Came the Brawn

This Hal Roach comedy short, Came the Brawn, is the one hundred sixty-sixth entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the seventy-eighth talkie. "Wildcat" Alfalfa is a wrestler who is being matched with "The Masked Marvel". Truth is, he's only doing this in order to impress Darla who's rejected Butch after dressing in his silly Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit which she wanted him to dress in before! It's Waldo, who we initially see tripping as he reads and walks, who's playing the opponent of Alf but not for long...This marked the first time a rivalry of three was presented to Darla of Alfalfa, Butch, and Waldo in the Our Gang series. This would continue well into the M-G-M-only produced entries a few shorts down the line. This was another funny one directed by Gordon Douglas with plenty of fun from Porky, Buckwheat, and Spanky as well. Speaking of whom, this would be his last appearance in the Roach entries as his contract would lapse and he'd be absent from the next five eps by which time, distributor M-G-M would take over production. Meantime, he'd appear in the feature Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus. So on that note, Came the Brawn is highly recommended.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Waldo, as the Masked Marvel, is to wrestle Wildcat Alfalfa for the possession of a new football. It's here CAME THE BRAWN, however, when Butch takes Waldo's place so he can beat-up Alfalfa himself (something to do with Darla's affections). Things are likely to get mighty serious for our skinny hero, mighty fast...

A few laughs in this little film. Alfalfa is funny, as usual. Once again, Darla's fickleness is a bit wearying.