Party Fever (1938)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Both Alfalfa and Butch want to date Darla but she only agrees to go out with whichever ones wins the "Mayor for a Day" contest. Soon the two boys are trying to do what they can to get votes (Alfalfa doing nice stuff, Butch beating people up). This second Our Gang-MGM isn't quite as good as THE LITTLE RANGER but there's no question that the series still had some charm, which is something that would be lost as this series went along. I think the best moments of this film deal with Alfalfa trying to do nice things in order to get votes. This includes going around cleaning the streets but of course something happens to make him look like he did nothing. There's also a rather clever ending involving one boy taking off in a homemade balloon ride. The one thing the film lacks are any major laughs as pretty much the entire thing is rather straight with only a few scenes that will put a smile on your face. All of the child actors are still in good form here and especially Tommy Bond playing Butch.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Both Alfalfa and Butch want to date Darla but she only agrees to go out with whichever ones wins the "Mayor for a Day" contest. Soon the two boys are trying to do what they can to get votes (Alfalfa doing nice stuff, Butch beating people up). This second Our Gang-MGM isn't quite as good as THE LITTLE RANGER but there's no question that the series still had some charm, which is something that would be lost as this series went along. I think the best moments of this film deal with Alfalfa trying to do nice things in order to get votes. This includes going around cleaning the streets but of course something happens to make him look like he did nothing. There's also a rather clever ending involving one boy taking off in a homemade balloon ride. The one thing the film lacks are any major laughs as pretty much the entire thing is rather straight with only a few scenes that will put a smile on your face. All of the child actors are still in good form here and especially Tommy Bond playing Butch.