The Pigskin Palooka

Alfalfa has been away at military school. In order to impress Darla, he claims to have been a star football player when in reality he has not even played. She tells the Gang about his exploits and he comes home to a hero's welcome. Unfortunately for him, they expect him to play in a game against butch and the big guys. It's all silliness as his efforts to avoid things keep having positive consequences. A bit above average for the series.

This Hal Roach comedy short, The Pigskin Palooka, is the one hundred sixtieth entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the seventy-second talkie. At military school, Alfalfa has written about his heroic exploits as a football star to the gang at home. Trouble is, none of it's true! So when he arrives back home by train, it's to a crowd of admiring fans and Spanky recruits him for the afternoon game. Oh boy! I'll stop there and just say this was another funny outing for the gang especially concerning Alfalfa's facial reactions and movements. So on that note, The Pigskin Palooka is definitely worth seeing.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

While away at military academy, Alfalfa has lied in his letters to Darla about his nonexistent football prowess. So, upon his return home, THE PIGSKIN PALOOKA finds himself the only hope for Spanky's All Stars in the big game against Spike's Tigers...

Not many laughs in this little film. Alfalfa is the whole show here & he doesn't even get to sing!

As the short begins, Alfalfa is in a military school and he's wearing the football star's (Dickie Jones) uniform to get his picture taken. It seems that the Alfalfinator has told all his friends back home that HE is the star of his new school's football team--when in reality he's scared to death of the game. So, when he returns to visit, he's expected to show everyone his amazing sports skills (which are negligible) in the big football game. How will Alfalfa manage to extricate from this mess?!

This is one of the better later shorts for two reasons. First, there is no singing and dancing--things that ruined many of the late Our Gang shorts. Second, while Alfalfa Switzer definitely overacted, the plot worked well and the film quite clever. Worth seeing even if you aren't a fan of the films.