Run Time: 20 minutes. Studio: Hal Roach Studios. Director: Robert F. McGowan. Writer: Hal Roach. Titles: H.M. Walker. Main Cast: Joe Cobb, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Jannie Hoskins, Jackie Condon, Jay R. Smith, Harry Spear, Pete the Pup, Charley Chase. Producer: Hal Roach.
Well the Fourth of July is just a few days away, and what better way to celebrate it than with an explosively good Our Gang short?
In The Glorious Fourth, Joe's mom owns a firework stand. Naturally the gang enjoys playing with the fireworks. When Farina gains a whole 25 cents, he purchases a giant skyrocket, and unleashes pure chaos. The gang then comes across a man selling explosive capsules. However Pete (called Pansy here) swallows them, which for the gang is not a good sign of things to come.
This is a very funny short. In many ways it is a typical Our Gang film of this era. While many later Our Gang's (especially during the MGM years), would become very sentimental, this was not the case with the films of the silent era. In these shorts the story means very little and the film hops around from idea to idea, milking as many gags as possible from each situation. Therefore the only way to judge one of these films is to see how much it makes you laugh. This film certainly makes me laugh. The jokes come fast and furious and often very funny. Adding to this film is the appearance of Charley Chase. Chase is one of the great screen comedians and he perfectly shows why here, as he plays a drunk who gets in the middle of a brigade of exploding fireworks, but doesn't understand anything happening around him.
The real star of this picture is Farina. Interestingly though this character was played by a male kid, the Our Gang pictures of this time, where constantly changing the character's gender. This is a practice which would later be done with Buckwheat in his early appearances, before it was settled that this character was also a boy. This caused some confusion for audiences. Even an article in The Exhibitors Herald (dated July 10, 1926) would state "Charlie Pettijohn had his picture taken with Farina, the Our Gang starlet..." (To see this full article click here) Since Mickey Daniels had left the group, Farina was often the main character of the shorts at this period. This however was not popular with everybody. G. Carey of the Strand Theater in Paris, Arkansas would write in an exhibitor's review (dated November 26, 1927) for an Our Gang film titled Ten Years Old (1927), "Best Our Gang in a long time. For once Roach didn't let the little colored boy hog the picture."
A review in The Film Daily (dated July 24, 1927) said that this film was "Not the Best." The review would go on to state, "There is much action of a conventional sort, panicky figures rushing across the screen to avoid threatening destruction. One or two feeble attempts at a gag and so far as real humor is concerned, a good deal ado about nothing." See the whole review and much more here.
Below is an Exhibitor's Review (dated January 12, 1929) for Exhibitors Herald World.
"Glorious Fourth: Our Gang —Good. Haven't seen a bad one yet.—Mrs. Hulda J. Green, Gem thea- tre, Greenriver, Utah.—General patronage."
The following is an Exhibitor's review of this film from the Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World.
"THE GLORIOUS FOURTH: Our Gang — Just a "Gang." have seen better. Maybe I'm fed up on them. —Frank Sabin. Majestic theatre. Eureka, Ont., Can. - General Patronage."
- Michael J. Ruhland
Resources UsedThe Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang by Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann.
http://mediahistoryproject.org/
May I ask where you found this film? Was it an actual print or somewhere online?
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