Captain Spanky's Show Boat

Captain Spanky's Show Boat (1939)

** (out of 4)

Here's another weak entry in the MGM-Our Gang series and the only thing that really saves this is the fact that it follows two of the worst films (DOG DAZE, AUTO ANTICS) in the series. This time out the gang comes across an abandoned riverboat so they decide to put on a show with acts and songs. That's pretty much the only story unless you want to consider that Butch gets upset because he wasn't allowed on the bill and decides to cause some trouble. This here really isn't a good film but at the same time I think it's mildly entertaining thanks in large part to the kids taking part in several smaller acts. I wouldn't say any of the acts were good, although I thought Alfalfa stole the film with his songs that happens at the very end. The rest of the movie is pretty forgettable as the kids really aren't given anything good to do. They do the little acts but these just aren't entertaining enough to keep you fully entertained and there's certainly not enough comedy. I'm really not sure what the studio was trying to do except rush out another inferior product.

The gang puts on a "meller drammer" which Butch tries to crash. That's about all there is to the "plot." This one still looks like it's in the spirit of the Hal Roach "musical shorts." The insane MGM gloss hadn't totally taken over yet. You have to admire the cleverness in how the gang sets up a "horse race" on stage. But there's nothing in the way of humor until the very end, and even that's staged incompetently, even if Tommy Bond does do a great reaction.

Also, Porky is missed. His place is basically taken by Leonard, for some reason. Mickey is still something of a cipher, standing on his mark and saying "Yep!" That would change with the next film.

Yes There are many cute scenes like that of Grey Beauty The Horse. However Alalfa's singing as I agree with another review is very irritating too however it still manages to stream into an interesting aspect of American History too.

Butch and Woim always make a great pair of Trouble Makers too they get free passes both because Butch can't sing due to there already being enough singers & though Woim wants to turn the free tickets down Butch accepts them with a plan of his own but without giving too much away watch to see how it turns out.

Truthfully,Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a. "Ste" of Framingham,Ma.USA

This M-G-M musical comedy short, Captain Spanky's Show Boat, is the one hundred eighty-fourth entry in the "Our Gang" series and the ninety-sixth talkie. Butch is upset that Spanky won't let him perform and sing in the show so he buys a ticket and decides to sabotage Alfalfa's song. Before that happens, Darla does a soft show routine with a couple of boys along with some banter and then a "meller drammer" called "Out in the Snow You Go" gets performed by the gang. I liked Darla's number and some of the play, but by the time of Alf's song, I was very irritated that he was allowed to go on without interruption since his usual off-key warbling was no longer funny to me. At least the way it was presented here. So at the very least, Captain Spanky's Show Boat is worth a look for any Our Gang completists out there.