Series: Our Gang
Director: Gus Meins
Producer: Hal Roach
Photography: Francis Corby
Editor: Louis McManus
Sound: James Greene
Stars: George McFarland, Leonard Kibrick, Scotty Beckett, Billie Thomas, Jerry Tucker, Matthew Beard, Clarence Wilson, Rosa Gore, Wilfred Lucas
Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Released: 08 December 1934
Length: 2 reels
Production No.: G-26
Filming dates: 1934
Rating: 6/10
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Shrimps For A Day
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Available on BLU-RAY & DVD:
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The kids from the orphanage are invited to a party being hosted by Mr. Wade but Spanky is excluded on account of his bad behaviour. Unbeknownst to Mr. Crutch, the horrible bully in charge of the kids, Spanky hitches a ride to the party on the roof of the bus. When they arrive, the kids dismount from the bus and give Mr. Crutch grief right under the watchful eye of the host. Mrs. Wade excitedly tells the children that new clothes will be offered to them all. Crutch leaves and the kids get changed into their new outfits. Some of them, it has to be said, look ridiculous. They then take their places at the table ready to be served cake. When one of the kids discovers an 'Aladdin's' lamp in the garden, Mary Wade and her brother Dick make a wish to be young again. With one rub of the lamp their wish is granted and they are transformed into kids again. Meanwhile the kids sit at the table stuffing their greedy faces with massive portions of cake. Mary and Dick make their way out to join the party but Dick gets threatened by Leonard for taking his chair. Mary intervenes and all is forgiven before she breaks out into song. Mr. Crutch returns with his wagon to tell the host that the kids are due back at the orphanage, so Mr. Wade goes to tell his daughter, whom he can't find (on account that she has been turned into a child). Mary and Dick protest that they live there and are not part of the group of kids that turned up for the party by Crutch won't hear it and takes them kicking and screaming whilst protesting their innocence. |
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Back at the orphanage Crutch instructs the kids to retire to their rooms and remove their clothes. Castor oil is then administered to some of the children, including a very reluctant Mary and Dick (who gets TWO goes!). The others all have a turn until it gets to Spanky. When Crutch tells him to open his mouth wide he demonstrates exactly how it's done before Spanky forces the spoon that Mrs. Crutch is holding into Mr. Crutch's mouth (this scene is so cringe to watch!) The children laugh and are told off and told to go to their rooms for bed. Leonard orders Dick to undress, whilst Mary is kicked out of her bed by two girls. A cigar-smoking Dick paces the boy's room before eventually finding room in a bed between Scotty and Spanky. The two boys start fidgeting and squeaking before turning around to playfully begin fighting one another in their sleep (you can clearly see Scotty trying not to laugh). It's all too much for poor Dick who gets out of the bed as Scotty and Spanky get all cuddled up with each other. Later, Spanky tries to help Dick and Mary escape through an upstairs window but they are caught by Mr. Crutch. Dick falls to the ground and finds the magic lamp before making a new wish to be restored as an adult. He returns home to inform Mr. Wade that Mary is being held hostage at the orphanage. Crutch chases the kids around the bedroom (or rather, he crawls under the beds in pursuit). Spanky attacks him with a hammer before a bowl of tacks are spilled onto the floor. Anyway, Mr. Wade arrives, Mary takes the lamp and transforms back into an adult, whilst Spanky also gets to make a wish: that he was the same size as Mr. Crutch. His wish is granted and Spanky goes for Crutch! |
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Favourite bit Random! |
| Trivia • Copyrighted February 20, 1935. • A colorized version of the film is available on DVD. • If you look closely enough at the opening titles you can see grid marker lines on the title cards that were used to align the text on the screen. • The kids go to the Happy Home Orphanage. The address is 7905.... • Doris McMahan's outfit is definitely eye-popping, isn't it? • Just why was a hammer and a bowl of tacks sitting on the bedside cabinet? My opinion • It's an okay film with a couple of laughs, and the two adults being turned into two children and having to blend in is a decent idea. There are some flat spots in the film and a couple of scenes which seem to go on for ever (the castor oil scene in particular) but seeing Doris McMahan's dress was very pleasing to the eyes! Nippleoonies! |
| CREDITS (click image to enlarge) |
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| STILLS (click any image to enlarge) 
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| RISQUE (click any image to enlarge) 
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| SHOT ON THE BACK LOT (click any image to enlarge) 
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| Acknowledgements: The Little Rascals: The Life And Times Of Our Gang by Leonard Maltin & Richard W. Bann (book) http://theluckycorner.com/rmt/133.html (Robert Demoss/The Lucky Corner) Bob Peterson (still; identification of Harry Harvey Jr, Jackie White, Joyce Kay, Delmar Watson) This page was last updated on: 30 May 2024 |