General Spanky

When I first saw this obscure film--the ONLY feature of the Our Gang kids--I was expecting a feature-length version of one of their shorts, so naturally I was quite unhappy with GENERAL SPANKY. Watching it again after many years, I find it more strange than unsatisfying. There are a lot of excellent elements in the film, yet other parts of the film are cringe-inducing or surreal. Producer Hal Roach managed to take Laurel and Hardy from the world of comedy shorts to the world of features with great success, so it's not surprising that he would want to take the Our Gang kids from shorts to features. My only question is...why a Civil War vehicle, with Buckwheat as a slave! The box of the MGM/UA video states the Roach was inspired by the success of Shirley Temple in THE LITTLE COLONEL to cast Spanky, Buckwheat, and Alfalfa in an "Old South" setting, but Our Gang's brand of comedy is much different from Shirley Temple's. Interestingly, Hal Roach returned to the "Old South" setting a few years later, when he teamed Oliver Hardy with Harry Langdon (Stan Laurel refusing to re-sign his contract with Roach) in ZENOBIA, another strange film. Perhaps Roach was inspired to cash in on the GONE WITH THE WIND phenomenon with ZENOBIA? Since Mr. Roach was from New York State, it's interesting that he would buy into the "romantic Old South" mythology. In any event, as I said above, there are some excellent elements in this film. Buckwheat Thomas and Spanky McFarland are fantastic, charismatic performers who can easily carry a feature film on their own. Buckwheat, in particular, is quite moving, when he is looking at a birthday cake while incredibly hungry, and since he's never seen a birthday cake before, he thinks the cake is on fire, and because he is hungry, he starts to cry. The underrated Phillips Holmes (best known for the 1931 adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's AN American TRAGEDY), who reminds me somewhat of Onslow Stevens, is quite impressive as Marsh Valient, the Southern Gentlemen who takes in Spanky and Buckwheat. Holmes' scene with Spanky where the two of them discuss the nature of war was quite moving and still has a necessary message today (it reminds me of Oliver Hardy's speech on racial equality in ZENOBIA). Ralph Morgan turns on his gruff charm as the Union general who refers to Spanky as "General" and treats him as a peer throughout the film--the effect is somewhat surreal. Irving Pichel is superb as the arrogant and sleazy Union officer Simmons. On the whole, however, GENERAL SPANKY is such a strange experience, I don't really know what to make of it. Any serious Our Gang fan should see it, and people attracted to weird cinematic misfires might find it interesting also. It's still available cheaply from its early 90's VHS release. I've never been much of a fan of Alfalfa, and fortunately he doesn't appear in the film until half way through, and soon after he does his patented "off key singing" routine. It has not gotten any better with age. Fortunately, the film belongs to Spanky and Buckwheat, and they do a great job.

This Hal Roach feature, General Spanky, is the one hundred fiftieth entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rasclas" series and the sixty-second talkie. It's also, as I implied in the first sentence, the only one more than two or three reels in length. It begins on a steam boat when Buckwheat is one of the slaves on board and Spanky is a shoeshine boy on it. They both end up falling in the river and-with help from a life preserver-end up on land near a Southern plantation. As Civil War gets declared, Spanky, Buckwheat, and Alfalfa form their own Army and mistakenly is mixed with a real adult one...There's more but I'll just now mention that Spanky and Buckwheat make a good team at the beginning on the boat and the plantation before Alfalfa arrives then it's mostly Spank and him on screen. Since it's Black History Month, I have to mention that many adult African-American cast members are slaves though two more, Louise Beavers and Willie Best-who during the early part of the '30s was often credited as "Sleep 'n' Eat"-play the plantation servants. There's a pretty funny scene with them involving a paint brush. The attitudes-in the movie-of the South concerning slavery is true to the period and it's that fact that makes this film a little easy to take though when Spanky forms his own military outfit, it's nice to know he allows Buckwheat to be a part of it! Also appearing is Rosina Lawrence, usually cast as the Gang's teacher, as the leading lady of the leading man, who in this case is Phillips Holmes. To tell the truth, having the Gang involved in a real-life historical setting especially one which divided the country as The War Between the States (the South's name for it) did not suit their kiddie comedy-style. When producer Hal Roach originally contracted his distributor M-G-M for an "Our Gang" feature in 1935, he wrote one for something called Crook's Incorporated which would have co-starred Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, and Patsy Kelly and sounded like a more suitable feature for those kids. Unfortunately, Ms. Todd faced a tragic end and Chase and Ms. Kelly moved to other studios...

During the War for Southern Independence, GENERAL SPANKY mobilizes his forces to defend the local women & children against a Yankee invasion.

In 1936, Hal Roach decided it was time for his popular OUR GANG kids to branch out into occasional feature-length films. With the big success of Shirley Temple in two Civil War period movies in 1935 (THE LITTLE COLONEL, THE LITTLEST REBEL), it was only natural that Roach would look in that same direction for his GANG. Although given a rather lavish production and distributed by MGM, GENERAL SPANKY was not a critical or box-office success. The little GANGsters would henceforth stick to short subjects.

Although he's given top billing & the title role, George ‘Spanky' McFarland is rivaled throughout the film's first half by little Billie ‘Buckwheat' Thomas. Here were two of the finest young actors to ever appear in American movies. With all the experience of old, seasoned pros, these two gamin could steal scenes & hearts with equal bravado. A constant joy, without a false note between them, they provide the essential reason for watching the film today.

Phillips Holmes gives a quiet, gentlemanly performance as Spanky's adult protector. Nearly forgotten now, Holmes was a fine actor who died much too soon, during World War Two. Genial Ralph Morgan is especially good as a sympathetic Union general - his scenes with Spanky are quite amusing.

Other OUR GANGers appear midpoint into the movie, most notably Carl ‘Alfalfa' Switzer; he gets to warble ‘Just Before The Battle, Mother.' Even pretty Rosina Lawrence (the GANG's schoolmarm) shows up to play Holmes' beloved.

Irving Pichel is particularly slimy as a cowardly cardsharp turned vindictive Yankee captain. Bumbling Willie Best & feisty Louise Beavers play Miss Lawrence's slaves.

It should be noted that there is racism in the film, not unusual for Hollywood of that era - but almost completely missing in the original series of OUR GANG shorts.

Fans of 19th Century music will enjoy paying attention to the soundtrack, which is a long succession of ancient tunes.

This is a cute film starring Spanky, Alfalfa and Buckwheat from the "Our Gang" comedies. Set in the South during the Civil War, it may seem a little odd to see Buckwheat as Spanky's slave, but this film is as charming as the best of the shorts with the same cast. This was the only Our Gang feature film, and I highly recommend it over The Little Rascals remake from 1994.

The film starts with promise because there is more interaction between Spanky and Buckwheat, but as the film progresses, the two boys have fewer scenes together. This slows the pace considerably. Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas gives a very strong performance in his early scenes. When he is left behind on the riverboat, his fear and abandonment are palpable and his tears are truly heartbreaking. When he goes from man to man asking for help and is repeatedly rejected the viewer really begins to wonder if this is a comedy or not. Watching a children's birthday party through a picket fence is another moving moment. As another reviewer mentioned, I was also worried about the big dog choking on chicken bones! Once Spanky and Buckwheat are in Marshall Valiant's home, Spanky tends to interact mainly with the adults and the chemistry of the children is essentially lost.

The Old South/Huck Finn-type setting really doesn't do much for the plot except allow the children to be out of doors a great deal. Ralph Morgan is the most engaging adult, but then the other roles really don't have much substance to them. Louise Beavers manages some funny moments with a Yankee soldier towards the end.

The villains aren't really villainous enough and the lovers not intense enough. Yet, I do think it's worth viewing if you're an Our Gang enthusiast, if for no other reason that the odd curiosity of the whole piece. I give it seven stars because, while not a great movie, it kept me engaged the whole time and curious as to what would happen next.