User Reviews

This M-G-M short, Little Miss Pinkerton, is the two hundred seventeenth entry in the "Our Gang" series and the one hundred twenty-ninth talkie. Notice I didn't put "comedy" between the studio name and "short" since in this one...well, here's the synopsis: The gang are participating in the staged murder mystery promotion of the Greenpoint Department Store but it's always crowded so they can't get close to the scene. A kindly janitor offers to let them inside on Sunday when the store's closed but, unfortunately for him, a couple of thieves also come in and rob the safe which he witnesses getting him killed instantly! (Yes, that's right, a REAL murder in what's supposed to be a comedy series!) The gang overhears the shots but think it's tires blown off but when those thieves arrive with the body, they hide and would not have been noticed except Mickey sneezes before the robbers could leave so the gang are now hostages. Well, except for Janet who was in a chest separate from the rest of the gang so she goes to the police but because of the promotion, he doesn't believe her. She goes to her friends who give chase (While I admire their bravery, did they think about what to do if they get confronted by the bad guys?) Anyway, that policeman gets a call about what I just described and leaves, finding Janet and taking her with him to the hideout. When I was a kid, I remember being really concerned about those kids and watching as an adult, that remains. Still, when Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann mention that Janet Burston, in particular, suffers from the case of the "cutes", I can't help but partially agree with them. Nice of her playing the heroine here, for once, though. And despite the more serious tone, there are still some laughs courtesy of Froggy at the end. Don't want to reveal any more so on that note, Little Miss Pinkerton is worth a look, at the least. This was director Herbert Glazer's last film as he'd go back to assistant director after this. He'd die on December 19, 1966.

I must say, this short is not the funniest of all the MGM Our gang shorts (or even the 10th funniest), but the it's the most peculiar in terms of story lines for this series.

I mean, who would have ever thought somebody would actually get KILLED in an Our Gang comedy (which brings up the question, "Was this movie even meant for kids to see?"). Perhaps the writers were trying for something different this time around. And different, this is!

The acting performance of the kids (if you can call it that) was often contrived, as is expected for the increasingly aging cast. The actors who played the crooks, however, were top-notch. They had obviously perfected their roles in previous films.

And even though this film isn't too funny, there's one dialogue exchange between the 2 men that was just plain classic: when the men are contemplating whether to "bump off" the kids for knowing too much, the kids threaten to haunt them till their dying day. Pete (the dumber of the two crooks) pleads with them not to, while Joe says: "Don't be a dope, there ain't no such things as ghosts!" "Really?" Pete sighs, "gosh, Joe, I sure was worried!"

Other than that, there's not much else to recommend the film, at least not comedically. Well, OK, the ending scene where Froggy literally reenacts the swallowing of the key was cute ("Oh, doctor!!!").

Probably the one Our Gang film from MGM that you're going to want to search out. Certainly this is the film that is the answer to the question "if you could only recommend one of the MGM Our Gang films which would it be?" The recommendation would be honest truthful and unlike any of the other in the series, completely without reservation.

The plot has the local department store having a mystery contest set up in the window. If any one can solve the crime portrayed they get 100 dollars. Since the window is always crowded the security guard agrees to let the kids into the store on Sunday to take a look at the clues from the inside. Unfortunately crooks have plans of their own and a robbery, shooting and kidnapping occur, with the kids in the middle.

What can I say its a ten minute crime drama with the Our Gang kids. Its really well done. On its own terms its really well done. If you like mysteries or the Our Gang you need to see this. Actually if you like really good short films you need to see this.

The best of the Our Gangs from MGM.

. . . of the decades-long "Our Gang" Series, and it's not very hard to understand why this is the case. LITTLE MISS PINKERTON concludes with a convoy of local cops deploying Tommy Guns against the ilk of juvenile delinquents America loves to hate. Just the simple recitation of such rogue's gallery names as "Spanky Alfalfa Buckwheat Butch" or "Jackie George Froggy Pete" is enough to make most grown adults cringe. But what about Bob? Certainly lots of "Our Gang" viewers sensed that many if not most of these terrible tykes would grow up to become Real Life woman killers. In fact, after USA Today named "Michigan Man" Dr. Larry as the top villain of the 2010s, more than half of those surveyed swore that they first caught sight of the shock doc "playing physician" during an "Our Gang" short. So why NOT cheer for LITTLE MISS PINKERTON as she eggs on the coppers into giving her male cohorts severe cases of "lead poisoning?" After all, they say that the best sauce for the goose is made with ground up gander!