Remastered, uncut and beautifully restored, now you can see The Little Rascals like never before! With restorations so glorious, it will be like watching these iconic shorts for the first time!
With the introduction of George “Spanky” McFarland to the troupe in 1932, the “Our Gang” comedies soon embarked on one of the series’ most prolific periods of mirth making. Two years later, Hal Roach was inspired to team Spanky with a loyal sidekick: precocious child actor Scotty Beckett, whose delightful comic support of “Spank” premiered in one of Our Gang’s funniest and most beloved two-reelers, Hi’-Neighbor! (1934).
Spanky and Scotty often functioned as a Greek chorus to the “bigger” kids in classic outings like The First Roundup, Honky-Donkey and For Pete’s Sake (all 1934). They also displayed their broad comic range and chemistry by imitating the antics of Roach’s biggest stars, Laurel and Hardy, as in Mike Fright (1934) where Scotty’s guileless “Maybe we ain’t us” earns him a withering Hardy-like stare from his pal.
The Little Rascals – The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 4 contains the next 12 Our Gang sound shorts produced by Roach in the “talkie era”: The Kid from Borneo (1933) to Shrimps for a Day (1935)—with each short newly scanned and restored from original Hal Roach 35mm film elements.
A must-have for any true Our Gang fan, Volume 4 features the talents of George “Spanky” McFarland, Dickie Moore, Wally Albright, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins, Dorothy DeBorba, Matthew “Stymie” Beard, Tommy Bond, Billie “Buckwheat” Thomas and, of course, Scotty Beckett.
For thoughts on The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 4, please check out my piece on The Video Attic here.
For additional thought on The Little Rascals, check out the reviews of Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3.
SHORTS
1933
- The Kid from Borneo
- Mush and Milk
- Bedtime Worries
- Wild Poses
1934
- Hi’-Neighbor!
- For Pete’s Sake!
- The First Round-Up
- Honky-Donkey
- Mike Fright
- Washee Ironee
1935
- Mama’s Little Pirate
- Shrimps for a Day
Video Quality
The Little Rascals thankfully continues to be released 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. In typical fashion, you can see the really rough state that these shorts were in through the special features, and the restoration provides some very impressive results. There is varying quality throughout these twelve films thanks to the different challenges provided by each short. A lot of hard work has been put into cleaning 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 contrast is well defined with only brief moments where you can imagine the source material was especially damaged. There is a pleasing amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and within the background. The new transfer shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail within each film’s composition. 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 continues to do standout 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. 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 once again this can be forgiven given the source elements. What music is featured can occasionally present as a bit brash or hollow, as well. Dialogue and background noises are mostly represented in harmony, but there are a few instances where sound effects overtakes the dialogue. 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 The Little Rascals, Volume 3. These are all available on Blu-Ray through ClassicFlix.
Final Thoughts
The Little Rascals continues to make you laugh over these twelve shorts from 1933-1935. Fans who are anxious to return to a “simpler time” 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 fourth volume on Blu-Ray which sports a great A/V presentation. If you are a fan of this series, you owe it to yourself to add this to your collection which only aids the restoration efforts of further shorts. Highly Recommended
The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 4 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.
