Shrimps for a Day

This is one of the weirdest Our Gang shorts I've ever seen--and I've seen a bunch!! It begins at an orphanage run by a nasty old guy (Clarence Wilson) and woman. However, they are taking the kids to a party at the McWade's house--because the McWades are the ones who pay his salary.

The kids have a nice time and Dick and Mary McWade wish they, too, could be kids and enjoy the party. When they discover a magic lamp, they are transformed into kids and they join the party. BUT, there is a catch. The nasty orphanage operators take Dick and Mary with them when the party ends and they get to learn first-hand how badly they treat the kids. It's all very funny (particularly the part with the hammer) and strange--and well worth seeing.

George and Olive Brasno play the child versions of Dick and Mary. However, I have no idea why they chose to have these two midgets play kids instead of just having kids play the parts. Perhaps it was because Dick smokes a cigar, but considering the way child actors were treated back then, I am surprised they didn't just have a kid smoke!

While the plot is highly predictable and the villain a bit too melodramatic, this short contains some truly great early special effects of people morphing between child and adult. The performances by the child actors of the Gang are typical of their usual cute mugging for the camera, but the performances of George Brasno and Olive Brasno as the two adults turned children are brilliant. The children of the Gang are reduced to comic supporting roles to the straight leads played by the two Brasnos, and that makes this short work all the better as it relies less on "cute kids" antics and utilizes true acting to carry the story.

The best our gang episode in my humble opinion. It has an awful amount of humor. They all play their parts to the hilt! I don't know anything about Orphanages but I imagine in those days with the wrong people they sucked balls. It was nice seeing social classes helping out the less fortunate. The wealthy were portrayed not as snobs here. They actually cared for the poor here. I highly recommend this skit. There are other good skits but this one just happens to be my favorite. I wish the genie lamp existed. We could all use at least one wish. Make your wish count. They used their wishes here wisely.