seeing the Santa Fe equipment. (They tried to cover over the names.)

Joe tries to impress the boys by taking them aboard a locomotive. A lunatic hobo arrives and sets the train in motion, which literally runs OVER Farina. Eventually, they leave the rail yard and careen out of control through city and country.

I was enthralled by the location filming of this two-reeler. It gives some interesting glimpses of 1929 Los Angeles. It's also one of the first "Our Gang" comedies with sound, so some of the dialogue is a little hard to understand above the background noise-- but that hardly detracts from the genius of this great short.

This episode is another example of why I feel Farina was the heart and soul of the "Gang." Hal Roach often gave him the most memorable scenes, and for good reason.

The second talkie in the long-run "Our Gang" series really kicks into high gear when the train a few of the kids are running goes out of control, speeding down the tracks. This dramatic "runaway train" segment comprises the second half of this 21-minute film.

During the train-out-control segment, Farina gets "run over" about a half-dozen times. Actually, and it shows this, he lies down flat just before the train arrives, so it passes over the top of him each time.

In all, in what starts off as a leisurely-paced story of kids learning about trains, turns into a dramatic story in which the kids - and passengers of on coming train - nearly lose their lives.

For those who love trains, there are some great closeup shots of these fantastic machines. This turned out to be a very entertaining early Our Gang short.