Wheezer's parents love him--but they seem to hate each other. They fight in front of their boy and not surprisingly, Wheezer is worried. He gets them to stop fighting and make up--but only moments later, the two are fighting once again. Finally, Wheezer's dad mentions the 'd-word'--divorce. At first, Wheezer has no idea what this is and he asks the Gang about this. When he learns, he's a mess and the viewer really wants to slap his parents upside their heads! If you wonder how all this made its way to a family comedy by Our Gang, you aren't alone. I noticed some other reviewers were surprised at the VERY dark nature of this film--and "Big Ears" is certainly not much fun to watch. It only gets worse when later in the film, Wheezer's friends try to give him poison! Who wrote this film?!
Despite being a pretty awful short, I did notice that Wheezer gave a nice performance--very nice. It's funny, however, that for every quality performance this little kid made, he gave some VERY stilted and horrible performances. I think the director's ability to get a small kid who couldn't read to emote realistically is the big determinant of whether or not he was a good actor in a particular film. Here, he's adorable and delivers his lines well--much better than in films such as "Helping Grandma".
By the way, if you do watch the film, pay attention and hold on to your seat when Wheezer's dad refers to Stymie as 'the little pickininny'! Uggh. Also, Stymie makes references to playing Craps--another nasty stereotype of the day. Fortunately, times have changed!
And the moral to this film--if your parents are about to get a divorce, take poison and your folks will make up and everything will be fine!!
Despite being a pretty awful short, I did notice that Wheezer gave a nice performance--very nice. It's funny, however, that for every quality performance this little kid made, he gave some VERY stilted and horrible performances. I think the director's ability to get a small kid who couldn't read to emote realistically is the big determinant of whether or not he was a good actor in a particular film. Here, he's adorable and delivers his lines well--much better than in films such as "Helping Grandma".
By the way, if you do watch the film, pay attention and hold on to your seat when Wheezer's dad refers to Stymie as 'the little pickininny'! Uggh. Also, Stymie makes references to playing Craps--another nasty stereotype of the day. Fortunately, times have changed!
And the moral to this film--if your parents are about to get a divorce, take poison and your folks will make up and everything will be fine!!