Our Gang Follies of 1938 (later reissued as simply Follies of 1938) is a 1937 American musical short subject, the 161st short subject entry in Hal Roach's Our Gang (Little Rascals) series. Directed by Gordon Douglas as a sequel to 1935's Our Gang Follies of 1936, the two-reel short was released to theaters on December 18, 1937 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Deriving its title from the concurrent MGM feature film The Broadway Melody of 1938, 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) decides to quit a pop music revue put on by Spanky (George McFarland) and become an opera singer, 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, in which Alfalfa imagines himself twenty years later failing as an opera singer, while Spanky owns a Broadway 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), and performances by Darla (Darla Hood) and many of the other neighborhood kids. However, "King of Crooners" Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), the star of the show, crashes the swing music based show with his off-key rendition of "The Barber of Seville", having secretly decided he is going to sing opera 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's "Learn to Croon" for the show's finale.
Cast
The Gang
Carl Switzer as Alfalfa
Darla Hood as Darla
Eugene Lee as Porky
George McFarland as Spanky
Billie Thomas as Buckwheat
Additional cast
Annabelle Logan as Girl singing "The Bonnie Banks o' 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, Jr. as Richard Harold Switzer as Harold Laura June Williams as Hula girl The Ben Carter Kids as Orchestra members The Bud Murray Kids as Dancers