Spanky

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Little SPANKY is a real pill & the bane of older brother Brisbane's existence. Forced to baby-sit while the Rascals put on their production of Uncle Tom's Cabin, he's not surprised when the little tyke makes a shambles of the proceedings. But then Spanky discovers a hidden horde of cash...

This very funny little film was made to showcase newcomer Spanky - and his bug hunt & money tossing are hilarious - but the talents of Stymie are equally on display as he portrays both Uncle Tom & Topsy in the play. That's Billy Gilbert as Spanky's pop.

This Hal Roach comedy short, Spanky, is the one hundred thirteenth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the twenty-fifth talkie. The beginning is actually the screen test directed by James W. Horne of the little tyke that got great reactions from the studio brass including Roach himself who signed Spanky to a five-year contract. He's chasing a bug with a toy shotgun (I think) and a hammer. Then we transition to a talkie remake of Uncle Tom's Uncle with most of the same gags intact. Oh, and Billy Gilbert-previously in Shiver My Timbers, Dogs Is Dogs, and Free Eats-plays Spanky's father here. I'll just say this was another very funny Our Gang short mainly because of Spanky. There was also a very funny sound effect of someone "crying" in the play. I think I've said enough so that's definitely a recommendation.

For the most part, this short featuring the kids from Our Gang is unfocused and seems more an opportunity to reuse the footage from Spanky's screen test than anything else. It seems that many clips in "Spanky" were taken directly from this--such as the scenes where he's chasing bugs with a hammer. Apart from this, you'll see a very young Spanky get into lots of trouble as he destroys the kids' play as well as throws his father's (Billy Gibert) hidden money out the window! All in all, Spanky played a really destructive brat in this one...but he was so cute that you enjoyed it anyway and could look for the lack of a clear plot.

While this is a pretty good short, hold on to your seat and breath deep when you see the play. After all, all the white kids are in black-face to do the story "Uncle Tom's Cabin"! Funnier (and less offensive) is when Stymie's sister drops out of the play and Stymie is drafted to play BOTH roles--that of Uncle Tom and Topsy the female slave!