Our Gang Follies of 1936

This short, and the related short done two years later is a classic example of The Little Rascals at their most self-expressive.

Moreover, as in many of their shorts, these youngsters relied on the stretch of their imagination to put on the show. I am not sure I would have charged admission, even a penny, and since the setting was in a residential area, the Rascals probably should not have, either. Nevertheless, this is one the their 'feel-good' shorts.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Spanky is producing the OUR GANG FOLLIES OF 1936 in the backyard barn and the rowdy neighborhood kids have all assembled for the promised entertainment. But when the featured specialty act - The Flory-Dory-Sixtet - fails to appear, Spanky must take drastic action...

Lots of music in this funny little film. Highlight: Buckwheat & the monkey. In her Rascals' debut, Darla sings `I'll Never Say Never Again'; Alfalfa warbles both `She'll Be Comin' Around The Mountain' & `The Object Of My Affection.' That's Leonard Kibrick as the mean kid on the front row.

Instead of a typical sort of Our Gang comedy, this one is a musical variety show...which probably explains why I didn't like it very much. Quite simply, seeing very young kids singing and dancing is something I can do without (it was bad enough having to watch my own kids in pageants when they were young!!). Lots of singing (most of it not very good--and you know it's bad when Alfalfa is NOT the worst of these acts) and dancing was occasionally punctuated by a bit of comedy--mostly provided by cute little Porky--who was the best part of this film. Also enjoyable was the drag act near the end. Seeing Spanky, Scotty and the rest in gay 90s outfits was something! What, I am not sure...but it was something.

By the way, this film was the debut of series regular, Darla Hood--a girl that was so incredibly cute that you wonder if she was the product of some unholy scientific experiment.

The Our Gang puts on music and dance show. Alfalfa decides to break into the adult opera world. Of course, its absurd because his " Barber of Seville" well is not good. Alfalfa refuses to sell out with his peers. Of course, he dreams about the future where all doesn't go well. It's adorable to see Darla, Spanky, Buckwheat, and the Our Gang act like children and later as adults. If Alfalfa sells out, he could make big bucks. I love Darla playing Cupid in a musical number. Spanky is there as a club owner and the host of follies. This is a great short film. It's fun watching kids in these films. You hope they had as much fun and were treated well.

It's amazing, Hal Roach is such a genius. His only mistake was giving up the Rascals to MGM in 1938. Our Gang Follies of 1936 is one the most memorable shorts to me. The gang is putting on a show, Spanky is the stage manager, his assistants Alfalfa and Scotty(this is his final Our Gang short, except for his return in 1939 as Cousin Wilbur). The first number is the introduction by a group of little girls who tend to annoy you for a little while. The second act is the Bryan Sisters singing "How You Gonna Keep Them", which I found to be quite nice. The third act is Darla(her first Our Gang short) singing "I'll Never Say Never Again" The fourth act is suppose to be the Florie Dorie girls, but there no where in sight. So they put on the fifth act, the Ghost Dance by Spanky, Scotty, Alfalfa, Dickie, and Sid. The Florie Dorie Girls are still no where to be found, so the sixth act is Alfalfa singing "Object of my Affection" to Darla. The crown is screaming, "We want the Florie Dories!" So, Spanky and the rest of the boys dress up as the girls, Spanky says to do exactly what he does. What Spanky doesn't know is that Elmer the Monkey got inside his dress and got a hold of a needle. So during the number Spanky takes off the bottom of his dress, so do the boys, Darla drops the curtain, and Spanky sings "How's that kids, now ya gotta go, that's all there is, there ain't no more of the show." and quickly exits. The children leave with satisfaction. A definite winner!