Fightin' Fools

Fightin Fools reminded me of an Our Gang silent named Dogs of War. Same idea: 2 groups of kids sitting in their bunkers, hurling food-related weapons at one another.

The difference is that in Fightin Fools, the Our Gang kids had a motive to fight. Slicker and his cronies were "makin' their lives awful" by knotting their clothes as they went for a swim! (don't you hate when that happens?) The battle itself is rather engaging, and the weapons are pretty clever --- particularly when Slicker kept tossing Limburger cheese at the Gang (phew!)

This was the only Our Gang short which featured Tubby (who up until then, served as a stand-in for Spanky). Naturally, his bulk is used for comic purposes. When he jumps in a swimming hole, he leaves it high and dry. During the battle, he jumps onto a seesaw-like contraption, shooting watermelons in the air towards Slicker and company. The sound effect accompanying the flying watermelons (a slide whistle) is particularly cool, as are most of the sound effects in this short.

Another nice aspect of this short is that this isn't one of those teaching-kids-a-lesson deals. In fact, no adults appear in this short (how's THAT for an MGM rarity?)

Incidentally, this was Leonard's last short. I know, "Leonard who?" You know, the kid who follows the gang around, doesn't say a whole lot, has red hair and freckles, and wiggles his ears from time to time. "Ohhhh, THAT Leonard!"

A fun short!