Shivering Shakespeare is just kids screaming and throwing pies 🥧

If you have twenty minutes to kill and you don't mind the sound of 1930s microphones peaking, then yeah, watch this. It’s basically a fever dream where a bunch of kids try to act out a historical epic.

If you hate seeing kids covered in sticky food, stay far away. Most people will find it funny because seeing a kid in a toga get hit with a pie is a classic for a reason.

The whole thing feels like it was filmed in a garage that someone tried to decorate with bedsheets. It’s supposed to be a play called Quo Vadis? which is a pretty heavy choice for a group of seven-year-olds.

I think the kids are part of some drama league, but they mostly just look confused. Jackie Cooper is in this one, and he has that face like he’s about to cry at any second. 😢

His acting is basically just being very stressed out. Honestly, I relate to that more than I should.

Then there is Chubby. He’s wearing this Roman outfit that looks about three sizes too small for him. He looks like he’s struggling to breathe, let alone deliver lines about empires.

The set is falling apart from the first frame. You can see the curtains wobbling whenever someone walks too fast.

It’s a lot more chaotic than something like The Average Woman. There is no poise here, just pure kid energy.

The microphones back then were so bad that every time a kid yells, it sounds like a jet engine is taking off in your living room. I had to turn my volume down twice. 🔊

Farina is there too, trying to keep things together, but nobody listens. It’s like watching a real rehearsal where the teacher stepped out for a smoke break.

About halfway through, the "neighborhood tough kids" show up. These are the best characters because they look like they’ve never seen a vegetable in their lives.

They have those flat caps and they just look mean. One of them has a scowl that looks permanent.

They start heckling the play, which is what I was doing from my couch. They aren't even clever about it, they just want to ruin everyone's day.

Then the pies come out. I don’t know where they got so many pies.

It’s not just one or two. It’s a mountain of pies.

The movie does this weird thing where it switches to slow motion during the fight. It’s supposed to be a new twist, I guess.

In slow motion, the pies look like heavy, wet blankets hitting these kids in the face. It’s actually a little bit gross if you look too closely at the texture. 🤢

You can see the shaving cream—or whatever they used—sliding off their ears. It goes on for a long time.

The slow-mo makes it feel way more dramatic than it needs to be. Like a war movie but with dessert.

I kept wondering if the kids actually enjoyed filming this. Some of them look like they are genuinely having a blast, but others look like they want to go home and take a bath immediately.

There is a dog, Pete the Dog, with the circle around his eye. He’s the most professional actor in the whole short.

He just watches the chaos with this look of total judgment. He’s seen better plays, clearly.

The ending isn't really an ending. It just sort of stops when everyone is sufficiently covered in goop.

It reminds me of the pacing in Everybody's Business where things just happen until they don't. No big lesson, no moral. Just sticky kids.

The sound design is a mess. You can hear people shuffling off-camera and probably a director whispering instructions.

I love that stuff, though. It makes it feel like a real artifact of a time when people were still figuring out how to make movies talk.

It’s way more fun than Should a Husband Forgive? because it doesn't try to be important. It just tries to be loud.

One kid gets hit in the back of the head and he just stands there for five seconds. He doesn't even react. He just accepts his fate.

That was my favorite part. The total acceptance of the pie.

Is it a masterpiece? No way. It’s a messy, loud, twenty-minute distraction.

But if you want to see what comedy looked like before it got all polished and boring, this is it. It’s just raw, unrefined sugar and screaming.

I’ve seen better Our Gang shorts, but this one has a specific kind of weirdness. The Roman costumes really sell the absurdity.

Imagine being a parent in 1930 and taking your kid to see this. You’d probably be worried they’d come home and throw a pie at your head.

The slow-motion sequences are the only reason this stands out from the other fifty shorts they made. It feels like the director was trying to be artistic with slapstick.

It doesn’t quite work, but I appreciate the effort. It’s like putting a tuxedo on a goat. 🐐

Anyway, go watch it if you like the Little Rascals. Just don't expect any deep Shakespearian monologues, despite the title.

It’s mostly just shivering and pies. Lots and lots of pies.