In the early 1920s, Hal Roach created the Our Gang shorts (also known as "The Little Rascals"). While most of these very early films no longer exist (since they were made of very unstable nitrate stock), I've seen a few of the early silent films. However, if you compare them to HAPPY DAYS, you can't help but notice the parallels. In fact, and I hate to step on toes here, but the Winkle films appear to be a knock-off of the Roach series--as the Winkle films followed the other series and seemed like carbon copies. The only difference is that the early Our Gang films were much funnier and more enjoyable to watch.
In addition to the derivative nature of the films, the way the Black member of the kids was portrayed was a bit disturbing and something you would not have seen in Roach's films. While Roach used a few Black actors (such as "Farina" and "Buckwheat"), here the film features a Black kid who is made up to look like a white kid in black face--sort of like a mini minstrel show. In other words, they painted white around his lips to make him look as if a White actor was in the role. I assume this was an effort to make a Black character more palatable to racist audiences. For shame!
In addition to the derivative nature of the films, the way the Black member of the kids was portrayed was a bit disturbing and something you would not have seen in Roach's films. While Roach used a few Black actors (such as "Farina" and "Buckwheat"), here the film features a Black kid who is made up to look like a white kid in black face--sort of like a mini minstrel show. In other words, they painted white around his lips to make him look as if a White actor was in the role. I assume this was an effort to make a Black character more palatable to racist audiences. For shame!
