Beginner's Luck

This is a rather cute little Our Gang short, but I also found it unsettling as it was clearly a case of art imitating life. It all begins with Spanky doing a recitation for his mother's friends. Clearly, the mother is an obnoxious mother of a kid who just wants to be a kid! Later, she enters him in a talent show--when all sorts of hijinks ensue--some of which is pretty cute.

As I say, it's a case of art imitating life because I have read Leonard Maltin's book about the Rascals. And, unfortunately, a lot of the kids had pushy parents just like Spanky's in the film. It made the laughs a little less funny when I realized the writer for this short was probably influenced by the kids' real life folks! By the way, speaking of obnoxious folks, this was Alfalfa's first film with Our Gang. While cute in the films, he and his family are a VERY sad example of the sorts of pushy behavior and monstrous egos that were all too common with child actors. Read up on them when you get a chance--it's interesting but very, very sad.

Also, in this film you hear a child poorly singing "Honolulu Baby"--the tune that was popularized in the great Laurel & Hardy feature "Sons of the Desert".

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

To his embarrassment, Spanky's mom enters him in a talent contest. He immediately gets the Gang's help in a plan to lose. Once on stage, however, Spanky meets a sweet little girl & his plans change. Now he'll need real BEGINNER'S LUCK to have a chance of winning...

A very funny little film, with Spanky in rare form. Highlight: Spanky's performance on stage. This was the film debut for Alfalfa (he sings `She'll Be Comin' 'Round The Mountain').

There is an unwritten rule that runs through the rascals shorts that the villain always gets theirs in the end .We have seen this come into play with the bully ,the brat, the dishonest businessman,the cheat all getting theirs and are usually made the laughing stock of in the end.With a few exceptions such as Dickie's father in "Birthday Blues" who beats his son savagely and has nothing happen to him at all to Wally's mother in "Honkey Donkey" who actually is only guilty of being very wealthy and has a mule chase her after she sneezes all over the house ,down the stairs and out into the spacious gardens.Wally's mom is chased till the donkey knocks her into a fountain and she emerges from under the water to spew water from her mouth like some type of fancy ornament,as the donkey laughs hysterically at her. This brings us to "Beginner's Luck" where Spanky's mother is the villain.She has put her son into a local talent show against his will and he has received help from the gang who promise to hiss and boo and destroy his act.However Spanky has a change of plans ,as he now needs to win the prize so he can help a little girl buy a special dress.Spanky asks his mom can he go into the audience and tell his friends of his change of plans but she refuses as he is about to go on and insists she will deliver his message to them.She has no idea that Spanky wants to flop and the gang was ready to bombard him with peashooters and noisemakers.Spanky's mom does use her power as a mom and an authority figure as she says to the gang"Remember boys we want Spanky to win",but she fails to make them understand and they agree to go ahead with their plan and give him the works.Spanky's mother is beaming as she walks away from them and back to the stage wings thinking that the audience will fall in love with Spanky as a Shakespearian actor ,she could never imagine the cruel twist of fate that awaits her for failing to deliver the correct message .Spanky's mother is a true stage mother trying to relive some faded glory that eluded her through her son.She did not ask Spanky if he wanted to pursue this venture and didn't listen to her own mother when she tried to intervene and save Spanky from this.She has shown herself to be pushy as she has had numerous run ins with the MC backstage.She has one goal for Spanky to win first prize and be a hit on the stage. Well the gang goes ahead with their plan to ruin Spanky's act .Spanky's mom rushes to save her son from the cruel audience laughter and pull him off from behind the back curtain.The MC informs the little girl that Spank has won the prize as a comedy act.Grandma raises the curtain to deliver lesson to her daughter for putting Spanky on the stage.A hook snags Spanky's mother's dress hem and it starts to rise along with the curtain ripping her dress off on the stage amid howls of uncontrollable laughter from the audience.Grandma has made a comedic burlesque stripper out of her daughter to be ogled as a sex object by the male audience members who love to see this pretty girl wiggle about frantically trying to free herself as her dress hikes higher and higher.She is being laughed at by everyone including the gang who mustlove seeing this happen.

Spanky rushes to hide his now frozen mother from the vicious audience laughter as she kneels on stage gazing up to see where her dress went with a piece of scenery resulting in her head on top of a caricature of an animals body.Spanky's mother is degraded and humiliated in her attempt to rescue Spanky from being laughed at and now is herself made much more of a laughing stock with the audience in complete bedlam at the sight of her.She did get everything she wanted ,Spanky has won first prize and was a big hit,although she never expected that she would wind upjoining the act .Spanky's mother may have actually enjoyed being the center of attention in her truly unforgettable stage appearance. She has been given the most embarrassing comeuppance of all the rascals villains ,but I don't believe she was all that bad and really didn'deserve her fate.Maybe she got this treatment from the Roach studios for being a stage mother which they must have had to deal with all the time. The viewer enjoys watching Spanky's mother being made a hysterical spectacle of and the viewer laughs along with the the theater audience at the fate that is dealt out to Spaky's mom.

This comedy classic is in my top 5 favorite episodes of the Our Gang Series.I'll start with my Granddaughter Sammy who recently had her first ballet recital. At the moment of truth froze up and ran off the stage into the comfort of her Mother's arms. When the show was over I said to my Daughter-In-Law, "Samimy Froze up like Daisy Dimple!" Of course my Daughter-In-Law replied, "Who Is Daisy Dimple?" Hence my review begins now! Spanky the new leader of the gang due to the departure Of Wally Albright and his limited contract, performs in front of his Mother's friends reciting Shakespeare. Spanky projects his prose perfectly to the delight of his wannabee stage Mother. For doing a stellar job of acting what is Spanky's reward? Mother Dear is entering him in a talent show. Show business is not to Spanky's liking as he practices to the company of his talking parrot. The gang member's show up at his window.The only way out is to have Spanky flop on stage with the help of his gang and an endless supply of Pellets and spit balls. On with the talent show as Spanky dressed in full Michigan State apparel (A ROMAN SOLDIER) will do everything in his power to bomb on stage. Ironically Spanky was picked to go first by the Master of Ceremonies Tom Herbert but his pushy Mom (Kitty Kelly) who bears a striking resemblance to actress Barbara Stanwyck protests that you Don't have a talented actor the likes of Spanky to go on first. Some of the Acts were entertaining to watch .Honorable mention to The Hawaiian Dancers and the Cabin Kids and most importantly the Arizona Nightingales featuring a young freckled Carl Switzer who makes his first of many appearances in the series as the the High pitched off key singer Alfalfa! Now it's time for our cu pie faced Dancer Daisy Dimple to perform and try to win the cash prize of $10.00 but she choked in front of a bewildered audience and all those eyes!! Spanky comforts the crestfallen girl and claims he'll win her the money for her ballet costume. Spanky wants to go out to the audience to tell his friends not to ruin his act and that he want's to win after all. Instead Spanky's Mom intervenes and goes over to the rowdy troupe and tells them that her son wants to win. Spanky from the Stage winks at them and the gang is confused so the gang sticks with the original plan of abuse and spitball to the disdain of out toupee pianist James Morton seated between the stage and the arsenal. Spanky goes on and the rest of the short is sheer pratfalls combined with howling comedy with a grand finale of Grandmother Mae Wallace pulling up the final curtain to a ripped dress. Great episode to show your grand kids if they failed on stage. Whether it be a dance recital or a school play . Tell your children not to freeze up and give it your best effort. Don't be a DAISY DIMPLE!

One of the most popular characters in the later stages of the 'Our Gang' series was 'Alfalfa.' Carl Switzer, nicknamed 'Alfalfa,' first appeared in a Little Rascals film in February 1935's "Beginner's Luck." Carl, 7, and his brother Harold, 9, are one act in a kids' talent show slinging out the song "She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain."

Carl, the youngest of four siblings, was born in 1927 in Paris, Illinois. Growing up he and Harold became local favorites in their hometown singing and playing several different instruments. The Switzers took a vacation to visit family in California and toured the Hal Roach Studios for curiosity sake. While eating in the cafeteria that day, the brothers decided to spontaneously sing a couple of songs. Assistant director Gordon Douglas, eating his lunch nearby, was so impress by the cuteness and talent of the boys he got producer Hal Roach to see them. Impressed, Roach signed the pair to one 'Our Gang' short, which turned out to be "Beginner's Luck." The two eventually received their stage nicknames: Harold was called "Slim" and "Deadpan," while Carl got the moniker that lasted his entire life, 'Alfalfa.' The talent show is an excuse for an aggressive stage mother to press her reluctant child to perform in front of a live audience. Spanky's mother (Kitty Kelly) pushes the child to recite a passage from William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar.' Dressed up as a Roman Centurion, the reluctant Spanky wants to get even with his mother and plans for his friends to pelt him with peas and noisemakers. But his designs goes awry when a little girl who needs money for a new dress gets stage fright and cries to her mother. Spanky vows to win the show and give her his prize money. Trouble is the gang in the front row didn't get the memo and begin disrupting his act. His mom ends up losing her dress over the incident.

"Beginner's Luck" proved to be one of 'Our Gang's' more popular shorts. At the conclusion of the film's showing at the Capitol Theatre in New York City, the audience went wild. The viewers applauded so long that singer Rudy Valley, standing in the wings of the stage behind the curtain to make a special appearance, had a long wait to perform before the audience settled down. Actress Kitty Kelly, as Spanky's mother, took the humor in stride, saying her performance was one of the highlights in her acting career despite numerous appearances in television, primarily in the TV series 'Bonanza.' Meanwhile, Carl Switzer's popularity rose as his years with the Rascals progressed while his brother Harold ended up playing minor parts with the kids. Alfalfa made a habit of singing his songs off-key, even though he was a perfect on-key crooner. By 1937, his popularity eclipsed Spanky's. Off screen, the rivalry between the child actors' parents heated up as each fought over the amount of screen time and salaries. Alfalfa, who liked to play cruel tricks with his 'pals' off the set, remained with the Little Rascals until 1940, when he became a lanky teenager.