Doin' Their Bit

Poor Spanky and Buckwheat. MGM made them appear in drivel like this because they were under contract. It's sad to see them go downhill like this.

Needless to say, this is a "revue" short. Some guy who keeps reappearing to goad the kids into performing cutesy little numbers, goads the kids into performing cutesy little numbers. After a quick proto-Riverdance which is even more stultifyingly boring, Janet Burston sings "I Love a Man In Uniform" in a passable and yet not entertaining fashion. Spanky and Froggy then do an army camp skit with Froggy's raspy voice destroying the punchlines. Finally a young Virginia O'Brien wannabe sings about the Allies while solemn and depressed-looking kids parade by with flags. (Buckwheat gets the Haiti flag. Make of that what you will.) I think the war effort could have done without this "bit", and judging by the fact that this short was the first to lose money, I think America felt the same way about it.