Notes
A follow-up to the popular radio/talent show based Our Gang entries Mike Fright and Beginner's Luck, Our Gang Follies of 1936 took the concept of those two films one step further by having the kids themselves stage an elaborate revue on their own. Follies of 1936 was a particular success with theater owners, leading to a long line of Our Gang mini-musicals, among them a direct sequel, Our Gang Follies of 1938, and several other all-revue shorts, including Reunion in Rhythm, Ye Olde Minstrels, and Melodies Old and New, among others.
The short marked the first appearance of Darla Hood, who was added to the Our Gang cast while Follies of 1936 was in production, necessitating last-minute rewrites to include her in the film. Her nickname of "Cookie" was dropped after this initial short due to the opinion of Darla being a good name. Darla would remain with Our Gang for six years, becoming its most famous leading lady and a featured part of many of the musical numbers in the short films.
Follies of 1936 is also the first Our Gang short to feature Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer rendering an off-key rendition of a popular pop ballad, in this case Pinky Tomlin's "The Object of My Affection". Alfalfa's parodies of pop songs quickly became standard features of the Our Gang shorts, and many future Our Gang comedies, including The Pinch Singer and Framing Youth, are built around the young singer's (in)ability to sell a song.
Scotty Beckett, whose role as Spanky's sidekick had been marginalized with Alfalfa's introduction into the series in early 1935, made his final appearance in Follies of 1936 before departing Our Gang for a successful career as a child actor in feature films. Another Our Gang short featuring Beckett, The Lucky Corner, would be released four months after Follies of 1936, although it was filmed in 1935.
When show in television syndication, a running gag involving a racial stereotype is often omitted: whenever the lights in the cellar go down at the start of an act, the camera cuts to the section populated by the black children of the neighborhood, whose eyes remain illuminated as the rest of the screen goes black. The original, unedited version was reinstated for the 2001 to 2003 showings on the AMC cable television network.
The house shown at the beginning may be the same one as shown in other Our Gang shorts. This house was located in Culver City, California and was demolished in the 1950s to make way for Interstate 10. The interior basement shots may have been filmed there or on the MGM Studios lot, also located in Culver City.
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