One of the livelier late-silent entries in the "Our Gang" series, Cat, Dog & Co. begins with the kids thoughtlessly abusing or overworking their pets. But thanks to the gentle admonitions of a lady from the Be Kind to Animals Society (played by future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper), the kids tearfully vow to change their ways. Determined to extend kindness and generosity to all forms of animal life, the youngsters set loose all the critters in town, including a rather fearsome collection of oversized rodents and amphibians from a local experimental laboratory. The film's strangest sequence finds a conscience-stricken Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins imagining that he has been put on trial in an all-animal court for being cruel to chickens! Upon its original release on September 14, 1929, "Cat, Dog & Co." came equipped with a sound-on-disc musical score, played on a pipe organ by future Hal Roach composer-arranger LeRoy Shield. This score has been restored for the film's reissue as part of the VHS/DVD "Little Rascals" package--necessitating the interminable stretch-printing of one dialogue subtitle in order to achieve proper synchronization.
by Hal Erickson
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