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One thing I've sure noticed as I sit here watching my Our Gang DVD collection is that in the Alfalfa era (starting around 1935) the series took a major hit. With the addition to Alfalfa and Darla, the Hal Roach Studio suddenly changed the style of the films--adding LOTS of singing and dancing--just the sort of things the kids NEVER did before that time. However, despite hating this, I loved seeing "Reunion in Rhythm" simply because it featured some wonderful cameos by older members of the cast who had outgrown the films. So, look closely and you'll see the likes of Mickey Daniels, Joe Cobb, Stymie Beard and Mary Kornman. Sadly, however, aside from a small bit with Mickey, the rest just sit there and don't even get any lines! What a waste...

This film consists of the older gang members coming to school for a graduation party. Unfortunately, a major portion of this consists of the newer members entertaining them by putting on a pageant. Porky was great in it because he didn't sing. As for the rest, although it's supposed to be a school production and the audience is very tiny, the costs of the sets must have been astronomical!!! In fact, it looked a bit like a Busby Berkeley musical in childish proportions. Fortunately, Buckwheat did his best to mess up the pageant--breathing a bit of comedy into this otherwise bizarre and dull musical.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

`The Adams Street Elementary School is having a REUNION IN RHYTHM and you are invited. Many Rascals, old & young, will be on hand for the banquet. After eating, the current crop of Rascals, led by Spanky, will entertain us with a little show.'

A fun little film, with lots of music. Darla sings `Baby Face' to Porky. Spanky performs `Broadway Rhythm'. Alfalfa croons `I'm Through With Love' & the entire group sings `Auld Lang Syne'. Highlight: Buckwheat's recitation of ‘Little Jack Horner'. Rosina Lawrence plays the teacher; among the alumni can be spotted Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Fat Joe Cobb & the inimitable Stymie.

This Hal Roach musical comedy short, Reunion in Rhythm, is the one hundred fifty-first entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the sixty-third talkie. It's a reunion of the Adams Street Grammar School with students-former and present-in tow: Stymie with Buckwheat, Joe Cobb with Porky, Mary Kornman with Darla, and Mickey Daniels with Alfalfa along with teacher Miss Lawrence and Spanky. Former class president Mickey is the only one with lines before the show begins: Buckwheat keeps trying to recite "Little Jack Horner" while showing cards introing each act. First is Darla singing "Baby Face" to Porky. Then, Spanky does "Broadway Rhythm" to a bunch of background girls and boys tap dancing behind him. Finally, another student named Mirandy (Georgia Jean LaRue) sings "Going Hollywood" to farmer Alfalfa who then does his usual off-key performance, this time to "I'm Through with Love" while a rooster contributes to it, off-screen! Quite an entertaining short, though it's a shame the Our Gang alumni didn't have more time to make an impression. Mary, Joe, and Mickey had reunited previously in Fish Hooky (though it should be noted Joe had no scenes with the other two there) with Spanky the only one from there still presently in the gang here though the other returnee-Stymie-was also in the gang at the time and the only members that were currently present he hadn't met before were Darla and Porky. So on that note, Reunion in Rhythm was quite an entertaining short. Oh, and starting with this one, there's a new version of the LeRoy Shield theme, "Good Old Days" arranged by Ted Duncan. P.S. Here's what happened to those returning Our Gang members afterward:

Mickey left film after the war and went into construction engineering. By the time he died on August 20, 1970, however, he had been driving a taxi and was found alone in his motel room. Worse, it wasn't publicly known until 1991 when Leonard Maltin & Richard W. Bann included this bit on his bio in the second edition of their book "The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang".

After Mary left film and divorced famed cinematographer Leo Tover, she married a horse-breeder named Ralph McCutcheon who supplied livestock to various studios. She died on June 1, 1973.

Joe eventually became an assembler of defense work in 1942 and would then be employed at what became Rockwell International for thirty years. He'd then retire and die on May 21, 2002.

Matthew "Stymie" Beard had a rough childhood outside of the studio and would spiral into drugs during his teens. Eventually, he'd go into the Synanon institute during the mid-'60s, clean up, and get into acting again in such TV shows as "Good Times", "Maude", and "Sandford and Son" as well as movies like The Buddy Holly Story and Truck Turner. And he and Darla did voices in animation in "The Little Rascals' Christmas Special". He died on January 8, 1981.

Mickey, Mary, Joe, and Stymie, we'll forever love and miss you!