https://www.classicflix.com/products/the-little-rascals-the-classicflix-restorations-volume-1
https://www.classicflix.com/products/the-little-rascals-the-restored-silents-volume-1
After having restored the sound films in Hal Roach’s LITTLE RASCALS/OUR GANG series Classic Flix now turns to the silents.
When these films first aired on TV in the 1950s I fell in love with them.
I was a rascal then. Still am.
I have DVDs of the silent films however those copies are nowhere near as beautiful to look at as are these.
| actors: | Ernie ‘Sunshine Sammy’ Morrison, Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Jackie Condon, Allen ‘Farina’ Hoskins, Jack Davis, Joe Cobb, Peggy Cartwright |
|---|---|
| director: | Robert F. McGowan, Fred Newmeyer, Tom McNamara |
| genre: | Silent, Comedy |
| line: | ClassicFlix |
| year: | 1922 |
| length: | 161 minutes |
| released: | January 21, 2025 |
| format: | Blu-ray |
| misc: | Region Free, Black & White, Full Screen |
| language: | English (Original Language) |
Synopsis
Remastered and beautifully restored, eight rare silent Our Gang shorts make their Blu-ray debut in ClassicFlix’s The Little Rascals – The Restored Silents, Volume 1.
Before Spanky, Alfalfa and Darla, there was Sammy, Mickey and Mary.
First inaugurated in 1922, comedy producer Hal Roach’s Our Gang series (later re-titled The Little Rascals for TV syndication) would become the longest-running and most prolific in the history of movie comedy short subjects with 220 entries in all.
Volume 1 showcases the franchise in its infancy, including the premiere short put together from eight different sources and now in its most complete form, Our Gang (1922). The collection also features seven of the next eight shorts in the series produced in 1922 and 1923: Fire Fighters, Young Sherlocks, One Terrible Day, Saturday Morning, The Big Show!, The Cobbler and The Champeen!
A must-have for any true Our Gang fan, The Little Rascals – The Restored Silents, Volume 1 stars the delightful kiddie troupe of Ernie “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison, Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Jackie Condon, Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Jack Davis, Joe Cobb and Peggy Cartwright.
Also included is the bonus short The Pickaninny (1921), a two-reel comedy which showcases a pre-Our Gang Ernie Morrison in his first starring role, and shows why Hal Roach had confidence the talented actor was not only able to carry a film all by himself, but also had a budding star he could build an entire series around.
Each short also has a newly recorded musical accompaniment performed by either Ben Model and Dr. Philip Carli.
The musical accompaniment for these films is fine. THE HAL ROACH STUDIO had a unique way of scoring their films. We can experience this on the studio’s own re-issue prints.
I much prefer the way the studio scored the films. –Reg Hartt
Below: Trade ads from 1922/23 for Hal Roach’s OUR GANG COMEDIES. This is perhaps the first fully integrated film series.
