Forgotten Babies

This is one of the all-time great "Our Gang" shorts. Spanky is at his very cutest and funniest, and the babies that he get's left to babysit are also hilarious. Tiny Spanky is coerced by the gang into watching all their little siblings. The opening shot of them all in baby carriages, being entertained by various things hung by the gang from fishing poles is a beautiful gag.

Spanky's appearance wearing his huge toy knife when asked to babysit by the older fellows is priceless, as is his response --"Hey, where do you get that stuff -- I don't take care of no babies!" The tiny fellow saying "remarkable" throughout the film, all the beautiful sight gags, and Spanky telling the babies "all about Tarzan" add up to make this one of the best "Our Gang"'s you'll ever see.

This is an unusual 'Our Gang' as it completely centers around Spanky McFarland. Luckily, he is one of the few 'rascals' who can handle the lone spotlight. The children he is supposed to babysit are little more than props in this one man show. Spanky's retelling of Tarzan is hilarious. What struck me most about his performance, especially his reactions to things, is the similarity to the work of fellow Roach actor Oliver Hardy. Spanky dealing with the babies reminds you of a small Hardy battling several young Laurels.

This is a really great short from Hal Roach. This is because of two main reasons: The littlest kids in the short are among the cutest to have ever been on film and the plot has so many funny and well-written elements.

As for the littlest of the Little Rascals, I honestly can't think of a cuter kid than Spanky at about age four. Despite being a rather chubby and unattractive kid in later years, he was just precious here. And, placing the little tiny boy in charge of babysitting the even younger kids was not only funny, but once again high on the cute factor.

After the older kids blackmail Spanky into doing this awful babysitting job, all kinds of funny mayhem breaks loose. The gags are pretty effective and well-done for the time--with an accidental crank call involving a murder and a final scene where Spanky FINALLY gets control of the little ones being the most memorable. I haven't seen these shorts in many decades and I am glad I gave this one a chance.

One of my favorite OUR GANG shorts. Spanky is conned into babysitting a house full of infants. He resorts to scary actions, even gluing a toddler to the floor. When Spanky is surrounded by the out of control tykes, and he looks in a drawer and says "Ah, glue....". It's with as much menacing glee as the line "No Prisoners" in LAURENCE OF ARABIA. My favorite bit is when one of the babies turns on the radio to a Radio Horror Show about the screamingly insane Dr. Nemo (Voiced over the top by the monsterously funny Billy Gilbert) What radio station would broadcast such lunacy? You couldn't make these sort of fun movies today because modern day audiences want realism. Shame.

My Mom was the baby that was glued to the floor. Murlen Christine Powers. Her name was derived from the first parts of the names of her parents - Muriel and Leonard Powers.

My guess as to why she was in the short, is that her Father (my Grandfather) was one of the early cameramen in Hollywood. He had worked with Hal Roach.

My Mom went on to become a singer, and later net my Father, John Charles Scribner.

Mom actually passed away, from Cancer and a heart attack, in a hospital in Lancaster, CA.

Her name, when she passed was Christine Murlen Poplawski. She is buried in the California City Cemetery.

JohnScribner. (Son)