Review of Pups Is Pups

Spent many summers and free time at Elmont Road Park. They had a playground area toward the Elmont Road entrance and I spent hours in the sand box. One game my friends and I created was "Mummy Man". We would dig with a paddle and gardening shovel the imprint of a person's body. Usually a foot deep. Have the boy to lie face down into a cap in the sand and then we would cover him over with the sand. Count to 20 and then scatter within the confines of the playground. Meanwhile the boy who was covered would stand up and try to tag the first boy he catches. Then the boy who was caught would go next. This review of "PUPS IS PUPS" is the weirdest of the OUR GANG shorts in it's history. 1930 Newspaper article reads, TEN COLORED BOYS NEEDED for pages at pet show! Perfect position for Farina (Alan Hoskins) our token child of color/gang member. Meanwhile Dorothy takes her first jump into a Mud Puddle. Two Asian boys see this add as well and claim that that prize money would buy a lot of chop suey! Yes this episode is racially saturated for it's time. The Gang gathers their pets together from Hogs, frogs, mice and assorted vermin to the swanky high brow Hippodrome Pet show downtown. Meanwhile the gang has to watch mud loving Dorothy with not much success as she continues to swan dive into a mud puddle. Little Wheezer wants to enter his puppies who follow him around to the sound of his bell. Sort of like Famous Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov dogs and how they react to certain sounds. In a game of hide and seek. In a reverse turn of events, Wheezer has the dogs look for him and our k-9 group finds him in seconds and yank off his pants. Wheezer looses his pants and the bell is found by two black kids who ring it as the dogs chase them down the street. The youngsters discard the bell for safety. Meanwhile at the downtown pet show a uniformed clad Farina tries to let his motley gang into the show but his boss forbids the entry. Adjacent to the entrance is a Doctor's Office. The Doctor is tending his patient who has neck trouble. Tells the poor fellow to keep his head back and don't look straight. Personally this troubled me for years . Shouldn't the guy be in traction? The weird fellow walks out looking straight up at the sky as he passes the Pet show entrance. Everyone follows suit and looks up. The diversion is perfect as The Gang uses that opportunity to enter illegally and enter their strange pets into the show. Mice, frogs and other rodents get mixed up into everything reeking havoc with the main floor showcases and the orchestra. Farina gets an earful from his peers and is fired. The Gang storms out of the floor show area. Meanwhile Wheezer minus his bell searches feverishly for his pups. He sees a second floor fire alarm box by a window. Wheezer takes aim at the box but misses it and breaks an apartment window. First of many episodes where Wheezer and the problem of broken glass unite. Across town Dorothy jumps in for another mud bath session. Her Mom is blaming the Gang but in truth Mom should send Dirty Dorothy up the coast to the Napa Valley where the World famous Calistoga Hot springs are located. FYI, First episode for Dorothy DeBorba who recalls the enjoyment she had jumping in the mud puddle multiple times and loving every plunge. First our gang to have the familiar musical soundtrack provided by Marvin Hatley who also composed the famous Laurel and Hardy Theme. This was a strange experience to watch. As for the "Mummy Man" experience at the park. My Mom couldn't understand the large accumulation of sand that was collected in my pockets and ears.