Barnum & Ringling, Inc. is the best kind of 1920s hotel chaos

If you have twenty minutes to kill and want to see a bunch of kids completely ruin a fancy hotel manager’s day, you should watch this. It is basically the perfect movie for anyone who likes seeing stuff get broken or people in suits looking very annoyed. 🏨

If you hate child actors or old silent shorts where the animals are clearly wondering why they were put in a tutu, you will probably hate this. But for the rest of us, it is a blast.

The whole thing starts because the gang is living in this really posh hotel and they are bored out of their minds. It is the kind of place where you feel like you have to whisper just to breathe, and the manager is a total grump. 🤫

I love the setup because it feels so relatable—being a kid in a place that is 'too nice' for you. The way they look at the velvet curtains and the fancy rugs like they are just waiting to be stained is classic.

Farina is usually my favorite, and here he is just trying to keep the whole operation from falling apart. The kids decide to stage a circus, which is a pretty standard plot for these shorts, but the execution here is just so messy and loud (well, silent-movie loud).

The 'animals' they use are just their regular pets with stuff glued or tied to them. There is a dog that is supposed to be a lion, and he looks so done with the whole situation. 🐶

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Barnum & Ringling, Inc. (1928) through its definitive frames.

The goat is the real MVP of the middle section. He just starts eating everything in sight, and the way the camera lingers on his chewing is kind of gross but also really funny.

One weird thing is that Oliver Hardy shows up for like, five seconds. He is just a guy sitting at a table in the background, and if you blink, you will totally miss him. It is funny to think he was just a 'working actor' doing cameos like this before becoming a massive star. 🤩

The movie gets way better once the circus actually starts and the hotel guests realize what is happening. There is this one shot of a lady getting hit with something—I think it was a pie or maybe just some mud—and her reaction is so over-the-top that I had to rewind it. 😂

Some of the stunts with the kids climbing the curtains look actually dangerous. Like, I’m pretty sure there were no safety inspectors on set in 1928, and you can really tell. It gives the whole thing this nervous energy that modern movies just don't have.

There is a bit with an ostrich that is clearly just two guys in a suit, but then in the next shot, it might be a real bird? It is hard to tell because the film quality is a bit grainy, but the jankiness is part of the charm. 🦆

I noticed that the way the hotel staff reacts is almost more funny than the kids themselves. They are all so stiff and 'proper,' and seeing them get tripped by a bunch of toddlers is satisfying in a weird way.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Barnum & Ringling, Inc. (1928) through its definitive frames.

It reminds me a bit of the random chaos in Felix Monkeys with Magic, where the world just stops making sense for a few minutes. Except here, the magic is just kids being annoying little monsters.

The ending feels a little bit rushed, like they ran out of film or the hotel actually kicked them out in real life. It just kind of stops after a big chase, which is fine, I guess. I didn't really need a big emotional lesson from the Little Rascals anyway.

The gag with the eggs is probably the highlight for me. I won't spoil exactly how it goes down, but it involves a lot of slipping and sliding and some very ruined tuxedoes. 🥚

Wheezer is also in this one, and he is just so tiny and confused looking. It’s a bit sad knowing how some of these kids ended up, but on screen here, they just look like they are having the time of their lives making a mess.

Is it a masterpiece? No, it’s a twenty-minute comedy about a goat in a lobby. But it’s a good twenty-minute comedy about a goat in a lobby. 🐐

If you’re looking for something deep, go watch a documentary. If you want to see a bunch of 1920s socialites get humiliated by a dog in a wig, this is the one for you.

The pacing is a bit weird in the middle where they are just setting up the 'circus' tents. It drags for maybe two minutes too long, but then the payoff makes up for it. I actually laughed out loud when the 'lion' started chasing the hotel manager. 🦁

It’s just a fun, simple time. Sometimes that’s all you really want from a movie, right? No big themes, just pure chaos. 🎆