Deriving its title from the concurrent MGM feature film The Broadway Melody of 1938, Our Gang Follies of 1938 is a spoof of the Broadway Melody films and other movie musicals of the time. In the film, Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) decides to quit a pop music revue put on by Spanky (George McFarland) and become an opera singer, famously singing a pastiche song entitled "The Barber of Seville" several times throughout the film. The bulk of the film is made up of a dream sequence, in which Alfalfa imagines himself twenty years later failing as an opera singer, while Spanky owns a Broadway nightclub with a lavish floor show.
Plot
The gang is putting on another big show in Spanky's cellar, complete with an orchestra led by Buckwheat (Billie Thomas), and performances by Darla (Darla Hood) and many of the other neighborhood kids. However, "King of Crooners" Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), the star of the show, crashes the swing music based show with his off-key rendition of "The Barber of Seville", having secretly decided he is going to sing opera from now on. Spanky closes the curtain on Alfalfa and sends out another act to replace him, causing Alfalfa to walk out and take his voice "where it'll be appreciated!"
With Porky (Eugene Lee) accompanying him, Alfalfa turns up at the Cosmopolitan Opera House, wanting to appear in their next opera. Barnaby (Henry Brandon), the Cosmopolitan's impresario, jokingly offers the young boy a contract — provided he come back in twenty years. Elated, Alfalfa returns to Spanky's cellar with Porky, gloating about his presumed good fortune. Spanky tears into him, telling him that "someday I'll be a big producer on Broadway, and you'll be singing your opera in the streets with a tin cup in your hand!"
Alfalfa brushes off Spanky's warnings and falls asleep backstage, dreaming that the twenty years have elapsed and the public is awaiting his debut at Barnaby's opera house. However, Alfalfa is quickly booed by the audience and pelted with rotten vegetables. An angry Barnaby, now a wizened old man, throws Alfalfa out into the New York streets and forces him to sing for pennies in the snow. Hungry and broke, Alfalfa and Porky happen upon Club Spanky, an ornate nightclub on Broadway, owned by a now-rich Spanky and headlined by the also rich Darla and "Cab Buckwheat".
Inviting them in to see the show, Spanky offers to let Alfalfa and Porky work for him again. Porky immediately accepts, but Alfalfa stubbornly refuses. However, after seeing the floor show starring Darla, Buckwheat, Porky, and a few other performers, Alfalfa is won over and changes his mind. Just as he begins to sing, however, Barnaby appears to drag him back out by the arm to sing in the snow. Alfalfa struggles to release himself from Barnaby's grip while the children chant "We want Alfalfa! We want Alfalfa!"
Alfalfa then awakens to find himself back in Spanky's cellar with the audience continuing to chant in the background. Spanky begs him to join in the last act, and Alfalfa, needing no further convincing and fed up with opera, tears up his contract and rushes onstage to sing Bing Crosby's "Learn to Croon" for the show's finale.
Spanky, Darla, and Alfalfa in the "Club Spanky" dream sequence'
Production
Often pointed out as one of the best entries in the series,[4]Follies of 1938 was produced as a special one-shot return to the series' original two-reel (twenty-minute) format, after a season and a half of shorter one-reel films. In addition, Follies of 1938, particularly its extended dream sequence, features lavish production design and filmmaking typical of feature length MGM musicals.[5] MGM in fact helped finance the short beyond its usual contributions to the Roach shorts; as a result its opening titles read "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents Our Gang Follies of 1938, A Hal Roach Production," as opposed to the usual "Hal Roach Presents Our Gang in..."[5] At a cost of $58,000,[2]Follies of 1938 was the most expensive Our Gang short ever produced.[2]
The short's cast includes over one hundred children, as nearly all of the parts in the film (even the "adults" in Alfalfa's dream sequence) are played by kids. The lone exceptions are Henry Brandon's "Barnaby" character (not named onscreen, but named as such in the script),[5] and the other three adults seen at the Cosmopolitan Opera House. Brandon's villainous Barnaby character was re-purposed from another Hal Roach production, Laurel and Hardy's 1934 feature Babes in Toyland.[5] One of the featured singers in Spanky's cellar show is Annabelle Logan, a girl who sings a swing rendition of the traditional Scottish song "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond". Logan would grow up to become Annie Ross, a successful jazz singer and actress.[6]
Rights
Our Gang Follies of 1938 is one of four sound Our Gang shorts that fell into the public domain after the copyright lapsed in the 1960s (the other three being School's Out, Bear Shooters, and Waldo's Last Stand). As such, these films frequently appear on inexpensive video and/or DVD compilations.
Bored of Education is a 1936 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 146th entry in the Our Gang series to be released.
The following is a complete list of the 220 Our Gang short films produced by Hal Roach Studios and/or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1922 and 1944, numbered by order of release along with production order.
Our Gang is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the producer of the Laurel and Hardy films, Our Gang shorts were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the silent film and early sound film periods of American cinema. Our Gang is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way; Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children, rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. The series also broke new ground by portraying white and black children interacting as equals during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the United States.
Our Gang Follies of 1936 is a 1935 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gus Meins. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 140th Our Gang short to be released and the first of several musical entries in the series.
The Pinch Singer is a 1936 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer. It was the 142nd Our Gang short to be released.
Pay as You Exit is a 1936 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 148th Our Gang short to be released.
Reunion in Rhythm is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 150th Our Gang short to be released.
Glove Taps is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 151st Our Gang short to be released.
Hearts Are Thumps is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 152nd Our Gang short to be released.
Rushin' Ballet is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 154th Our Gang short to be released.
Framing Youth is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 158th Our Gang short to be released.
Mail and Female is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer. It was the 160th Our Gang short to be released.
Three Men in a Tub is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Nate Watt. It was the 164th Our Gang short to be released.
Came the Brawn is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 165th entry in the Our Gang series.
Feed 'em and Weep is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 166th Our Gang short to be released.
The Little Ranger is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 169th short in the Our Gang series, and the first produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who purchased the rights to the series from creator Hal Roach.
Party Fever is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by George Sidney. It was the 170th Our Gang short to be released.
Aladdin's Lantern is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 171st Our Gang short to be released.
Clown Princes is a 1939 Our Gang short comedy film directed by George Sidney. Produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 178th Our Gang short to be released.
Cousin Wilbur is a 1939 Our Gang short comedy film directed by George Sidney. It was the 179th Our Gang short to be released.
1 2 3 Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, p. 238. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN0-517-58325-9
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