Darla Hood Movies

Once again, the Our Gang kids stage an elaborate musical show in Spanky McFarland's backyard. Angered over the fact that Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer has been chosen as the show's singing star, bully Tommy "Butch" Bond sneaks backstage with the intention of sabotaging the production. But Butch is hoisted on his own petard, and the show goes on as scheduled. The highlight of this middling one-reel Our Gang effort is the gang's presentation of a rip-roaring "mellerdrammer," replete with hero (Alfalfa), heroine (Darla Hood), black-hearted villain (Spanky McFarland), and an ersatz horse race. Captain Spanky's Show Boat was originally released by MGM on September 9, 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Once again, Our Gang members Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Tommy "Butch" Bond are bitter rivals for the affections of little Darla Hood. The nerdish Waldo (Darwood Kaye) comes up with a solution: Alfalfa and Butch will compete for the title of Junior Mayor during Boys' Week, and whichever one wins will earn the honor of escorting Darla to the annual Strawberry Festival. But despite the strenuous efforts of both young candidates, a "dark horse" wins not only the election, but also the girl. Originally released on August 27, 1938, the one-reel Our Gang comedy Party Fever was among the earliest directorial efforts of George Sidney (The Harvey Girls, Show Boat, Bye Bye Birdie). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed on MGM's standing Dr. Kildare sets, the one-reel Our Gang comedy Men in Fright gets under way as Gang members Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Spanky McFarland, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas, Eugene "Porky" Lee, and Leonard Landy pay a visit to their hospitalized friend Darla Hood. Thanks to a convenient plot device, Alfalfa is mistaken for a tonsillectomy patient and subjected to laughing gas. Once this complication has been straightened out, the kids burrow through a picnic basket full of such delicacies as pickles, ice cream, and hot dogs, with the expected results (conveyed via a clever bit of animation). Men in Fright was originally released on October 15, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hoping to get even for all the practical jokes perpetrated by neighborhood troublemaker Tommy "Butch" Bond, the Our Gang kids plan to sabotage Butch's birthday party. The weapon of choice is a firecracker, which is substituted for one of the birthday candles. Unfortunately, the kids in general and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in particular are unable to escape from the party before the big (and tasty) explosion. Essentially a single-joke effort, the one-reel Our Gang comedy Practical Jokers was originally released on December 17, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marie Blake, the real-life sister of Jeanette MacDonald, played the title role in the one-reel comedy Alfalfa's Aunt. Hoping to launch a career as a mystery writer, Aunt Penelope composes a manuscript which leads her nephew Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer to conclude that Auntie plans to do away with him. With the help of the rest of the Our Gang kids, Alfalfa succeeds in scaring Aunt Penelope off the premises -- much to the delight of his long-suffering parents. Brimming with clever and inventive sight gags, Alfalfa's Aunt -- originally released on January 7, 1939 -- is one of the better MGM Our Gang entries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this followup to the earlier one-reeler Our Gang: Night 'N' Gales, comedian Johnny Arthur reprises his role as Darla Hood's long-suffering father. It's Mr. Hood's birthday, and he has been eagerly anticipating a quiet dinner at home with his family. Alas, Darla has invited a "few friends" to the celebration: Our Gang-ers Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Eugene "Porky" Lee, Philip Hurlic, and Leonard Landy. The well-meaning quartet drive poor Mr. Hood to distraction with loud and interminable choruses of "Happy Birthday, Mr. Hood", but this is nothing compared to the presents they've brought: a frog, a duck, and a cat, all of which get into a noisy confrontation with the family dog. When the kids aren't arguing over their favorite comic-strip characters, they're busily devouring Mr. Hood's birthday dinner; the poor fellow doesn't even get a slice of his own cake! Feed 'Em and Weep was orginally released on May 7, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Seven-year-old heartbreaker Darla Hood throws her steady beau Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer over in favor of wealthy Waldo (Darwood Kaye), who owns a junior-sized motorboat. Determined to win Darla back, Alfalfa challenges Waldo to a boat race for the championship of Toluca Lake. Alfie's vessel is a typical spit-and-vinegar "Our Gang" creation, powered by a couple of overworked ducks. Despite his amateurish means of conveyance, Alfalfa not only defeats Waldo, but also gets a chance to play hero by rescuing Darla from a watery fate. Could those little nemeses Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee have had anything to do with Waldo's downfall? A slick and entertaining single-reel effort, Three Men in a Tub was originally released on March 26, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Briefly digressing from "Our Gang"'s new one-reel format, the series' December 18, 1937 release, Our Gang Follies of 1938, was expanded to two reels -- and the result is often considered to be the best "Gang" comedy of all. Another musical short in the tradition of Our Gang Follies of 1936 and Reunion in Rhythm, this one begins in the basement "theater" of Spanky McFarland, who serves as emcee of a lavish kiddie revue, built primarily around the talents of Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, "King of the Crooners." Alas, Alfalfa has decided to forego swing music in favor of grand opera, and to that end he walks out of the show and heads to the Cosmopolitan Opera House, where Mr. Barnaby (Henry Brandon), the troupe's bemused manager, jokingly signs Alfalfa to a contract -- effective twenty years later. Falling asleep, Alfalfa begins dreaming of his future, envisioning his name in lights all over Broadway. Alfie's dream turns into a nightmare when he loses his "gift" on the eve of his operatic debut, whereupon the now aged and wizened Barnaby forces the hapless crooner to sing in the streets. Our hero is rescued when he ventures into fashionable Club Spanky, where lead singer Darla Hood and orchestra leader Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas are now making "hundreds of thousands of dollars." Though at first insisting that he's a "slave to his art," Alfie finally breaks down and agrees to return to crooning -- but his dream, and the film, aren't quite over yet. Seldom has the imagination of a child been so vividly conveyed as in Our Gang Follies of 1938, wherein the standard "show-biz movie" cliches are played out and exaggerated for all they're worth. As a bonus, the film scores as both an uproarious comedy and a legitimately entertaining musical. Highlights include Alfalfa's unforgettable renditions of "I'm the Barber of Seville" and "Learn to Croon"; Darla's interpretation of "The Love Bug Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out"; "Loch Lomond", performed by Annabella Logan (who grew up to become fabled jazz singer Annie Ross); and "That Foolish Feeling" and "There's No Two Ways About It", sung and danced by Georgia Jean LaRue and Phil MacMahon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Comedian Johnny Arthur, who played Spanky McFarland's absent-minded father in the 1935 "Our Gang" comedy Anniversary Trouble, returns as the father of another Gang member, Darla Hood, in the one-reel entry Our Gang: Night 'N' Gales. Though he'd rather spend his evening in peace and quiet, Mr. Hood (Arthur) is forced to endure the offkey harmonizing of the Four Nightengales, a junior singing aggegation comprised of Spanky, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee. After interminable choruses of "Home Sweet Home", the four boys are finally ready to leave, but are forced to stay in the Hood home due to a sudden rainstorm. Both Darla and her mother (Elaine Shepherd) are delighted, but Mr. Hood is dismayed, especially when he is told that he must share his bed with the Four Nightengales. Driven crazy by the boys' unintentionally disruptive shenanigans, Mr. Hood escapes to the living room and tries to sleep on the couch, covering himself with a bear rug to keep warm. You guessed it: The kids mistake him for a real bear, and comic chaos ensues. Highlighting this little comedy is a surrealistic dream sequence, underscored by the Nathaniel Shilkret composition "Funny and Mysterious" (a familiar leitmotif in many a Laurel and Hardy feature). Night 'N' Gales was originally released on July 24, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Upset at being forced to do the household chores all weekend long, Our Gang-ers Spanky McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee decide to run away from home. Taking a breather in the tiny village of Jenksville, the boys manage to cadge a meal from kindly storekeeper Mrs. Jenks (May Wallace). But when she finds out that the kids are runaways, she passes this information along to her husband, Constable Hi Jenks (Otis Harlan), who jovially decides to teach the boys a lesson. Pretending to arrest the four youngsters, Constable Jenks dresses them in convict stripes and forces them to work on the rockpile, figuring that after an hour or so they'll be glad to return home. But an unanticipated swarm of bees brings this little morality play to a sudden and painful conclusion for all concerned. One of the few "Our Gang" one-reelers to boast an original background-music score (courtesy of Marvin Hatley), "Roamin' Holiday" was originally released on June 12, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is Valentine's Day, and Our Gang members Spanky McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee aren't impressed. Deciding that romance is the bunk, the boys form the He-Man Woman Hater's Club. Alfalfa is willing to go along with this until he falls head over heels in love with classmate Darla Hood. Hoping to scotch this relationship, Spanky, Buckwheat and Porky insert soap in the sandwich and cream puff that Darla has prepared for Alfalfa. Tortuously, Alfie downs the nauseating repast, rather than hurt Darla's feelings. Things get worse for the would-be Romeo when schoolteacher Miss Lawrence (Rosina Lawrence) prevails upon Alfalfa to offer a bubbly (in every sense of the word!) rendition of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". The "Our Gang" one-reeler Hearts Are Thumps (sometimes misidentified as Hearts Are Trumps) was originally released on April 3, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Our Gang's resident crooner, has been preparing for weeks to perform in a radio talent contest. With Spanky McFarland as his manager, Alfalfa is a shoe-in for first prize -- until neighborhood bully Butch (Tommy Bond), who intends to perform a violin solo on the same radio show, threatens to blacken Spanky's eye unless Alfalfa withdraws from the contest. The terrified Spanky convinces Alfalfa that he has "a frog in his throat" and will be unable to perform. Eventually, however, Spanky's conscience gets the better of him, and he urges Alfalfa to sing anyway -- with surprising results. In the early scenes of the serial, the viewer is given a guided tour of the Gang's paste-and-paper "voice studio" (complete with Darla Hood as receptionist and Eugene "Porky" Lee and Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas as go-fers). Framing Youth was originally released on September 11, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide