School's Out (1930)
8/10
It's am awfully cute little film
27 November 2006
This is a pretty adorable short featuring the Little Rascals and I'm not usually a fan of their films. This film is not among the earlier Rascals films (they were silents) and this was done well before Spanky and Alfalfa joined the group.

The breakout star among the kids was Jackie Cooper--who later went on to great stardom. However, I was surprised to see that although Farina played a very stereotypical Black child (in this film, talking about wanting to eat watermelon as well as the fact that his dad is in and out of jail--two awful stereotypes), he was actually the highest paid member of the group at the time according to IMDb--so I guess he had the last laugh! Also featured is "Chubby" Chaney--a very, very sad individual indeed. Although he was very, very obese and appeared to be about 8 or 9, he was actually 16 at the time this was made and died a few years later of some glandular condition!!

As for the plot, Jackie is concerned that now that summer vacation is approaching, their beloved teacher might not come back next year--since she's pretty and probably plans on getting married. About the same time, the teacher's brother is in town and the kids mistake him for her boyfriend and play some mean tricks on him to try to chase him away and keep her single! The whole routine is awfully funny and considering how cute the kids act, you can't help but like this film. Unlike many of the later films that had a lot of action, this one is slower paced but much higher on the charm scale.
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