Recently we took a journey through volume one and two of The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations in which we explored the notable history of the gang and how they evolved over the years with over forty kids transitioning in and out over the 220 shorts. The initial collection consisted of the first eleven shorts from the sound era of the long-running franchise followed by the second batch from 1930-1931. ClassicFlix continues their herculean efforts to preserve film history with the next eleven shorts ranging from 1932-1933. Once again, we must remind readers that these shorts were a product of the time in which they were produced so some shorts are bound to raise a few eyebrows over racial stereotypes. You know what you are getting into when you delve this far back into the vaults, and you can at least admire that it features kids from different backgrounds as good friends.
Much of the humor from these shorts come about from kids being true to their personalities rather than trying to be screen-ready. These children are definitely not trying to enunciate, but the way they so plainly deliver some of this material will have you rolling. The Little Rascals knows how to play up the cuteness of these kids. This third collection is packed with memorable shorts featuring Dickie Moore, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins, Dorothy DeBorba, Matthew “Stymie” Beard and Kendall “Breezy Brisbane” McComas. The most notable development from this collection is the introduction of the iconic George “Spanky” McFarland. While he makes a brief appearance in “Free Eats,” he would soon take the spotlight in his own titular short along with notable turns in “The Pooch,” “Birthday Blues” and more. A personal disappointment is the departure of our beloved June Marlowe as the lovable Miss Crabtree after the opening short. Her interactions with the children always brought about such great gags. A fun surprise was the return of Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Joe Cobb and Allen “Farina” Hoskins in “Fish Hooky.” It is sad to see certain faces go, so having them check in once more is a lot of fun. Every one of these shorts will still give you much to laugh about, and it will be a real treat for fans new and old.
SHORTS
1932
- Readin’ and Writin’
- Free Eats
- Spanky
- Choo-Choo!
- The Pooch
- Hook and Ladder
- Free Wheeling
- Birthday Blues
- A Lad an’ a Lamp
1933
- Fish Hooky
- Forgotten Babies
Video Quality
The Little Rascals continues its output on Blu-Ray in its original 1.38:1 thanks to ClassicFlix with a brand new 1080p master from newly scanned and restored 35mm film elements. Once again you can see the state that these shorts were in through the special features, and the restoration yields stunning results. Some restoration efforts were more challenging than others so there is varying quality throughout these eleven films. Great pains have been taken to clean this material up as much as possible, and for the most part the efforts are spectacular with only a very small amount of nicks and scratches still present. The new transfer shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail within each film’s composition. The contrast is well defined with only brief moments where you can imagine the source material was especially damaged. There is a great amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and within the background. The black-and-white photography shines in high definition with natural grain mostly intact outside some moments that appear a bit cleaned up. Black levels are fairly deep with no overwhelming occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. ClassicFlix has done some amazing work here to revitalize these shorts.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a pretty decent DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves these movies as well as can be when factoring in the place in early sound recording. Dialogue and background noises are mostly represented in pleasing harmony, but there are a few instances where sound effects overtakes the dialogue – sometimes intentionally for laughs. This track presents with a sizable amount of age related wear and tear including some hissing and crackles that date back to the source elements. Fidelity is the most inconsistent part of this soundtrack, but this can be forgiven given the source elements. What music is featured can occasionally present as a bit hollow sounding, as well. There are optional English SDH subtitles included for those who desire them. ClassicFlix has done their best to provide the most stable track possible for this one.
Special Features
- Restoration Comparisons: A five-minute video which gives some background information on the restoration efforts undertaken by ClassicFlix and a demonstration of the material before and after being cleaned up. Once again the difference is miraculous.
- Trailers: Trailers are provided for The Little Rascals, Volume 1, The Little Rascals, Volume 2 – Lovesick, The Little Rascals, Volume 2 – Stymie Shines and Zenobia. These are all available on Blu-Ray through Classic Flix.
Final Thoughts
The Little Rascals continues to delight over these eleven shorts from 1932-1933. Viewers who are open to traveling back to the past should find quite a bit to laugh at from the performances of these talented kids and the various outrageous situations they find themselves in. ClassicFlix continues its amazing output with this third volume on Blu-Ray which sports a great A/V presentation. If you were a fan of the first two volumes, I cannot see why you would skip this one. Recommended
The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 3 is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: ClassicFlix has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
