Beginner's Luck

This is a rather cute little Our Gang short, but I also found it unsettling as it was clearly a case of art imitating life. It all begins with Spanky doing a recitation for his mother's friends. Clearly, the mother is an obnoxious mother of a kid who just wants to be a kid! Later, she enters him in a talent show--when all sorts of hijinks ensue--some of which is pretty cute.

As I say, it's a case of art imitating life because I have read Leonard Maltin's book about the Rascals. And, unfortunately, a lot of the kids had pushy parents just like Spanky's in the film. It made the laughs a little less funny when I realized the writer for this short was probably influenced by the kids' real life folks! By the way, speaking of obnoxious folks, this was Alfalfa's first film with Our Gang. While cute in the films, he and his family are a VERY sad example of the sorts of pushy behavior and monstrous egos that were all too common with child actors. Read up on them when you get a chance--it's interesting but very, very sad.

Also, in this film you hear a child poorly singing "Honolulu Baby"--the tune that was popularized in the great Laurel & Hardy feature "Sons of the Desert".

This Little Rascals short is the funniest one of all of them. It involves Spanky being entered in a talent show by his somewhat overbearing mom, while her own mom disapproves. The acting, story & outcome are classic, and anyone who has watched this on television growing up remembers it fondly. I think the whole gist of this was to highlight overbearing stage moms, and this film did it perfectly. You see good acts, not so good acts etc, but the film never loses its zest. Spanky's mom in the film, the pretty Kitty Kelly, gives a standout performance which, judging from the comments here, is unforgettable. No need to divulge the fate of Spanky's mom here. If you've seen this, you know. If you haven't, find it. You'll love it.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

To his embarrassment, Spanky's mom enters him in a talent contest. He immediately gets the Gang's help in a plan to lose. Once on stage, however, Spanky meets a sweet little girl & his plans change. Now he'll need real BEGINNER'S LUCK to have a chance of winning...

A very funny little film, with Spanky in rare form. Highlight: Spanky's performance on stage. This was the film debut for Alfalfa (he sings `She'll Be Comin' 'Round The Mountain').

One of the most popular characters in the later stages of the 'Our Gang' series was 'Alfalfa.' Carl Switzer, nicknamed 'Alfalfa,' first appeared in a Little Rascals film in February 1935's "Beginner's Luck." Carl, 7, and his brother Harold, 9, are one act in a kids' talent show slinging out the song "She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain."

Carl, the youngest of four siblings, was born in 1927 in Paris, Illinois. Growing up he and Harold became local favorites in their hometown singing and playing several different instruments. The Switzers took a vacation to visit family in California and toured the Hal Roach Studios for curiosity sake. While eating in the cafeteria that day, the brothers decided to spontaneously sing a couple of songs. Assistant director Gordon Douglas, eating his lunch nearby, was so impress by the cuteness and talent of the boys he got producer Hal Roach to see them. Impressed, Roach signed the pair to one 'Our Gang' short, which turned out to be "Beginner's Luck." The two eventually received their stage nicknames: Harold was called "Slim" and "Deadpan," while Carl got the moniker that lasted his entire life, 'Alfalfa.' The talent show is an excuse for an aggressive stage mother to press her reluctant child to perform in front of a live audience. Spanky's mother (Kitty Kelly) pushes the child to recite a passage from William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar.' Dressed up as a Roman Centurion, the reluctant Spanky wants to get even with his mother and plans for his friends to pelt him with peas and noisemakers. But his designs goes awry when a little girl who needs money for a new dress gets stage fright and cries to her mother. Spanky vows to win the show and give her his prize money. Trouble is the gang in the front row didn't get the memo and begin disrupting his act. His mom ends up losing her dress over the incident.

"Beginner's Luck" proved to be one of 'Our Gang's' more popular shorts. At the conclusion of the film's showing at the Capitol Theatre in New York City, the audience went wild. The viewers applauded so long that singer Rudy Valley, standing in the wings of the stage behind the curtain to make a special appearance, had a long wait to perform before the audience settled down. Actress Kitty Kelly, as Spanky's mother, took the humor in stride, saying her performance was one of the highlights in her acting career despite numerous appearances in television, primarily in the TV series 'Bonanza.' Meanwhile, Carl Switzer's popularity rose as his years with the Rascals progressed while his brother Harold ended up playing minor parts with the kids. Alfalfa made a habit of singing his songs off-key, even though he was a perfect on-key crooner. By 1937, his popularity eclipsed Spanky's. Off screen, the rivalry between the child actors' parents heated up as each fought over the amount of screen time and salaries. Alfalfa, who liked to play cruel tricks with his 'pals' off the set, remained with the Little Rascals until 1940, when he became a lanky teenager.

There are many Our Gang shorts that I love dearly, and many that bring a smile or a warm feeling inside. Out of all of them, this is the one that can truly cause me to laugh out loud.

Of course, the laughter of the audience is infectious and tends to help things along, but Spanky's continued stumbling about as one disaster after another befalls him is priceless.

Something to note about the reviews: one reviewer, who has posted under several different names here, is clearly obsessed with this film. I have encountered him over the years on other forums besides this one, and his thoughts on "Beginner's Luck" remain the same. He can be identified (across his multiple identities) by his habit of not putting spaces after periods — and alternately, of putting a space BEFORE a comma and none after!

Leaving aside the content of his reviews, how anyone who reads the English language could get the idea that it can or should be written this way is beyond me.