Our Gang Follies of 1938

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Dix Davis, Tim Davis, Paul Hilton, Darla Hood, George 'Spanky' McFarland, Raymond Rayhill Powell, Norman Salling, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, Rhoda Williams, and Dorothy Heinrichs in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

The gang is putting on a show with Alfalfa billed as "King of the Crooners." But Alfalfa abandons the show saying his crooning days are over, and that opera is his true calling. But after ta... Read allThe gang is putting on a show with Alfalfa billed as "King of the Crooners." But Alfalfa abandons the show saying his crooning days are over, and that opera is his true calling. But after taking a nap and dreaming of a successful future in popular music, he changes his mind and j... Read allThe gang is putting on a show with Alfalfa billed as "King of the Crooners." But Alfalfa abandons the show saying his crooning days are over, and that opera is his true calling. But after taking a nap and dreaming of a successful future in popular music, he changes his mind and joins the rest of the gang for the closing number.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

411

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos42

Tommy Ryan in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Gloria Browne, George 'Spanky' McFarland, Priscilla Montgomery, Patricia Wheeler, Camille Williams, Verna Dillon, Nora Rita Stein, and Rae-Nell Laskey in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Betsy Gay in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Betsy Gay, Gloria Mackey, and Trina Morris in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Gloria Browne, Darla Hood, and Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Patsy May, Jana Lund, Eugene 'Porky' Lee, George 'Spanky' McFarland, and Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Jana Lund and Eugene 'Porky' Lee in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Gloria Browne, Darla Hood, Gloria Winters, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, and Laura June Williams in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

George 'Spanky' McFarland and Clifford Severn in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Annie Ross in Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
For the long medium close-up where he gets bombarded with tomatoes, hard cabbage, lettuce, etc. while trying to sing "The Barber of Seville," Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer was told he would only be hit with soft tomatoes. Of course, when filming started, he found out the opposite. The anger seen on-screen is not acting; after the shot was done, Alfalfa grabbed his brother Harold Switzer and said, "C'mon, Harold; let's go kick their ass," and a fight almost broke out between cast and crew members. It is speculated that the vegetable toss (which was done by the crew members for this shot, not the kid opera attendees seen in the wide shot) was payback by the crew for having had to endure the pranks, tantrums, and other mischief Alfalfa regularly caused on the Our Gang sets.

Goofs
Except for the ubiquitous "Figaro!", no actual music or libretto from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" is heard.

Quotes
Alfalfa: I'm the Barber of Seville!

Crazy credits
Unlike most other Hal Roach comedies released through MGM, this one features an unusual opening title: "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents 'Our Gang Follies of 1938,' a Hal Roach Production," as opposed to the usual "Hal Roach Presents" title line. This short also features unique title cards, when the series had by this time converted over to standardized title cards.

Connections
Edited into Little Rascals Varieties (1959)

Soundtracks
Stagecoach Conversation
(incidental score from Kaksi kulkuria (1937))
Written by Marvin Hatley
Performed by the Hal Roach Studio Orchestra

User reviews12

Review

Featured review

6/10

High Production + Home Spun=Freak Show

Hal Roach was getting out of the short subject business when this movie was being made. He had fired Charley Chase, Laurel and Hardy were doing features only and he was negotiating to sell 'Our Gang' to MGM, where the shorts would continue to be produced for another nine years.

In the meantime, Roach was trying to produce longer Our Gang pieces, short features, or increase the production value by other means to get a higher price for his product. This is the result: Alfalfa sings in that annoying voice of his that people obviously considered cute. And there is a major 'night club' sequence, populated with the rascals. The problem is that Our Gang kids were chosen to be, well, kids, and the results here -- watching six year olds screech swing versions of "Loch Lomond" is pretty aggravating.

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