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Absolutely Fantastic

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

"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.

This is probably the earliest Our Gang film short I've seen and it provided double the pleasure with a handful of Hal Roach regulars in support. Oliver Hardy in particular had a fairly significant role as a neighborhood cop, victim of a flea infestation that causes him to ditch his trousers and paint on a new set when one of the gang absconds with them. There was also the creative use of animation added to the live action, as the story introduces Garfield the Flea, starring act of 'Professor Clements Trained Flea and Insect Circus'. That was another first for this viewer, at least going this far back.I didn't recognize most of the Our Gang group in this one. My familiarity with them hearkens back to the Spanky and Alfalfa days, and I never caught this one as a kid growing up. But the antics are pretty much to speed with what I remember, as the kids wind up creating havoc in the most innocent of ways. You know, I can't help thinking that with the interracial component of these pictures, we would have a lot more tolerant society if everyone watched these before they started attending school.One last observation - I've come up with a little game for my family to holler out whenever someone spots a reference to Coke in a picture, and this might be it's earliest placement in a film that I've seen yet. There's a rather large advertising sign on the side of a building that you can't miss - 'Coca-Cola' in the distinctive trademark font one easily recognizes. For an instant, even though it's a black and white film short, you imagine seeing it in red.

This is an early-middle period "Our Gang" 2-reeler, notable for two things primarily: a Stan Laurel-less Oliver Hardy appearance, just before the two first teamed up, and some fine use of animation involving an aggressive and very bright flea that escapes from his master's flea circus courtesy of the gang and proceeds to wreak havoc on a wedding party after first bothering a police Officer (Hardy). I had a lot of fun with this, probably the first Our Gang film I've seen in over a decade, and was impressed both with the naturalism of many of the child performances, and the sly mimicry of the adult world that goes on throughout (the film opens with the kids staging their own mock wedding). The YouTube video I watched appears to be complete but the resolution isn't all that great.

This is a very early Our Gang comedy, yet oddly when the film begins it says it stars James Finlayson and Charley Chase. Chase is barely in the movie at all and beneath a huge mustache it's hard to see that it's him. Finlayson does have a much larger role, but it's really the kids who are the star of this trifling comedy.The kids are somehow interested in collecting fleas for their own flea circus. At the same time, one of the gang's sisters is getting married so they all tag along for the free food. Unfortunately, they bring along a jar filled with fleas. Given the premise and title of the film, it's not a spoiler to say that the fleas get loose and cause the wedding to be a disaster--with everyone itching like crazy. Not exactly subtle humor and not terribly funny.In a small role, look for a pre-Laurel and Hardy solo performance by Oliver Hardy as a cop. It's not much to speak of, but if you're watching the film anyways, look for him.