Sarentrol Masterful Cinema

Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Thundering Fleas" is an "Our Gang" film from 90 years ago. The basics are the usual: It is silent, black-and-white and runs for slightly under 20 minutes. Writer an director have made many of these films, but this one here may have bigger names than usual in the cast as Charley Chase and Oliver Hardy appear as well. Unfortunately, they are only in here very briefly. Blink and you may miss them almost. The story is what the title says. The kids cause some trouble with their fleas and a poor dog pays the sacrifice. Overall, this was a pretty wild little movie, but it lacked the heart and comedy that some other "Our Gang" short films delivered. I do not recommend this one here. Nowhere near the best the series has to offer. The most interesting aspect may be the occasional animation, which is very unusual for the franchise.

Jackson Booth-Millard This silent film is included in Laurel and Hardy film collection, and it only features on of the pair, but I had to see what he was doing before he got with his partner. This was part of a little Our Gang comedy series starring the "Rascals", and it is June, the month of weddings, where little Mary (Mary Kornman) has a pretend wedding to a little fat kid (who almost resembles Hardy), and the little black kid causes a little trouble throwing a black polish covered shoe after the other kids have laughed at the "couple" kissing. After getting away the black kid walks with his dog past Professor Clements (George B. French) displaying his flea circus, with the marvellous flea Garfield performing. Garfield jumps into the fur of the black kid's dog, as he walks away to greet Skooter (Scooter Lowry) of the newly moved Swiss Family Robinson, and he manages to drop their fish bowl, causing fish to jump on the floor, into his mouth, and over the baby brother. The Professor extracts another flea from another dog, and he notices that Garfield is missing, and he offers a dollar to the kid who finds his prize fleas. The black kid's dog manages to knock over the flea circus table, and the fleas get into his fur, and some he shakes out to go up the leg of a police officer (Ollie, as Oliver Babe), forcing him to paint a new pair on his britches. Kids are all over getting fleas from wherever they can, including in other dogs, in trousers, and in amongst a man's beard which is set on fire by the light of a magnifying glass. The Professor leaves rejecting all these fleas, and the kids have to get ready for the wedding of Mary's sister, but they quickly advance to the food table. The black kid's dog shakes some fleas around the musicians, and when the black kid is picked up crawling around by his legs, he manages to drop the jar filled with all the kids' caught fleas. Sheldon the groom (Jerry Mandy) is already nervous, and he twitches even more with fleas up his trousers, concerning the Bride (Martha Sleeper) and the Justice of the Peace (James Finlayson, without his trademark moustache). Soon all the weddings guests are scratching themselves as the fleas scatter, into trousers, on noses and in moustaches, forcing the bride, groom and the man marrying them to go outside. The kids manage to find a bug spray canister which the spray on all fleas they can find, one protects themselves with a gas mask, and the film ends with a man posing as a statue scratching himself as an artist tries to paint him. Also starring Charley Chase as Mustachioed wedding guest and Charlie Hall as Musician. The kids are annoying, there might some small giggles in the film, but ti isn't one I'd want to see that often to be honest. Okay!

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'Thundering Fleas' has been marketed on video as an Oliver Hardy and Charley Chase film. In fact, Hardy shows up only briefly (as a burly cop) but has some funny moments. Chase is glimpsed in only a tiny bit role, hiding behind what appears to be Chester Conklin's moustache. (From Chase's brief days at Mack Sennett's Keystone studio.) The best performance here is by James Finlayson: clean-shaven, but sporting an odd bit of lip-liner pencil that makes him look as if he's wearing Little Richard's moustache! Technically, this is an Our Gang comedy, starring some of my least favourite Hal Roach brats: ugly Mickey Daniels, hideous Joe Cobb and untalented Scooter Lowry. At least Mary Kornman and her sister Mildred are excellent here (as the bride's younger sister and flower girl), wearing prettier frocks and more elaborate hairstyles than usual. James Finlayson's son Alexander shows up as a boy in the wedding party. Long-time Laurel & Hardy nemesis Charlie Hall is seen briefly, but has almost nothing funny to do.Here's the plot: the kids collect some fleas, and then the fleas get loose at Martha Sleeper's posh wedding reception. There's one very unpleasant gag sequence early on, when the kids harvest fleas from the beard of a sleeping man, accidentally setting him on fire when their magnifying lens works as a burning-glass. I couldn't help being reminded of real-life occasions when juvenile delinquents have deliberately set fire to a tramp or homeless person as a 'joke'. In this movie, when the burning man jumps off a quay into the water, the scene is shot in a manner that emphasises the danger he's in, rather than playing for comedy. I just couldn't laugh.Several shots are badly framed. SPOILERS COMING. Near the end of this movie, there's a crude and unfunny animation sequence, depicting a flea that doesn't look remotely flea-like. This is followed by a gag that might have been funny if done properly. The fleas get loose near a statue of the Discobolus, and the statue comes alive and starts scratching himself. This gag MIGHT have been funny, except that I could clearly see the actor playing the statue (in body paint) fidgeting slightly before he was meant to start moving, so I knew that the 'statue' was alive all along.There's a lot of itching and scratching in this movie, but not much to laugh at. My rating: just 2 out of 10.

boblipton A sort of all-star Our Gang comedy, in which all sorts of Roach's regulars and mini-stars -- except Stan Laurel -- appear. The sole gag here is that a bunch of fleas gets loose at the gorgeous Martha Sleeper's wedding, causing all sorts of consternation. See if you can spot Charley Chase.