by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Originally released on April 7, 1928, "Barnum & Ringling, Inc." was the first "Our Gang" silent comedy to be released with a synchronized musical and sound-effects track. All of the action takes place at the fashionable Ritz-Biltmore hotel, where the Our Gang kids have elected to stage a circus. The fun really begins when the circus animals escape and begin roaming in and out of various hotel rooms. And when an ostrich manages to consume a full bottle of bootleg booze, it's "Katie Bar the Door." Watch for brief appearances by character actor Eugene Pallette as a house detective, future B-western heavy Charles King as a would-be Romeo, and comedian Oliver Hardy as a startled guest. (Ollie is in fact, so startled that he swallows a cork!)
