One Wild Ride

Some time ago, I bought the Our Gang DVD set. Unfortunately, it only had a few of the silents--mostly because many have only been rediscovered recently due to the internet. Well, I recently discovered nearly all the silent Our Gang comedies on YouTube and was shocked by how violent and dangerous the kids' actions were compared to the later sound versions. Of course, there were a few dangerous sound films but not like the silents. In watching the silents, I've noticed a very young Farina threatening Ernie with a straight razor, kids playing with guns as well as in "One Wild Ride", the kids taking a Model T without an engine OR brakes on a trip through town. How? Well, at first they had a horse pushing it and later they got adults who were insane enough to tow them to the tops of hills...and they'd careen down them!

In this film there are a couple big problems. First, there really aren't many laughs. Second, the portion of the film where Farina goes for a long and dangerous out of control ride takes up way too much of the film....and actually got boring after a while. Not a terrible short but compared to their other silents, it is.