Young Sherlocks

The first Our Gang shorts tended to revolve around young Ernie Morrison - a supporting player at the Roach Studio for years until promoted to a feature role with the Gang. He was also a known commodity to the movie going public at the time, unlike the rest of the troupe. However, it wouldn't take long before the original cast became as well known as Ernie but here they are still getting their feet wet.

When rich girl Peggy is kidnapped Ernie and moppet-headed Jackie ride to the rescue, with Jackie bouncing on the back of the horse like a ping pong ball. The kids ingenuity at getting by in life has always been apparent from the very beginning, such as Ernie supplying baby Farina with morning milk using a goat and a bicycle pump hose. So vanquishing a group of thugs is a piece of cake if one has a mule and an endless supply of cannon balls to launch.

Ernie wraps everything up by spinning a tale about going to Freetown, where everything is free for kids. While this film is more fanciful than the other Gang shorts with more grounded visions of childhood, the ending is still an apt description of this series ability to project the dreams of children through humor.