Sunday Calm (1923) Online

The racial mixity in Our Gang is one of its joys and when we are simply amongst the children in their gang there is little or no jarring. Whenever however the children are situated at school (see my review of Lodge Night) or amongst their families, there is immediately that little reminder of the unpleasant realities of US society.

Here the white kids and their families are all going for a picnic and naturally Ernie and Farina and their family are not invited. Modern commentators who mention this fact so blithely must of course be aware of this but perhaps, a century on, it still just forms part of their social assumptions.

The poignancy of the moment - and for me at least it is poignant - adds in a sense to the pleasure of the rest of the film since there is a real feeling of relief (or at least should be) when the children get away from the adults and can therefore leave prejudice behind.

But it is interesting to note that, when (realistically) segregation is about to re-establish itself on the arrival of the adults, it is dissolved by the arrival of the bear and then the rain....

This Hal Roach comedy short, Sunday Calm, is the nineteenth of the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. In this one, the gang are picnic-outing with their families. Jackie manages to wrangle uninvited guests Ernie and Farina along at the right opportunity and also has one of the wheels on the wagon disassemble, forcing the adults to fix it while the kids leave without them after it's done! I'll stop there and just say that while there are some funny gags, it's mostly a leisurely travelogue seeing the gang enjoying themselves swimming, playing with various animals and insects, and so on. Director Robert McGowan must have been in more of a relax mode and just let the kids have fun which is infectious when watching it. So on that note, I recommend Sunday Calm if you just want to relax with Our Gang.

Two families are planning on a joint picnic. Sadly, their kids are the Little Rascals--and they are intent on spoiling everything. And, not wanting to miss out on the fun, Ernest* and Farina** tag along to help out! Among the many problems they have are a wagon wheel that pops off (thanks to the kids), the wagon then racing out of control and the boys running off to have their own picnic as a result. It's all quite clever and enjoyable from start to finish--and the sort of gentle family comedy that the Hal Roach Studio did so well during this era. And, despite the actors mostly being kids, it's better than most contemporary comedies.

*I have no idea why Sunshine Sammy Morrison is billed as Ernest here. **In his early appearances, Farina was said to be a girl! Later, they allowed him to play his own gender!

The kids gets taken on a Sunday picnic in this early three-reeler and after the first ten minutes, manage to elude the adults in this typically charming effort from Our Gang.

One of the pleasures of this series for me, particularly in its early days, is its apparent plotlessness, as incident follows incident, connected in a way, but not really apparent, like unbolting the wheel only to have it collapse five minutes later. When you're a kid, these things have only a loose connection, apparent only after, and that's the way these things unfold in their idyllic fashion. It's a low-key effort and we watch as the kids go swimming and catch frogs, until the adults finally show up and bring the rain storms with them.

Oh, well. They meant well.