A Major Disappointment

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

. . . the one World Certainty, "Our Gang" consistently reminded America during the 1930s. This juvenile mob, led by its hulking kingpin "Spanky," terrorized any kids who did not belong to the coercive clique. FRAMING YOUTH relates the sad details surrounding a challenge from shrinking violet virtuoso violinist "Butch McGann" to Spanky's extortion ring lieutenant, "Alfalfa." Alleged "crooner" Alfalfa's vocal stylings sound slightly worse than a croaking frog, as his weak warbles wobble and crack at least once per song stanza. However, the "fix" is in for Alfalfa during FRAMING YOUTH. Even AFTER Butch has won the Grand Prize for musical kids fair and square by performing flawlessly, the contest organizers are browbeaten into allowing a very tardy Alfalfa to dumb down the proceedings with a cacophony more grating than nails on a blackboard. While the brute Spanky is busy giving accomplished fiddler Butch TWO black eyes, his riotous Little Rascal pals intimidate the weak-kneed adults into reneging on Butch's just desserts, revoking his reward, and reallocating the trophy to croaking crooner Alfalfa!

This Hal Roach comedy short, Framing Youth, is the one hundred fifty-ninth entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the seventy-first talkie. Alfalfa is ready for his singing in the radio contest but Butch arrives to threaten manager Spanky with a black eye if he doesn't keep him from the show as Butch wants to win with his violin. I'll stop there and just say this was quite a funny short which starts with Porky and Buckwheat being amusing with their malapropisms and continues with many gags involving billing, a frog, and, of course, Alf's off-key warbling! He sings Bing Crosby's "Just an Echo in the Valley" here. So on that note, I recommend Framing Youth. P.S. In Tommy Bond's first OG film as the bully-Glove Taps, he was Butch Rafferty, here, he's Butch McGann.

....but I DON'T like hearing singing in Our Gang films. Up until Darla and Alfalfa entered the series late in its lifespan at Hal Roach Studios, the kids NEVER sang or danced. The emphasis was on kids acting like kids. Now, in films like "Framing Youth", the emphasis is on Alfalfa's god-awful singing--something that gets old because he did it so many times in these films. The first time you hear him, it's mildly funny--but this is about the sixth one with him crooning. Fortunatley, in this one there is at least a SLIGHT variation on this familiar theme.The short begins with a cute bit with a talent agency--with the gang (Darla, Buckwheat, Porky and Spanky) all working with their star, Alfalfa--getting him ready for the big talent contest. Soon, however, the evil Butch enters and threatens Alfalfa--as HE intends to win. Despite this, the Alfalfinator performs...and there will be consequences.Fortunately, while Alfalfa sings, the frog bit wasn't too bad and was at least mildly funny. Certainly not a great short (especially compared to the earlier films) but quite watchable and cute. I especially liked it when Buckwheat phoned Porky!

Butch is out to win a talent show. The only way he can do this is by making sure Alfalfa is out of the competition. So Butch decides that threatening Alfalfa's manager, Spanky, with grievous bodily harm is the ticket. In the end, though, Alfalfa sings...with some help from a frog stuck in his collar. Not a fantastic Our Gang offering. The climactic talent show scene runs out of steam quickly. Only a scene toward the beginning in which Darla, Porky, and Buckwheat serve as Spanky's office staff is more like the gang we know and love.