Well Deserved Praise

Very Cool!!!

Truly Dreadful Film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Our Gang spoofs the great war in this silent short where they really seem to be on a genuine battlefield, complete with trenches, make-shift tanks and seemingly real bombs. If the bombs don't get em', the smell of skunk will, and it's gas masks for everyone. Then, they end up at a movie studio, creating all sorts of havoc. That segment is much funnier than the opening with the battle sequence. The alleged filming of a silent melodrama is interrupted by the gang who think that the action is real. Basically a pleasing little short, rarely seen today in comparison with the Our Gang talkies. If you ever wondered what Farina's gender was, look no further. It is revealed here.

This Hal Roach comedy short, Dogs of War, is the fourteenth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series of films produced in the studio named after Mr. Roach, a.k.a. "The Lot of Fun". In this one, the kids reenact a war scene with Mary a nurse that smitten Jack and Mickey fake injuries for fake treatment by her. During many of these proceedings, many members of the gang throw tomatoes as weapons and Farina wanders around and finds a skunk that gets everyone, including the toddler, putting on gas masks! Then Mary's mother comes and takes her daughter away to put her in a picture that pays her five bucks. The gang decide to follow along but they get thrown out. Farina, however, has disappeared so the others crash the West Coast Studios (actually Hal Roach Studios) to find "her". That's when the fun really starts...Hilarious from beginning to end, director Robert McGowan really hits his peak as the series' filmmaker during this silent movie era. Allen Hoskins as Farina has many of the short's scene stealing moments like the time he accidentally makes a treadmill on an empty set move while some workers are standing on it causing them to run in the same place for awhile. This happens to the gang later on. Also very funny is when they see Mary "strangled" by the "villian" and they attempt to kick his butt as a result and their later reenactment of that scene with Jackie ending his with (via inter-title) "Kiss me my boob!" Then there's the later double-exposure scene that must have had the audience of the time in stitches and, finally, there's the other big Hal Roach star at the time, Harold Lloyd at the time of filming "Why Worry?", helping the gang, one of whom happening to be his brother-in-law Jack Davis, escaping the studio guard with the cute way he playfully spanks Farina being the topper of his cameo. Since I don't want to spoil anything else here I'll just say I highly recommend Dogs of War for any fan of comedy, period. P.S. Erine "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison's father, also named Ernie, appears as an assistant director.

I grew up with the sound incarnations of the Little Rascals and I had never seen a silent one in its entirety until this short. While it has not converted me to a fan of their work, I must admit I liked it far more than the Alfalfa and Spanky-era Rascals. Most of the reason I liked it was because it offered a backstage look at Hal Roach Studios, though in the film the name of the studio was fictionalized. You were given glimpses of the film making process and there was a cute little cameo with Harold Lloyd (who at the time was also working for Roach). According to the DVD case, Harold was working on SAFETY LAST when the Rascals interrupt, but this is clearly wrong. The set is that of his film WHY WORRY?. I think kids might like this movie a little more, but there was enough for adults that I think anyone willing to give a silent short a chance would probably like this film.

With two different but both creative and entertaining sequences, this Our Gang comedy works very well. It features some lively yet believable performances by the young cast, and as a bonus there is also a fun cameo appearance by Harold Lloyd.Both the mock battle scene and the studio scene are full of good material, with some creative props and amusing gags. The mock battle is not only entertaining to watch, but also comes across as just the kind of thing that a group of imaginative children would conceive of. The sequence in the studio is less tightly organized, but it has a good manic pace to it, and it is high-lighted by some clever visual effects.The studio sequence also offers a pleasant, light-hearted look at the movie business, which is typical of this kind of scene in silent comedies. This lack of pretense in the way that many in the industry of the era saw themselves is quite a contrast from the ponderous self-importance of so many of today's film-makers. That could be one of the reasons why you so rarely see such lively, innocently enjoyable comedies like this anymore.