''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' (later reissued as simply ''Follies of 1938'') is a 1937 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, the 161st short subject entry in

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

's ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

'' (''Little Rascals'') series. Directed by Gordon Douglas as a sequel to 1935's ''

Our Gang Follies of 1936 ''Our Gang Follies of 1936'' is a 1935 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Gus Meins. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 140th ''Our Gang'' short to be released and the first of several mu ...

'', the two-reel short was released to theaters on December 18, 1937 by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. Deriving its title from the concurrent MGM feature film ''

The Broadway Melody of 1938 ''Broadway Melody of 1938'' is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical traditi ...

'', ''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' is a spoof of the ''Broadway Melody'' films and other movie musicals of the time. In the film, Alfalfa (

Carl Switzer Carl may refer to: * Carl, Georgia, city in USA * Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name * Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of ...

) decides to quit a pop music revue put on by Spanky (

George McFarland George McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for starring as a child as Spanky in the ''Our Gang'' series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The ''Our Gang'' shorts were later syndicated ...

) and become an

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

, famously singing a pastiche song entitled "The Barber of Seville" several times throughout the film. The bulk of the film is made up of a

dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...

, in which Alfalfa imagines himself twenty years later failing as an opera singer, while Spanky owns a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

nightclub with a lavish floor show.

Plot

The gang is putting on another big show in Spanky's cellar, complete with an orchestra led by Buckwheat (

Billie Thomas Billie may refer to: People * Billie Allen (1925-2015), American actress * Billie Bird (1908-2002), American actress and comedian * Billie Burke (1884-1970), American actress * Billie Joe Armstrong (born 1972), American singer and guitarist for ...

), and performances by Darla (

Darla Hood Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the ''Our Gang'' series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of music teacher Elizabeth Da ...

) and many of the other neighborhood kids. However, "King of Crooners" Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), the star of the show, crashes the

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

based show with his off-key rendition of "The Barber of Seville", having secretly decided he is going to sing

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

from now on. Spanky closes the curtain on Alfalfa and sends out another act to replace him, causing Alfalfa to walk out and take his voice "where it'll be appreciated!" With Porky ( Eugene Lee) accompanying him, Alfalfa turns up at the Cosmopolitan Opera House, wanting to appear in their next opera. Barnaby ( Henry Brandon), the Cosmopolitan's impresario, jokingly offers the young boy a contract — provided he come back in twenty years. Elated, Alfalfa returns to Spanky's cellar with Porky, gloating about his presumed good fortune. Spanky tears into him, telling him that "someday I'll be a big producer on Broadway, and you'll be singing your opera in the streets with a tin cup in your hand!" Alfalfa brushes off Spanky's warnings and falls asleep backstage, dreaming that the twenty years have elapsed and the public is awaiting his debut at Barnaby's opera house. However, Alfalfa is quickly booed by the audience and pelted with rotten vegetables. An angry Barnaby, now a wizened old man, throws Alfalfa out into the New York streets and forces him to sing for pennies in the snow. Hungry and broke, Alfalfa and Porky happen upon Club Spanky, an ornate nightclub on Broadway, owned by a now-rich Spanky and headlined by the also rich Darla and " Cab Buckwheat". Inviting them in to see the show, Spanky offers to let Alfalfa and Porky work for him again. Porky immediately accepts, but Alfalfa stubbornly refuses. However, after seeing the floor show starring Darla, Buckwheat, Porky, and a few other performers, Alfalfa is won over and changes his mind. Just as he begins to sing, however, Barnaby appears to drag him back out by the arm to sing in the snow. Alfalfa struggles to release himself from Barnaby's grip while the children chant "We want Alfalfa! We want Alfalfa!" Alfalfa then awakens to find himself back in Spanky's cellar with the audience continuing to chant in the background. Spanky begs him to join in the last act, and Alfalfa, needing no further convincing and fed up with opera, tears up his contract and rushes onstage to sing

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

's "Learn to Croon" for the show's finale.

Cast

The Gang

as Alfalfa *

as Darla * Eugene Lee as Porky *

as Spanky *

as Buckwheat

Additional cast

* Annabelle Logan (later known as Annie Ross) as Girl singing Loch Lomond * Georgia Jean LaRue as Girl singing * Philip MacMahon as Boy singing * Ada Lynn as Blues singer (scenes deleted) * Gloria Brown as Hula girl/Chorus girl/Bowery girl * Jana Ekelund as Check room girl * Betsy Gay as Eccentric girl * Gloria Hurst as Hula girl/Dancer in nightclub * Sylvia Johnson as Porky's girlfriend * Dickie Jones as Dickie * Henry Lee as Spike * Gloria Mackey as Eccentric girl * Patsy May as Check room girl * Tommy McFarland as Tommy * Trina Morris as Eccentric girl *

Clifford Severn Clifford Severn (September 21, 1925 – June 4, 2014) was an American cricketer and child screen actor. Clifford Severn was the son of Dr. Clifford Brill Severn (1890-1981). His parents emigrated from South Africa to Los Angeles after he was born. ...

, Jr. as Richard *

Harold Switzer Harold Frederick Switzer (January 16, 1925 – April 14, 1967) was an American child actor, most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series as an extra. He was the older brother of gang member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, one ...

as Harold * Laura June Williams as Hula girl * The Ben Carter Kids as Orchestra members * The Bud Murray Kids as Dancers

Adults

* Henry Brandon as "Barnaby", opera impresario *

Gino Corrado Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." '' Variety'' (Archive: 1905-2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (Jan 5, 1983): 78-79. Via Proquest. He appeared in more ...

as Opera singer * Wilma Cox as Miss Jones, Barnaby's secretary *

Doodles Weaver Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon "Doodles" Weaver (May 11, 1911 – January 17, 1983) was an American character actor, comedian, and musician. Born into a wealthy West Coast family, Weaver began his career in radio. In the late 1930s, he p ...

as Piano player Ogfolliesof38

Production

Often pointed out as one of the best entries in the series,Erickson, Hal (2007).
Review of ''Our Gang Follies of 1938''
. ''Allmovie''. Retrieved January 24, 2007. ''Follies of 1938'' was produced as a special one-shot return to the series' original two-reel (twenty-minute) format, after a season and a half of shorter one-reel films. In addition, ''Follies of 1938'', particularly its extended dream sequence, features lavish production design and filmmaking typical of feature length MGM musicals.Maltin and Bann. (1977, rev. 1992). p. 187-189. MGM in fact helped finance the short beyond its usual contributions to the Roach shorts; as a result its opening titles read "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents ''Our Gang Follies of 1938'', A Hal Roach Production," as opposed to the usual "Hal Roach Presents ''Our Gang'' in..." At a cost of $58 thousand, ''Follies of 1938'' was the most expensive ''Our Gang'' short ever produced. The short's cast includes over one hundred children, as nearly all of the parts in the film (even the "adults" in Alfalfa's dream sequence) are played by kids. The lone exceptions are Henry Brandon's "Barnaby" character (not named onscreen, but named as such in the script), and the other three adults seen at the Cosmopolitan Opera House. Brandon's villainous Barnaby character was re-purposed from another Hal Roach production,

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...

's 1934 feature '' Babes in Toyland''. One of the featured singers in Spanky's cellar show is Annabelle Logan, a girl who sings a swing rendition of the traditional Scottish song " The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond". Logan would grow up to become Annie Ross, a successful

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

singer and actress.Maltin and Bann. (1977, rev. 1992). p. 278.

Rights

''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' is one of four sound ''

'' shorts that fell into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

after the copyright lapsed in the 1960s (the other three being '' School's Out'', '' Bear Shooters'', and '' Waldo's Last Stand''). As such, these films frequently appear on inexpensive video and/or DVD compilations.

Songs

''Songwriters are listed in italics.'' # "Stagecoach Conversation" ''( Marvin Hatley)'' - Buckwheat and His Orchestra (instrumental) # "Follies Introduction/King Alfalfa" ''(Hatley)'' - Spanky, Darla, and "Follies" chorus girls # "

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was ba ...

" ''(

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

)'' - Alfalfa # "Pick a Star" ''(R. Alex. Anderson)'' - Harmonica Players (Henry Lee and Harold Switzer) # "The Barber of Seville" (Reprise #1) -

and Alfalfa # "

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of ...

" - Annabelle Logan # " Honolulu Baby" ''(Hatley)'' - Buckwheat and his Band (instrumental) # "The Barber of Seville" (Reprise #2) - Alfalfa # "Follow the Leader" ''( Arthur Morton)'' - "Cab Buckwheat" and His Orchestra # "The Love Bug Will Get You (If You Don't Watch Out)" ''(

Pinky Tomlin Truman Virgil "Pinky" Tomlin (September 9, 1907 – December 12, 1987) was a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to performing in occasional motion pictures, he wrote and published 22 songs, several of ...

)'' - Darla, Spanky, Porky, Buckwheat and Georgia Jean LaRue # "That Foolish Feeling" ''(Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh)'' - Georgia Jean LaRue # "There's No Two Ways About It)" ''(Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh)'' - Philip MacMahon and Ensemble # "Learn to Croon" ''(Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow)'' - Alfalfa # "Follies Conclusion" ''(Hatley)'' - Alfalfa, Spanky, Darla, Porky,

, Henry Lee, Gloria Browne, Gloria Hurst, and Laura June Williams

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{Figaro Trilogy, state=collapsed 1937 films 1937 musical comedy films American musical comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Gordon Douglas Hal Roach Studios short films Our Gang films Works based on The Barber of Seville 1930s American films