Not to be confused with the 1929 Laurel and Hardy classic of the same name, the silent, two-reel Our Gang comedy Big Business was originally released on February 10, 1924. This time, the Our Gang kids go into the barbershop business, with Joe Cobb as head shearer, Mary Kornman as cashier, Allen "Farina" Hoskins as bootblack, Sing Joy handling the laundry concession, and "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison handling all the mechanical devices. The shop's most daunting assignment is to remove the sissified curls from the head of rich kid Mickey Daniels. This done, Mickey is immediately accepted into the gang, much to the dismay of his hoity-toity mother and to the delight of his down-to-earth father. The film does not so much end as stop, with a revival of the tried-and-true "skunk" gag. According to "Little Rascals" historians Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann, Big Business was based on a story idea by none other than Stan Laurel.
by Hal Erickson
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