The “Our Gang” with Pete the Pup’s suicide attempt!
From the NY Times review:
Dog Heaven (1927)
Easily one of the most bizarre and surrealistic of all the “Our Gang” silent films, Dog Heaven begins as the beloved Pete the Pup is rescued from committing suicide (!) by one of his canine pals. The broken-hearted Pete then explains (via dialogue titles) why he wants to end his life. It seems that Petey’s lifelong master Joe Cobb has been ignoring him in favor of a pretty young girl. Even worse, Joe has accused Pete of trying to drown the girl, when in fact the dog was rescuing her from a watery grave. Just in the nick of time, Joe and Petey are tearfully reuinited —- but this is hardly the end of our doggie hero’s troubles. If the viewer doesn’t gasp in astonishment at the opening scene, wherein Pete the Pup fashions a noose and attempts to hang himself, the viewer’s jaw will certainly drop during the segment in which Pete and a band of mongrel dogs getting blind stinking drunk on bootleg booze! Originally released on December 17, 1927, “Dog Heaven” was the earliest of the “Our Gang” silents to be reissued under the “Little Rascals” banner in the 1950s.
