Choo-Choo! (1932) User Reviews

"Here, take your brat!"

[Kieran_Kenney · 9/10 · 4 November 2003]

There are just so many exellent Little Rascal shorts out there. No,

this isn't one of the lesser ones. It's one of the better ones, in fact.

While it's missing the warmth and endearing qualities that make

the truly outstanding ones, this is totally enjoyable and fun, without

really being touching. The plot's fairly simple. The gang trades

clothes with orphans who are on a train trip. They get left behind,

but are brought along on the next train by the great - and largely

unremembered - Dell Henderson. And, as would be expected,

they make the whole trip a living hell for him and everybody else.

Ringletted Dorothy DeBorba is for once not a member of the gang,

and is instead traveling with Estelle Etterre (or is it Belle Hare?),

who was Dickie's nurse in Free Wheeling. Little Spanky steals all

his scenes, of course, and the scene where he keeps punching Mr

Henderson in the face as he tries to sleep is impossible not to

laugh at. The climax is not an expected one, and that makes it all

the more satisfying. *SPOILER* An inebriated novelty salesman

(Otto Fries) has a suitcase full of fireworks that is set ablaze by a

monkey (don't ask!) and they go whizzing through the sleeping

cabin, zapping people in the behind, causing a porter's cigar to

explode, etc. Definately a great one, never boring and never, ever

disappointing.

Absolute Chaos With The Gang!

[LAKERS34 · 9/10 · 17 March 2005]

Hop on board the Choo Choo with Brisbane, Stymie, Spanky, Weezer, Dorothy, etc. and join in one of the funniest rides in memory. Our Gang runs into several orphans who've ditched their group on the train at a whistle stop...Next thing you know, the gang changes clothes with the orphans, gets caught, and is put on a separate train back to the orphanage - only they are escorted by the wonderful stage actor Dell Henderson. Poor Henderson is classic as the victim of the kids' highjinks throughout...Led by Spanky (who, in his only non-speaking role in this series, conveys more through his expressions than many actors ever could), the gang turns the train trip into a nightmare for all on board, except for them AND us...The pace is fast and the laughs are constant - two critical factors for a successful comedy short! Look for Oliver Hardy in a great cameo as the drunken novelty salesman who gives the gang the tools for the ultimate surprise ending... Too funny!!!

That poor, poor man!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 2 December 2011]

This film took me by surprised when it began because a title screen showing the adorable young Spanky McFarland appeared in the opening credits. I'd never seen this for other stars of the Our Gang films--even Wheezer who was the young star in quite a few films from 1929-1932. Yet, inexplicably, this was only Spanky's second film in the series! Apparently, he had a REALLY good agent!!

Understanding exactly what the context is for this one is important. It is an interesting coincidence that only yesterday I watched a documentary that really helped me understand "Choo-Choo!" better. It seems that up until the late 1920s, the Children's Aid Society of New York City had been taking orphans from this city out West to live with various farm families (beginning in the early-mid 1800s).

When the film begins, several orphans from the Children's Aid Society slip off the train--they don't want to be adopted. In their place, the Gang are THOUGHT to be these kids and are tossed on the train. No one will listen, so they just go along for the ride. Unfortunately for the poor guy who is escorting them, the kids are a handful! One disaster after another occurs and the boys are pains in the neck. And, in the end, after FINALLY getting them to their destination, he's told that they are the wrong kids and he needs to bring them all the way back!! Poor guy! Overall, a very funny and enjoyable film. Clever and celebrating an odd private charity that is almost completely forgotten today. If you want to learn more about these trains, try watching "The American Experience: The Orphan Trains".

THE ORPHAN TRAIN FROM HELL

[bbrasher1 · 2 March 2002]

Without a doubt, CHOO-CHOO has to be one of the finest LITTLE RASCALS ever made. During a stopover, some orphans convince the gang to take their place on the train that's taking them to their new home. The gang manages to make the train ride a living hell for the prissy, child-hating Mr. Henderson, (played by Del Henderson) who is assigned the unenviable task of shepherding the "orphans" to their final destination. There is enough mayhem here to rival any 3 Stooges short-perhaps this was inspired by the Stooges themselves who were as popular during this period. There is not one wasted performance here-Wheezer, Stymie, Sherwood, and Breezy, and of course Spanky, who steals the show without a single word of dialog, socking Henderson in the nose. Henderson's response ("Nice boys don't do that!") earns him another bop in the face. The mayhem accelerates as a drunken novelty salesman passes out noisemakers to the gang in the sleeper car. Things then go from bad to worse when Stymie and a monkey in the freight car release a menagerie of animals into the sleeper section of the train. One can tell that everyone involved in the making of CHOO-CHOO must have had a great time doing it-and it shows.

Rating: ***** stars out of *****

Just a little sidenote- sometime ago, Cabin Fever Entertainment released the Little Rascals series on video, digitally remastered in their original, uncut format as they were meant to be seen. Fortunately, this does not include the post-Hal Roach OUR GANG comedies featuring Mickey, Froggy, and Janet Burston. This was when the series went way downhill, a far cry from TEACHER'S PET, DOGS IS DOGS, FREE WHEELING, etc.

Takin' A Train Trip With The Little Rascals

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 28 April 2000]

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Disguised as orphans, six of the Rascals take a chaotic CHOO-CHOO train trip under the disgusted guidance of railway employee & first-rate nellie, Mr. Henderson.

A funny little film, with the turmoil slowly building for the poor train passengers as the Rascals run amuck.

Choo-Choo! was a very hilarious Our Gang short

[tavm · 10/10 · 25 October 2014]

This Hal Roach comedy short, Choo-Choo!, is the one hundred fourteenth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the twenty-sixth talkie. An almost-exact remake of the silent A Pleasant Journey, the gang once again switch places with some orphans at a train stop and constantly bother the man in charge of taking them to their new home. I'll stop there and just mention if you only saw these on TV during the '70s-'80s, you probably only saw the King World Productions prints which only had the opening credits with the company name, followed by the series title "The Little Rascals in" before the episode title then showed. Fortunately, a video cassette company named Cabin Fever issued the original M-G-M/Hal Roach prints with those original credits as seen in theatres during their time of release. As a result, not only do those credits-which during that time started to have more creative artwork in them-appear in their original form, they're in the clearest prints possible! And also-as also happened with the next ep, The Pooch-you get to see Spanky, in only his third short, have an insert before the production credits saying "Hello, folks!" before laughing! This is also on the DVD collection I bought a few years ago and it's where I just watched this short. Anyway, Choo-Choo! is hilarious so that's definitely a recommendation.

Train-themed Our Gang short with a chaotic climax

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 27 July 2017]

CHOO CHOO is a fun train-themed short for the Our Gang team. The story sees them disguising themselves as orphans in order to go on a long train journey, only to end up wreaking havoc for the well-heeled passengers on board. This effort starts off quite slowly but builds to a typically chaotic climax with all kinds of mischief in the last five minutes; once the animals are released into the fray, it becomes great fun.

ALL ABOARD TO THE ZOO?

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 21 June 2022]

CHOO- CHOO was co-written by none other than producer Hal Roach himself, who had a keen eye for talent and a few wild stories up his sleeve. This was one of them.

This Our Gang/Little Rascals short is jammed with laugh out loud gags and situations that the kids get themselves into while travelling across country by train. The star of the show is Del Henderson, who worked with Laurel and Hardy (and many other comedians), playing the gang's frustrated chaperone. Henderson's facial expressions are classic as the kids pull every trick on him.

Baby Spanky has to bunk with Del, punching him in the nose, then taking turns tooting a party horn?

Henderson also gets into a slapping match with a female passenger in the train bathroom. His constant comment, "It makes me so angry!" seals the deal.

This film also marked the first appearance of Our Gang member Wally Albright (the one with the curly hair) and also an early film appearance of Donald Haines, who would appear with the East Side Kids. Mastered by director Robert McGowan, perhaps the best to handle the series because he knew how to relate to children. McGowan was a retired fire fighter who struck up a friendship with Hal Roach when he built his studio --and landed a job as a director.

The animals on board the train --and there's a bunch -- get loose and go WILD. Classic scenes with the donkey kicking everybody, the flying chickens and the monkey? WAIT for the ending, replete with fireworks! A work of film art.

Get the short films dvd box set, just for this winning film.

Easily One Of The Funniest Our Gang Short Films

[Sunsphxsuns · 10/10 · 26 January 2022]

Our Gang (also known as The Little Rascals) is an American comedy series created by television producer, director, actor and studio executive, Hal Roach. The Hal Roach studios were well respected by industry critics and loyal audiences in the early 1900s until the studio sadly filed for bankruptcy and was eventually closed in 1959.

Nevertheless, in better times the Hal Roach studios launched the extremely successful films of Laurel and Hardy, Charley Chase, Harold Lloyd, Will Rogers, Harry Langdon, ZaSu Pitts, Max Davidson, Thelma Todd, Lupe Velez, Patsy Kelly, and of course, Our Gang.

The Our Gang short films featured a revolving group of poor children and their adventures (and just as often their misadventures) filmed and distributed from 1922 to 1944. The Our Gang series was adored by audiences throughout the world, and featured young children behaving naturally and seemingly unfettered by their unique circumstances. This exceptional film series bravely ignored many of the prevailing and shameful attitudes of the era. Our Gang featured white and black children as integrated equals, a theme not particularly popular during the Jim Crow era of American racial segregation.

Choo-Choo! (1932) places the Gang (this time as Orphans) on a train headed for Chicago. The Gang's hilariously physical interactions aboard the speeding locomotive with Travelers Aid Attendant, Mr. Henderson (impeccably played by Dell Henderson), capture some of most memorable Our Gang/Little Rascals scenes in the series.

No spoilers here as usual, but I will reveal that this was 3-year old child actor George "Spanky" McFarland's 2nd appearance in the Our Gang series, and it is apparent even in the opening credits that producer Hal Roach has identified his little "rising child star" by giving him the most screen time and best lines of dialogue.

Even BEFORE such Big Screen outrages as . . .

[pixrox1 · 5/10 · 11 January 2018]

. . . WIZARD OF OZ and GONE WITH THE WIND, the billionaires' movie studio--MGM (aka, MeGaMoney) --was prone to blanketing America's theaters with cinematic tirades against mass transit, such as Our Gang's CHOO CHOO! episode. Just as OZ would later besmirch the dependability of balloon flight and GWTW would depict a typical big city train depot as something belonging in THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, the Little Rascal's CHOO CHOO! pictures a railroad running on chaos. While bears and horses have free reign to roam the narrow railroad passenger car aisle as geese flock about overhead, juvenile delinquents gang up to assault the adult paying passengers with punches to the face, wardrobe-destroying yanks upon fragile fabrics, and inappropriate pinches, not to mention repeated assaults waged with crates of New Year's Eve noisemakers and July Fourth fireworks. What could be the motive for MGM--the Rich Fat Cats' tool--to be constantly impugning the Integrity of American Mass Transit? Could it be that the MGM billionaires want U.S. Citizens to just "stay put," rather than running around like vermin underfoot? Folks lacking the Freedom to Travel will be denied their Constitutional Right to Upward Mobility. Don't be taken for a ride on MGM's CHOO CHOO!

One of the Best

[Derek03 · 22 August 2003]

This one is one of the best.With the rascals trading places with some orphans on a train.The Mr.Henderson character is hilarious trying to handle the boys!The scene where he smiles at the women on the train with his hair piece standing up is priceless.Spanky punching him in the nose is funny,but tires quickly.Dorothy contends with Spud pulling her hair,by first almost tearing his out!Then later chasing him out of the car and switching clothes with him!Mr.Henderson mistakingly sends Spud to Dorothy's seat,while shuffling her into his booth.Her mother freaks out after discovering Spud in her daughter's clothes,and blames poor Henderson!From there they wake the entire train with fireworks,and animals they let loose!There's also a cameo by Oliver Hardy.

Toddlers on a Train

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 12 June 2017]

"Choo-Choo!" is an American black-and-white movie from 1932, so this one has its 85th anniversary this year. If the names McGowan and Walker don't enlighten you yet, then maybe the cast list including Stymie, Spanky, Wheezer and others will. These 20 minutes are of course another addition to the long-running Little Rascals series from the early days of sound film. Here the gang ends up on a train (this the film's title) and causes a lot of mayhem there together with a bunch of animals that you find in many Rascals movies. Stan&Ollie fans can keep an eye and ear out if they recognize a very brief appearance by Oliver Hardy. Anyway, I must say that once again I did not find the action really funny. I am generally not a fan of the Rascals very much, even if I find Stymie always has a pretty likable presence. The humor on this one here relies on a kid punching men repeatedly in the face (harmless with his tiny hands of course) and people screaming and shouting all the time and eventually there are even fireworks. So yes, apparently it was all about the sound in here and I can very well understand how people liked it because of all the stuff they never heard on film in terms of sound effects. But honestly, in terms of acting or story-writing, this is not exactly a revelation and that's why I have to give this one a thumbs-down as well. Not recommended.

Oliver Hardy Corection

[davjazzer-43068 · 24 October 2018]

Otto Fries plays the Novelty Salesman. Oliver Hardy's voice is spliced in when Otto encounters the Bear in the Baggage Car.