Aladdin's Lantern

...is a pleasant but undistinguished addition to the series' mini-musicals (which I have never wholeheartedly appreciated). I liked the tap-dance solo to "Your Broadway and My Broadway," the stage effects, and all of Porky and Buckwheat's scenes, but all in all I agree that this film isn't original enough.

Rather tepid Our Gang short, with the standard elements (monkey hijinks, Alfalfa song) not amounting to very much. Porky & Buckwheat steal the show (literally) and the flying carpet's not bad, but overall just so-so.

The last of Gordon Douglas's two shorts for MGM, alas.

MGM would soon populate every fourth short with a musical extravaganza, but at this stage things still looked creaky and homemade, even if it's unlikely that Spanky could have coaxed all those talented child dancers to come and do an elaborate number for an iffy Arabian Nights play. Meanwhile, Porky and Buckwheat are continually stealing the show (literally and meta-literally) doing their version of "While Strolling Through The Park One Day." Though why is Buckwheat shirtless? It's a little odd.

So it's a fairly fun short, though the laugh factor of Alfalfa's off-key warbling is debatable. And the Gang Member in drag bit was done better in "Pay As You Exit." Recommended, though, just because Porky and Buckwheat are an adorable team.

Aladdin's Lantern (1938)

** (out of 4)

The third film in MGM's Our Gang series is pretty forgettable. Alfalfa is putting on a show, which of course sells out to the local kids. Once the show starts, however, he sees that Porky and Buckwheat keep stealing the spotlight with their take on "While Strolling Through the Park One Day." ALADDIN'S LANTERN is a pretty forgettable effect, which is a shame because the early days of the group managed to pull off several entertaining films dealing with the gang putting on shows for the local kids. There are many problems here but I think the biggest is the rather lazy screenplay, which seems to resort to hoping people remember the earlier, better shorts and perhaps they'll overlook the various flaws here. The biggest flaw is the fact that there's just nothing all that funny going on here. There's a sequence with Alfalfa singing and not knowing (at first) that there's a fire going on under him. I will say that Porky and Buckwheat steal the picture but one wishes Alfalfa would have just gotten knocked out so that they could have finished their song. I'm sure fans of the series will still want to check this out but it's a pretty mediocre entry.

In 1938, producer Hal Roach sold the rights to his Our Gang series to former distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Sadly, the series did not improve under the supervision of MGM. But the Gang's first year or so at the studio brought some decent entries. ''Aladdin's Lantern,'' the third MGM release, was sadly the last by longtime Our Gang director Gordon Douglas. Douglas still manages to present enough charm in this short to keep it entertaining.

The premise is that Spanky and Alfalfa are putting together a show based on the story of ''Aladdin.'' But trouble arrives when star Darla quits.

This ten minute romp has a good share of fun moments. For instance, the kids' homemade gadgets, such as a rigged flying carpet, are quite enjoyable. But the real stars are Buckwheat and Porky, who constantly interrupt the show with their adorably unrehearsed rendition of "The Fountain in the Park." And no Our Gang show would be complete without a song by Alfalfa.

But the film does have its flaws. MGM's insistence on elaborate musical numbers is clearly present. Spanky, playing a greedy caliph, wishes for some dancers to entertain him. Enter a group of over-rehearsed tap dancing children. Unlike MGM, Roach hated the types of children that didn't behaved more like adults. Such a musical number would have never worked in a Roach comedy. Another flaw is the needlessly large set. Much of the film takes place in the cellar of a home. What kind of a cellar has such tall ceilings? Yet another one of MGM's attempts at prettying up the series.

Still, enough charm is present to make it ''almost'' feel like a Roach comedy.