Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Dougie Dew Noticeably absent from all other comments I've read are these two: 1. The script doesn't make even a reference to Spanky's dad, and; 2. Kitty Kelly's (Spanky's mom) "shocking" experience when stage hook meets blown foot light socket.1. Where's Dad? Surprisingly for a '30s Roach short, the presence of at least a disinterested father in contrast to such a matriarchal mother figure was absent. Was Spanky's mom divorced/separated? Did dad pass away? Was he in the audience that fateful "talent" Friday night? Or was he just a busy guy at work and play so to stand clear of mom's equally boorish treatment of him (like son)? Without a father figure figuring into the script, it leaves the Rascals rescue crew (and Spanky's live-in grandma) to stand in for daddy. In the end. it was a rather hyper-matriarchal decision of director Gus Meins to leave dad completely out of the picture. Even a henpecked buffoon of a dad would've been comical!2. Static Cling-on. Perhaps a bit of a stretch, but Gus Meins really put some production value into this sight gag very near the marquee climax. So, consider this possible setup that the director may well have thought of, though not entirely clear...Question: Could the enormous amount of static electricity stored in Spanky's mom's dress following the "shocking socket" scene also account for why the rather dull-tipped metal curtain hook managed to so relentlessly snag onto her dress hem in the end?Well, gang, chew on these two for awhile as I look forward to your comments! Also, which if any Rascals and Stooges stunts have you tried to publicly duplicate? Candid Camera, anyone?

crossbow0106 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.

doug78595 "Beginner's Luck is a charming mix of high and low comedy forms done at the zenith of the Hal Roach M-G-M era.It is the first appearance of Alfalfa and the last of Stymie."Beginner's Luck" was not scheduled to be produced but was forced upon the studio by theater owners who demanded more shorts like "Mike Fright" in which the gang performed in some sort of talent show."Beginner's Luck " went on to be the highest in critical acclaim and the biggest money maker.There are many twists in the production that made this a gem.Kitty Kelly was brought in to play Spanky's mother and replace Ruth Hiatt ,who winds up playing Daisey Dimples mom, and Kitty did a tremendous job.Alfalfa and his brother were added to the short during production and Alfalfa wound up joining the gang for many years.There are a good number of great lines that hint of what is to come such as "Girlie the dress is in the bag" and "I won't have my son laughed at "and You can't break up that act".The story has Spanky reciting to a group of his mother's lady friends and then being informed ,along with everyone else,that he will be appearing in a children's talent show .Everyone ,including Spank and his grandmother are stunned by the announcement by his mother.Spanky's mom is beaming with joy and extremely confident that he will win first prize and be a tremendous hit.The gang comes to his rescue with a plan to destroy his act with noisemakers and peashooters and thus end his acting days.However at the show Spanky befriends a little girl who just came off the stage after falling victim to stage fright and desperately needs the prize money to buy a dress.Spanky comes to her aide and asks his mother can he give the girl the prize money ,the mother says yes and says she only wants him to be a big hit.Now ,however ,he must tell the gang of his change of plans but his mother won't allow him to go into the audience and insists she will tell the gang his message.His mother has no idea there is a plan to ruin the act and she only asks the boys to root for Spanky.This winds up being a BIG MISTAKE for her.The gang decides to go ahead with the original plan and give him the works.Spanky steps out for his Shakesperean debut only to be assailed with the gangs weapons.His act quickly turns into a farce.Spanky's mother is upset and gallantly tries to rescue him from the cruel audience with a pole from behind a back curtain.At that moment the viewer is informed that he won the prize as a comedy act.Just at the point that the mother is beginning to reel him in she herself is about to be reeled in.Spank's grandmother sees a chance to make a fool of her daughter for putting Spank into this by pulling down on the curtain ropes and raising the back curtain thus exposing Spanky's mother on the stage.Grandma must see humor in seeing the mother's rescue attempt made public ,but she couldn't have thought she would make Spanky's mother join the act and wind up bringing down the house as events soon will dictate .As the curtain starts to rise the viewer sees a hook on the bottom of the curtain moving up between Spanky's mother's legs towards her dress hem and the viewer knows grandma will be exposing more than she thought.As Spanky's mother gets herself hooked and she realizes her situation she lets out a shrill squeal and jumps to her feet to try to save her dignity.The grandmother cannot believe her eyes as she now has caught her daughter on stage with her dress rising with the curtain and quickly tries to reel her in as if she were a fish .The audience now turns their attention away from Spanky and greet his mother with howls of laughter.Spanky's young,blonde and beautiful mother has now fallen victim of the cruel treatment of the audience as she is forcibly giving them an up skirts view of herself.The male audience members must have been aroused at the sight of her and hoping that all her clothing would come off her and this little cutie would wind up on stage in her birthday suit.She frantically tries to save herself as her own mother is laughing and quickly trying to finish her sadistic task.With a rip the dress is yanked off her and heads towards the ceiling.Spanky's mother freezes from shock on stage looking up at the remnants of her dress.The girl that went to save her son from the audience laughter needs someone to save her.Spanky rushes a piece of stage scenery to hide his now scantily clad mother's T and A that were on view for the audience.This has a caricature of a squatting animals body with her head protruding on the top.The audience are in a state of bedlam and lambaste her with laughter.This mother and well respected member of society has had a completely unexpected turn of events turn her into a total laughing stock.Spanky's mother looks out on the audience helpless ,slip clad and her head perched atop the prop, she has a look of complete mortification as the audience roar with uncontrollable laughter at her humiliating predicament.Spanky's mother could have never imagined that Spanky's act would turn into a comedy and herself being served up to the audience in a most degrading manner as the most hilarious aspect of the act!

jt74455 There is an unwritten rule that runs through the rascals shorts that the villain always gets theirs in the end .We have seen this come into play with the bully ,the brat, the dishonest businessman,the cheat all getting theirs and are usually made the laughing stock of in the end.With a few exceptions such as Dickie's father in "Birthday Blues" who beats his son savagely and has nothing happen to him at all to Wally's mother in "Honkey Donkey" who actually is only guilty of being very wealthy and has a mule chase her after she sneezes all over the house ,down the stairs and out into the spacious gardens.Wally's mom is chased till the donkey knocks her into a fountain and she emerges from under the water to spew water from her mouth like some type of fancy ornament,as the donkey laughs hysterically at her. This brings us to "Beginner's Luck" where Spanky's mother is the villain.She has put her son into a local talent show against his will and he has received help from the gang who promise to hiss and boo and destroy his act.However Spanky has a change of plans ,as he now needs to win the prize so he can help a little girl buy a special dress.Spanky asks his mom can he go into the audience and tell his friends of his change of plans but she refuses as he is about to go on and insists she will deliver his message to them.She has no idea that Spanky wants to flop and the gang was ready to bombard him with peashooters and noisemakers.Spanky's mom does use her power as a mom and an authority figure as she says to the gang"Remember boys we want Spanky to win",but she fails to make them understand and they agree to go ahead with their plan and give him the works.Spanky's mother is beaming as she walks away from them and back to the stage wings thinking that the audience will fall in love with Spanky as a Shakespearian actor ,she could never imagine the cruel twist of fate that awaits her for failing to deliver the correct message .Spanky's mother is a true stage mother trying to relive some faded glory that eluded her through her son.She did not ask Spanky if he wanted to pursue this venture and didn't listen to her own mother when she tried to intervene and save Spanky from this.She has shown herself to be pushy as she has had numerous run ins with the MC backstage.She has one goal for Spanky to win first prize and be a hit on the stage. Well the gang goes ahead with their plan to ruin Spanky's act .Spanky's mom rushes to save her son from the cruel audience laughter and pull him off from behind the back curtain.The MC informs the little girl that Spank has won the prize as a comedy act.Grandma raises the curtain to deliver lesson to her daughter for putting Spanky on the stage.A hook snags Spanky's mother's dress hem and it starts to rise along with the curtain ripping her dress off on the stage amid howls of uncontrollable laughter from the audience.Grandma has made a comedic burlesque stripper out of her daughter to be ogled as a sex object by the male audience members who love to see this pretty girl wiggle about frantically trying to free herself as her dress hikes higher and higher.She is being laughed at by everyone including the gang who mustlove seeing this happen.Spanky rushes to hide his now frozen mother from the vicious audience laughter as she kneels on stage gazing up to see where her dress went with a piece of scenery resulting in her head on top of a caricature of an animals body.Spanky's mother is degraded and humiliated in her attempt to rescue Spanky from being laughed at and now is herself made much more of a laughing stock with the audience in complete bedlam at the sight of her.She did get everything she wanted ,Spanky has won first prize and was a big hit,although she never expected that she would wind upjoining the act .Spanky's mother may have actually enjoyed being the center of attention in her truly unforgettable stage appearance. She has been given the most embarrassing comeuppance of all the rascals villains ,but I don't believe she was all that bad and really didn'deserve her fate.Maybe she got this treatment from the Roach studios for being a stage mother which they must have had to deal with all the time. The viewer enjoys watching Spanky's mother being made a hysterical spectacle of and the viewer laughs along with the the theater audience at the fate that is dealt out to Spaky's mom.