This silent film is included in Laurel and Hardy film collection, and it only features on of the pair, but I had to see what he was doing before he got with his partner. This was part of a little Our Gang comedy series starring the "Rascals", and it is June, the month of weddings, where little Mary (Mary Kornman) has a pretend wedding to a little fat kid (who almost resembles Hardy), and the little black kid causes a little trouble throwing a black polish covered shoe after the other kids have laughed at the "couple" kissing. After getting away the black kid walks with his dog past Professor Clements (George B. French) displaying his flea circus, with the marvellous flea Garfield performing. Garfield jumps into the fur of the black kid's dog, as he walks away to greet Skooter (Scooter Lowry) of the newly moved Swiss Family Robinson, and he manages to drop their fish bowl, causing fish to jump on the floor, into his mouth, and over the baby brother. The Professor extracts another flea from another dog, and he notices that Garfield is missing, and he offers a dollar to the kid who finds his prize fleas. The black kid's dog manages to knock over the flea circus table, and the fleas get into his fur, and some he shakes out to go up the leg of a police officer (Ollie, as Oliver Babe), forcing him to paint a new pair on his britches. Kids are all over getting fleas from wherever they can, including in other dogs, in trousers, and in amongst a man's beard which is set on fire by the light of a magnifying glass. The Professor leaves rejecting all these fleas, and the kids have to get ready for the wedding of Mary's sister, but they quickly advance to the food table. The black kid's dog shakes some fleas around the musicians, and when the black kid is picked up crawling around by his legs, he manages to drop the jar filled with all the kids' caught fleas. Sheldon the groom (Jerry Mandy) is already nervous, and he twitches even more with fleas up his trousers, concerning the Bride (Martha Sleeper) and the Justice of the Peace (James Finlayson, without his trademark moustache). Soon all the weddings guests are scratching themselves as the fleas scatter, into trousers, on noses and in moustaches, forcing the bride, groom and the man marrying them to go outside. The kids manage to find a bug spray canister which the spray on all fleas they can find, one protects themselves with a gas mask, and the film ends with a man posing as a statue scratching himself as an artist tries to paint him. Also starring Charley Chase as Mustachioed wedding guest and Charlie Hall as Musician. The kids are annoying, there might some small giggles in the film, but ti isn't one I'd want to see that often to be honest. Okay!
Review of Thundering Fleas
