Darla – or at least one of them – lives in Sebastian Florida, if she had not died lately. A friend of mine lives there and lived next door to her and said that she was very reclusive, very old and not very pleasant. She did say that from time to time ‘Darla’ got in trouble with the law but a limousine would show up and the charges would be dropped. Nothing very serious. She was written up in a local paper some time ago for something to do with the ‘Little Rascals’.
‘I like me but I sure as shit aint so positive about you.’
The one when Miss Crabtree’s brother is coming and the gang thinks she’s getting married; is the black kid Farina? You know, the one whose crying and confessing at the end.
First of all, it’s “Our Gang” not “The Little Rascals.” That was the repackaged name and is like calling “Dragnet” “Badge 714.”
Haven’t seen them in years, but I do recall that the earlier ones were the best. Spanky was OK when he was small (especially with Scotty Beckett), but once they settled on the Spanky-Darla-Alfalfa-Buckwheat-Porky, the entire series was tired and dull.
My favorite exchange (though I’m sure it’s blurred in memory):
Spanky (looking for a gift for his father’s birthday or something): “Let’s get Daddy a gun.”
Scotty: “What will he do with a gun?”
Spanky: “Shoot Mommy.”
Scotty Beckett was my favorite, along with Stymie, and Jackie Cooper. Not to mention Pete.
And though the various black children in the series are considered offensive these days, the fact that the series shows a black child playing as an equal among whites was quite a step forward for its day. Stymie (and Farina before him) were not treated any differently than any of the other children in the series, and always were considered an equal part of the gang. That was a bit revolutionary in the 1930s.
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
Chuck, that was “Shoot papa,” not “shoot Mommy.” (Birthday Blues)
I liked Beginner’s Luck, in which Spanky’s pompous stage mother wants to enter him into a performance competition. Spanky and his grandmother plot to give Mom her comeuppance; she’s behind the curtain while Spanky is performing; the curtain catches her dress and pulls it off, leaving her standing on stage in her underwear in front of the audience!! That should quash her aspiration to live vicariously through her son!
That should quash her aspiration to live vicariously through her son!