Topic: A TOUGH WINTER (1930) Our Gang

[NoahYoung]

This one really sucks. 'Nuff said.

What I wanted to point out was the brief scene where the pipes are all hooked up wrong, causing water to come out of appliances, etc., is similar to scenes in A-PLUMBING WE WILL GO. I wonder if the latter film got the ideas from this short.

[HomokHarcos]

Is this the one with Stepin Fetchit?

[NoahYoung]

Yes.

[metaldams]

I just watched this one.  I’m revisiting the talking series in order - it’s been years and I nowhere near have these shorts memorized like The Stooges and other series, so there’s a freshness.  SHIVERING SHAKESPEARE is my favorite so far and The Edgar Kennedy shorts as a cop after are good.

I liked the kids in the kitchen stuff. Stepin Fetchit somehow made Farina look like Albert Einstein.  The night school line was funny, but my God, that character is just plain demeaning - and I don’t consider myself easy to offend.

I can see the A PLUMBING WE WILL GO similarities with the appliances for sure.  Not sure if there was a direct influence.

[Freddie Sanborn]

You haven’t lived until you hear Fetchit speak phonetic French, available on the bonus disc from ClassicFlix.

[metaldams]

You haven’t lived until you hear Fetchit speak phonetic French, available on the bonus disc from ClassicFlix.

I’m having trouble finding it online, but did the kids revise their roles in the foreign language versions?  If so, that must’ve been Hell for the director.

[NoahYoung]

The sound wasn't recorded well at all on this one and it is hard to understand much of the dialog.
This was their last release of their first season of talkies -- so you think by then the sound would have been better. Others before it have better sound. Not sure if the sound was just on disc originally -- which could explain it.

Just about every short from PUPS IS PUPS to their last Roach short was better than anything from their 1929/30 talkie season -- except THE AWFUL TOOTH. I'd say GENERAL SPANKY, too, but that was a feature.

[NoahYoung]

I liked the kids in the kitchen stuff.

Problem is most people are asleep before it gets to some semi-good stuff.

Stepin Fetchit somehow made Farina look like Albert Einstein.  The night school line was funny, but my God, that character is just plain demeaning - and I don’t consider myself easy to offend.

There's a reason this one was removed from the TV syndication package by the 70s. The actor's name was actually Lincoln Perry. He created the character in vaudeville long before this short was made. Roach simply hired him to play his character. There was a rumor that Roach planned to make a series of shorts with him as the star and that this was sort of a "pilot." Some sources say Roahc planned on using him just in Our Gang films. Perry actually became a millionaire in the 30s. A million is still a lot today -- imagine during the Depression??? I would have demeaned myself in films back then to make that kind of dough, and I would have cried all the way to the bank!

I can see the A PLUMBING WE WILL GO similarities with the appliances for sure.  Not sure if there was a direct influence.

By 1939, A TOUGH WINTER was probably long-forgotten. We'd have to check the people behind the scenes to see if any worked on both shorts. The Monogram theatrical re-issues didn't start until 1950..