Mickey's Last Chance is kind of a weird, loud relic

If you have about twenty minutes and want to see a tiny Mickey Rooney acting like a middle-aged union boss, you should probably watch this. It is great for people who like that dusty, loud 1930s kid-comedy vibe. If you hate slapstick where kids are constantly falling over or yelling, you will definitely want to skip it.

It is part of that long series where Rooney played Mickey McGuire. He actually took the character's name as his own stage name for a while, which is a bit strange if you think about it too long.

The Scruffy Aesthetic

Everything in this movie looks like it was filmed in a backyard that someone forgot to mow. The kids all have dirt smeared on their faces in that specific way that only happens in old movies. It is not real dirt, it is "movie dirt" that stays in the exact same spot for the whole scene.

Mickey wears this oversized hat and a sweater that looks like it is made of itchy wool. He spends a lot of time barking orders at the other kids. Jimmy Robinson is there too, playing Hambone, and he has a lot of energy even when the script is not giving him much to do.

There is a moment where Mickey is trying to be tough while holding a cigar. He is like ten years old here, or maybe twelve, but he carries himself like he’s seen a lot of hard times in the coal mines. It’s unsettling but also kind of funny in a way they probably didn't intend today.

The Rivalry

The plot is mostly just the Scorpions fighting with another group of kids. There is a lot of running back and forth. Some of the stunts look like they actually hurt, especially when they fall into the water or off a rickety fence.

I noticed that the editing is really jumpy. Sometimes a kid will be standing on the left side of the screen, and then suddenly they are on the right in the next shot. It feels like the editor was in a huge rush to get to lunch. 🥪

It reminds me a bit of Round Two because the energy is just constantly at a ten. There is no quiet time in these shorts. Everyone is always moving or shouting or planning a scheme.

• The dog in the background looks very confused.
• Mickey's facial expressions are already way too big for the screen.
• The clubhouse looks like it would fall over if someone sneezed too hard.

There is this one scene where they are trying to fix a car, or maybe it’s a wagon, I couldn’t really tell. It just turns into a mess of limbs and wheels. It goes on for a long time, maybe two minutes too long, until it stops being funny and just becomes loud.

Why it feels weird now

Watching these old shorts is like looking into a different world where kids were allowed to just play in traffic and light things on fire. The humor is very physical. If someone gets hit with a board, that’s the joke. That is the whole joke.

It’s not as polished as the Our Gang shorts. Those had a bit more heart, I think. This feels more like a low-budget version that was made for a quick buck at the Saturday matinee.

I kept thinking about High, But Not Handsome while watching this. That one also had that frantic pace that makes you feel a little bit tired by the end of it.

One of the kids, I think it was Buddy Brown, has this reaction shot where he just stares at the camera for a second. It feels like he is asking the audience for help. It’s the most relatable moment in the entire movie. 😂

The writing is credited to Fontaine Fox, who created the comic strip. You can tell they were trying to match the look of the drawings. Sometimes the actors hold their poses like they are in a comic panel, which is a neat touch even if the movie is a bit of a disaster otherwise.

It doesn't really have an ending that satisfies you. It just kind of stops when they run out of film. Mickey wins, I guess? Or maybe he just survives to yell another day.

If you are a fan of film history, it’s a neat curiosity. Seeing Rooney before he became a massive star is always interesting. He already had all the tricks—the double takes, the fast talking, the way he uses his whole body to act.

But man, it’s a noisy twenty minutes. My ears were actually ringing a little bit after the final chase scene. They really loved their whistles and horn sound effects back then. 🎺

Is it a good movie? Not really. But it is a real movie. It feels like it was made by people who were just trying to make kids laugh for a nickel.

There is a certain charm in how bad some of the sets are. You can see the shadows of the camera crew in one shot if you look at the grass. It makes the whole thing feel human and messy, which I prefer over some of the super-clean stuff we get now.

Anyway, it’s worth a look if you find it on a weird streaming channel at 2 AM. Just don't expect it to change your life or anything. It's just Mickey being Mickey, even before he was officially Mickey.