Made honorary firemen after putting out a small blaze, the little men of Our Gang take their new position perhaps just a little bit seriously. They decide to take on the real big fire that involves all sorts of dangerous chemicals and prove just what little people can do. With a bouncy background score, this silent Our Gang short has a lot going for it. There's a very funny looking baby that has hysterical reactions to everything, refusing to take his medicine yet clapping in glee at a bath. The highlight is the reaction of two of the gang sleeping with their heads at literal foot level, as well as the sudden ring of the fire alarm and their efforts to get out of the fire station quickly. This is fast and amusing, one of the better silent entries in the series that I have seen.
5 Reviews
The Fourth Alarm was an "Our Gang" short that lacked genuine laughs
tavm6 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This Hal Roach comedy short, The Fourth Alarm, is the fifty-third in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. After the gang puts out a small kitchen fire, the fire chief makes them junior members of his department. So they use a barn as their makeshift firehouse with sleeping quarters and the between-floors slide pole. In fact, one of the gang is envious of the firemen because they spend most of their time playing checkers and snoring! When two of the firekids see smoke, however, they respond to the call. However, the police sends the kids away to the back alley where they find the explosives and drop them all to safety. The chief promises them a reward just before their truck has a small fire that causes Dinah the Mule to run with the gang following her...Having seen this short on both YouTube and a videocassette from 10 years ago, I was disappointed in both prints since they were both washed out. Other than that, this was a disappointing short quality-wise with sight gags few and far in between though seeing Farina get carried by the active hose a few feet was a little amusing. The most amusing stuff probably came from H.M. "Beanie" Walker's titles like the one about Joe trying to feed his baby sister every fifteen minutes for three weeks but still "can't get her filled". That sister, by the way, is actually Mary Kornman's named Mildred. With this being Mary's final "Our Gang" short as a child, Mildred was unofficially supposed take her place in the series but she never caught on. Also worth noting, director Robert McGowan had previously been a firefighter who quit after he suffered an injury in the line of duty. So after he claimed a pension, and after seeing plenty of movies that he thought could be better, he settled in the film business and at Hal Roach Studios with "Our Gang". And to quote a cliché, "The rest is history." Update: 9/30/14-I've now seen a more clear print on the Internet Archive. Otherwise, my rating stays.
Cute Our Gang short.
hgreig124 August 2007
Though not the best of the bunch, The Fourth Alarm is definitely a cute later silent era Our Gang comedy.
THE FOURTH ALARM starts off with the kids having their Coney Island, built by the fire chief, but when he and the fire department get called off to a fire, the gang must put out a fire that has just started in a nearby home. After successfully putting out the fire by themselves, they get made honorary firemen. After building their own firehouse, a real fire starts in town. Once there, the real fire department tells them to stay where its safe, but that doesn't stop the gang from saving the day!
THE FOURTH ALARM starts off with the kids having their Coney Island, built by the fire chief, but when he and the fire department get called off to a fire, the gang must put out a fire that has just started in a nearby home. After successfully putting out the fire by themselves, they get made honorary firemen. After building their own firehouse, a real fire starts in town. Once there, the real fire department tells them to stay where its safe, but that doesn't stop the gang from saving the day!
I liked this one and didn't think it was flat.
planktonrules23 February 2014
"The Fourth Alarm" is one of a fraction of the silent Little Rascals comedies that exist today. And, oddly, it's not part of the huge mega-DVD set that was released a few years ago. It, and a few other silent installments are available for free download at archive.org.
The theme of the kids wanting to be firemen is not unique to "The Fourth Alarm". I've seen at least a couple later shorts with this theme and perhaps there were a some before this one. Regardless, after putting out a dangerous fire, the boys are told by the chief that they are his helpers--and soon the boys build their own firehouse--complete with so many of the cute gadgets that you'd expect from these films. Eventually, a real and deadly fire breaks out and the kids mistakenly think they can handle it! What's next? See the film.
Well done throughout. Perhaps it has a few less laughs than usual but it's more than made up for by the wonderful firehouse and their hilarious fire engines. Well worth your time.
The theme of the kids wanting to be firemen is not unique to "The Fourth Alarm". I've seen at least a couple later shorts with this theme and perhaps there were a some before this one. Regardless, after putting out a dangerous fire, the boys are told by the chief that they are his helpers--and soon the boys build their own firehouse--complete with so many of the cute gadgets that you'd expect from these films. Eventually, a real and deadly fire breaks out and the kids mistakenly think they can handle it! What's next? See the film.
Well done throughout. Perhaps it has a few less laughs than usual but it's more than made up for by the wonderful firehouse and their hilarious fire engines. Well worth your time.
Lesser Our Gang Short
Michael_Elliott31 January 2011
Fourth Alarm, The (1926)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Flat Our Gang short has the kids playing with firemen when the real pros are called away to fight a fire. While they're gone another fire breaks out and the kids are able to put it out by themselves so the fire chief makes them honorary firemen. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for another fire to break out and the Gang ends up causing more trouble. I must admit that THE FOURTH ALARM is probably the worst of the Our Gang silents that I've seen. I found the film to be incredibly hard to sit through and especially during the first ten minutes when there's not a single laugh to be had. There doesn't even appear to have been any attempt for a laugh to happen as all we get are scenes of the kids playing in water and eventually fighting a fire. None of the action here is all that memorable and even when the fire stuff does start it just isn't funny at all. It seems like without Mickey Daniels they were struggling to see who should carry the films. Joe and Farina get most of the action and Mary is here a tad bit more but they haven't too much to do.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Flat Our Gang short has the kids playing with firemen when the real pros are called away to fight a fire. While they're gone another fire breaks out and the kids are able to put it out by themselves so the fire chief makes them honorary firemen. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for another fire to break out and the Gang ends up causing more trouble. I must admit that THE FOURTH ALARM is probably the worst of the Our Gang silents that I've seen. I found the film to be incredibly hard to sit through and especially during the first ten minutes when there's not a single laugh to be had. There doesn't even appear to have been any attempt for a laugh to happen as all we get are scenes of the kids playing in water and eventually fighting a fire. None of the action here is all that memorable and even when the fire stuff does start it just isn't funny at all. It seems like without Mickey Daniels they were struggling to see who should carry the films. Joe and Farina get most of the action and Mary is here a tad bit more but they haven't too much to do.
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