1-2-3-Go!

It's inconceivable to imagine an unfunny Hal Roach Our Gang. After Hal sold off the series to his distributor MGM in May, 1938 it soon became harder to find anything to laugh about. Somewhere along the way MGM decided to supplant comedy with moral lessons and/or--- even worse--- education! No one ever went to see an Our Gang installment to do anything other than laugh and, unfortunately, comedy was the one true weakness in the MGM machine. In this dismal entry, Mickey Gubitosi (the now incarcerated Robert Blake) gets hit by a car and the gang goes off on a pedestrian safety crusade called the "1-2-3 Go Safety Society." Worthy cause or not, this is not what Our Gang is all about. It's also painfully apparent that Spanky had outgrown his role in the series at this point. This one's nearly as bad as the MGM shorts could get... unfortunately the series would fumble through 3 more years of garbage that would rival 1-2-3 Go!

What a great learning tool for young children. Mickey gets run over by a car when he runs into the street chasing a ball.Spanky and the Gang are upset and realize the situation could have been avoided. They then form the 1-2-3 Go society. The 1-2-3 Go society is aimed at teaching children to look both ways before crossing the street. This Our Gang short teaches young children it also allows young children the perils of chasing a ball into the street.The main character is Mikey (Robert Blake). Mikey survives the accident with a broken leg. A great Our Gang short for children to watch. I highly recommend this Our Gang short as a tool in teaching young children. Its funny this is one Our Gang short I remember very well.

This M-G-M educational short, 1-2-3 Go!, is the two hundredth entry in the "Our Gang" series and the one hundred twelfth talkie. Yes, I said educational, as this one seemed nothing more than a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for the benefits of looking both ways before crossing the street. See, Mickey-in trying to catch the baseball-gets hit by a car while running in the street and gets his legs broken as a result. When Spanky and the rest of the gang see him and other kids who were hurt the same way in the hospital, Spanky forms the 1-2-3 Go Safety Society as we see both kids-one of whom is Giovanna Gubitosi, or Jean Blake, Mickey's sister-and adults practice crossing the street by saying those numbers before doing so. Okay, to paraphrase Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann-authors of the Our Gang filmography book, before M-G-M took over the series, these would never have been mistaken for classroom films and Our Gang's only connection with the mayor, who supports their cause here, would only a few years before have been a baseball accidentally breaking his window! Whatever funny stuff there is in this one is courtesy of Froggy especially at the end when he attempts to speak to a national audience on radio but when he uses his unique voice, the microphones blow out! So he uses a more normal voice for the remaining intact one before...oh, just watch 1-2-3 Go! (though I don't really recommend it) if you want to find out!

"1-2-3 Go"'s humor to some, maybe weak, but it is very informative on being aware how where you walk or run, as a pedestrian. In the closing scene, after Mickey was asked to speak, he suggested "Froggy" was better at making short speeches, on the lesson they learned, after two or three microphones, busted because of his "Popeye, the Sailor" voice, he made the speech in his regular voice. Then he immediately said "Fooled you!", in his "Popeye, the Sailor" voice then that microphone exploded, also, in humor. There was another short that "Froggy" did not talk like his "Popeye, the Sailor" voice, all the time, it's title is 1942's "Surprised Parties". In this one, he spoke and dressed as if he was a girl! Learning that Spanky & the gang of Rascals were creating a surprise party, and temporarily removed him from "The Gang", (just to keep it secret, to him). When he heard of this, he messed up everything, on purpose, thinking it was for someone else and he decided to dress and try to look and act like a girl, to watch his schemes and tricks "Backfire", on everyone else! Then, when he finally realized it was for him, he let all the "ACCIDENTS", that he created, happen to him, on purpose!

I am a huge fan of Our Gang/Little Rascals. As soon as Hal Roach sold Our Gang to MGM they shorts got more boring and more duller. 1-2-3 Go is a perfect example. Who would've thought that an obnoxious and annoying boy like Mickey Gubitosi would grow up to be Robert Blake. It astounds me! 1-2-3 Go is based around that Mickey gets hit by a car and the gang learns that alot of kids are injured by car hits. So the gang starts a 1-2-3 Go Safety Society. It's educational and boring. There were cute moments, actually 2. But I give 1-2-3 Go 2.5/10