Cousin Wilbur

Hal Roach Studios created the Little Rascals back in 1922. They continued making films until 1938 and distributing them through MGM. However, for some reason, MGM decided to buy the series off of Roach. I am sure some of this was because the Roach studio was getting away from shorts and moving to B-length films of 55-65 minutes in length. Regardless, folks who loved the Rascals tend to feel that the quality of the pictures dropped significantly when MGM took over and the films did tend to be more dull...especially the ones they made in the 1940s. "Cousin Wilbur" is one of these MGM- made films (dubbed the 'Our Gang' pictures), though it was created shortly after the sale...and so it's not surprising that the quality isn't so bad.

An interesting thing about this one is that Cousin Wilbur is played by Scotty Beckett--a kid who used to be a regular member of the gang and who was possibly the cutest. Here, he plays Alfalfa's very prissy bespectacled cousin.

The plot is VERY simple. Cousin Wilbur is visiting and Alfalfa's mother tells him to introduce him to the gang...which he is apprehensive to do considering how wimpy Wilbur appears to be. Wilbur convinces the guys they can make money selling insurance to other kids...but soon they have to start paying out for black eyes, as Butch and his toady start beating up all the kids. So, it's up to Wilbur to take care of things!

The only real problem with this film is that the plot is so simple. This is because unlike Little Rascal shorts of about 20 minutes in length, the Our Gang versions tended to be about half that length! Cute but suffering from being a bit too simple and too rushed...but still worth seeing.

Cousin Wilbur is visiting for the week and Alfalfa has to show him around. His mother forces him to introduce Wilbur to the gang. The club needs more members. Wilbur suggests selling insurance and recruiting members with benefits that pay out for black eyes among other stuff. Butch notices the racket and insists on taking over. When Wilbur refuses, Butch starts spreading the black eyes and the club is in danger of going broke. Wilbur goes and takes care of business. The story is good for a fun little short. The only thing missing is some kid on kid violence. It needs a little kiddie MMA to show Wilbur taking down Butch. That would put this over the top.

This M-G-M comedy short, Cousin Wilber, is the one hundred eightieth entry in the "Our Gang" series and the ninety-second talkie. The title character is Alfalfa's and he's nervous about introducing him to the rest of the gang. But Wilber ingratiates himself to them when he suggests a benefits package to increase membership in the All for One Club. Kids are soon lining up to pay. Then Butch and Woim muscle in...It had been four years since Scotty Beckett had been in the gang when his last appearance in the series was in Our Gang Follies of 1936. Those years in feature films seemed to have made him even more of a presence in inheriting the new role of a more charming version of Waldo. Nice reference to another of Alf's relatives a few shorts back at the end. So on that note, Cousin Wilber is worth it for series fans in seeing a former gang member play another character. P.S. This was Gary "Junior" Jasgur's final appearance in the series. He died on August 22, 1994.

Cousin Wilbur (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Alfalfa's cousin Wilbur comes over for a visit and the two go to the club house. Once there Wilbur tells the gang that they can get more members if they offered up special benefits, which at first seem like a good idea until Butch hears of it. COUSIN WILBUR is another fairly good entry in the MGM-Our Gang series. This one here benefits from the rather good performance by Scotty Beckett as Wilbur. I thought he really added a lot of charm to the film and it was nice seeing a new face really mix things up. There's no question that his appearance (dorky glasses, parted hair) were meant to be funny and it is but the character also manages to be memorable for what he does to Butch and the other bully. Carl Switzer is also in good for as Alfalfa and Porky and Buckwheat also get a couple good scenes. I thought the story itself was also pretty good and especially the various pay-outs for injuries. There's no question that this short is far from a masterpiece but fans of the series should get enough laughs out of it to make it worth viewing.