This Hal Roach comedy short, Bear Facts, is the one hundred sixty-fourth entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the seventy-sixth talkie. Bored with just playing checkers, Alfalfa and Spanky-along with Buckwheat and Porky-find themselves marveling at the arrival of new neighbors-Darla and her father, who owns a circus. That gives Alf an idea: He'll brag about training bears to get himself and his pals jobs. The father knows he's not on the level so he disguises himself as a bear to get those ideas off his head. This was a hilarious entry in the series with Alf's reactions in seeing the "bear" and his attempts to "train" him a highlight. So on that note, Bear Facts is highly recommended.
5 Reviews
Just The Facts With The Little Rascals
Ron Oliver18 May 2000
An OUR GANG Comedy Short.
To impress Darla, Alfalfa tells her he's a famous bear tamer. Her dad, a circus owner, just happens to have a bear costume; now he's determined to get Alfalfa's real BEAR FACTS...
This little film tries hard for laughs and delivers a few. Highlight: Alfalfa's dance with the bear'.
To impress Darla, Alfalfa tells her he's a famous bear tamer. Her dad, a circus owner, just happens to have a bear costume; now he's determined to get Alfalfa's real BEAR FACTS...
This little film tries hard for laughs and delivers a few. Highlight: Alfalfa's dance with the bear'.
Back in the 1900s folks were astounded by new-fangled "moving pictures" . . .
pixrox118 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
. . . to such an extent that "repeat business" was virtually unheard of at local viewing emporiums. People fortunate enough not to be startled stark raving dead by such whiz-bang entertainment thrills as "Special Effects" and "Talkies" generally bought concession stand T-shirts as they exited theaters which read "I survived my ordeal at the movies," decided "once was enough," and went back to pitching horseshoes. If Today's "Our Gang" viewers haven't learned these basic Facts of Life from the 20th Century, they will NOT be able to understand where BEAR FACTS is coming from. After "Alfalfa" courts "Darla" for a dozen episodes (during half of which she's a sibling of one or another of his buddies), she suddenly changes her last name from "Hood" to "King," becoming the new girl on the block. Of course, in BEAR FACTS she's NEVER seen her Old Our Gang boys before, and they've never seen her, either. Though these developments would be ludicrous IF repeat viewers came along more often than one in 10,000 citizens, back in 1938 "repeaters" literally outnumbered one-off Our Gang "rookies" a million to one. Therefore, the "Little Rascals'" producers could play "fast and loose" with Darla (making her a beta version of "Anybody's" from WEST SIDE STORY).
adequate....nothing more.
planktonrules3 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
While my very ordinary score of 5 may make it sound like I don't particularly like the Our Gang comedies, the fact is I don't generally like the newer ones--the older ones are quite good. The comedy and kids have lost their luster in the newer ones and this one is no exception.
In this film, Darla's family is full of circus people. To impress her, the gang tell her that Alfalfa is an animal tamer. Her father wants to teach them a lesson--so he dons a bear suit and chases poor Alfalfa. Because this is one of the later one-reel comedies (almost all the earlier ones were two-reelers), it all seemed rushed--like they forgot to include the laughs. I did, however, mildly enjoy seeing the fantasy sequence though not enough to recommend this lame little short. Not bad--just not all that good, either. If you think folks running around in bear costumes and seeing Afalfa overact sounds good, then perhaps you will like this one. Otherwise, try one of the older ones first.
In this film, Darla's family is full of circus people. To impress her, the gang tell her that Alfalfa is an animal tamer. Her father wants to teach them a lesson--so he dons a bear suit and chases poor Alfalfa. Because this is one of the later one-reel comedies (almost all the earlier ones were two-reelers), it all seemed rushed--like they forgot to include the laughs. I did, however, mildly enjoy seeing the fantasy sequence though not enough to recommend this lame little short. Not bad--just not all that good, either. If you think folks running around in bear costumes and seeing Afalfa overact sounds good, then perhaps you will like this one. Otherwise, try one of the older ones first.
One of the first "moralizing" shorts...
nnwahler1 July 2023
On the whole I generally favor the two-reeler (20-minute) episodes in the Rascals series over these later one-reelers. As this later series progressed, it actually regressed through their heavy-handed, moralizing tone; the stories seemed increasingly intent on "teaching the kids a lesson". Other Gordon Douglas-directed episodes of this period of a similar ilk included "Canned Fishing". "The Awful Tooth" (directed by Nate Watt) was another.
In "Bear Facts" we have Darla's dad, a circus man, spook the kids (but particularly Alfalfa) into cowardice by dressing as a trained bear. Unfortunately, these shorts proved a harbinger of things to come, with preachy, unfunny MGM episodes, after series mentor Hal Roach sold his rights to the title Our Gang.
The present episode even has little Porky overextend his abilities by making him deliver a couple of unintelligible full-fledged lines!
In "Bear Facts" we have Darla's dad, a circus man, spook the kids (but particularly Alfalfa) into cowardice by dressing as a trained bear. Unfortunately, these shorts proved a harbinger of things to come, with preachy, unfunny MGM episodes, after series mentor Hal Roach sold his rights to the title Our Gang.
The present episode even has little Porky overextend his abilities by making him deliver a couple of unintelligible full-fledged lines!
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