Men in Fright (1938) User Reviews

Alfalfa at his craziest

[kpetnews · 6/10 · 27 July 2007]

If there was ever a film that proved what an amazing young comedian Carl Switzer was, this was it.

While in the hospital visiting Darla, Alfalfa gets mistaken for tonsillectomy patient and is dragged off to surgery. However, before anything can happen, little Gary Jasgar unleashes some laughing gas in the elevator and Alfalfa goes nuts! His is a tour de force of wildness, as he does a Tarzan imitation on a gurney, impersonates a newborn baby, complains that the floor is full of holes, and swings on a chandelier.

The other kids are still very natural in their acting (with the possible exception of the too-cute Darla and Porky shouting out his name at the top of his lungs). You can tell MGM's gloss is creeping in, as the kids seem to work extra hard in hitting the proper marks, and dialogue is looped in whenever the kids can't say it themselves. However, this can be forgiven, as this short has more laughs than several of the Hal Roach shorts. In addition, we're treated to a bonus bit of Hanna Barbera animation. Definitely worth watching once even for the non-Our Gang fan.

Before the whole thing came apart

[xidax · 8/10 · 14 December 2000]

OUR GANG may have ended its run at MGM ignominiously, but it didn't start out that way. In fact, I think the seven series films Metro made in 1938 are a bit better than the seven Hal Roach made earlier that year, and the best of them - in fact, probably the best of the whole MGM crop - is MEN IN FRIGHT, a funny, nimble romp made before the children's acting became painfully forced and those Sunday School lessons started seeping in. It's not just a fine MGM OUR GANG entry, it's a fine short, period.

Fuuny

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 20 September 2009]

Darla is in the hospital for her tonsils and the gang goes to visit her. Alfalfa ends up trading clothes with a kid who's due to be operated on and madness ensues when someone turns on the nitrous oxide.

One of the better of the early run of the MGM Our Gang films is actually laugh out loud funny tanks to the insanity of the laughing gas. The craziness, however brief that results is truly a joy to behold. I won't spoil the gags since to say what happens would ruin them. While not up to the level of the best of Hal Roach's originals, I do think that this is a good little film, one of the gems in the rough that is the MGM series. Worth a look

general fun gang

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 23 October 2021]

Our Gang visits Darla at the hospital after her tonsillectomy. They have their misadventures. Alfalfa gets tricked into switching places. He gets accidentally gassed and goes crazy. The boys pig out and end up with tummy aches. It's general fun and general chaos from Our Gang. It's ten minutes. It's general fun for the family.

A Couple Good Gags

[Michael_Elliott · 4 February 2013]

Men in Fright (1938)

** (out of 4)

Darla is in the hospital having her tonsils removed when the gang shows up for a visit. Alfalfa decides to earn some easy money when a kid pays him for his close but this leads to the nurses thinking he's the one supposed to have his tonsils removed. MEN IN FRIGHT offers up a couple good laughs but once again MGM has delivered a rather routine and boring screenplay. It's easy to see why these weren't two-reelers because there's barely enough story to cover the eight-minute running time. Some of the highlights include Alfalfa's reaction to finding out why the nurse has come to get him. Another clever piece happens towards the end when we see the kids pigging out on food and this is followed by a nice animated sequence. The rest of the film is rather forgettable because not much actually happens. The kid's run around a bit but this here isn't all that funny. Darla isn't given anything to do other than sit in bed and most of the supporting players don't have much to do until we see them eat disgusting food at the end. Our Gang fans might want to check it out but others should find better material of theirs.

Have you ever wondered which fruits and vegetables . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 23 October 2021]

. . . you can "get away" with mentioning in a movie review? Carrots are probably a safe bet with which to play around, especially if you're talking about a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Cucumbers and zucchini are problematic, of course, given their checkered history in polite society. I can see where turnips could get a person in trouble, but rutabaga are (is?) probably okay. You may like them apples, but bananas constitute a slippery slope, peeled or otherwise. Which brings us to MEN IN FRIGHT. Melons in general are a sensitive subject. When it comes to the water variety, your topic becomes explosive. Today MEN IN FRIGHT elicits a five-alarm fire klaxon by harping upon this seedy subject.

Men in Fright was a very funny M-G-M entry in the Our Gang series

[tavm · 9/10 · 8 January 2015]

This M-G-M comedy short, Men in Fright, is the one hundred seventy-third entry in the "Our Gang" series and the eighty-fifth talkie. Darla is in the hospital recovering from a tonsillectomy and therefore won't be able to eat the food the gang brought to her room. Spanky had that figured out so it would be eaten by him and the rest of the gang. Alfalfa had waited outside the patient's room with the basket while his friends were visiting but was distracted by another kid patient who offered him a dime to change clothes, not knowing that kid was planning to ditch getting his tonsils taken out! So Alf is now being taken to the operating room...Other stuff happens but I'll just say this was a very funny entry of the M-G-M series. Director George Sidney really pulls the stops here and has an animated sequence to humorously show what is happening in one of the gang's stomach. I'm half guessing maybe Friz Freleng might have been involved in that sequence since he worked for the studio at the time. Anyway, I really liked this one so on that note, Men in Fright is well worth seeing.

Each year's best MGM shorts

[tomneiman · 10/10 · 31 May 2007]

1938-"Men in Fright" 1939-"Cousin Wilbur"-had it not been for the acting credits, I would have thought this Scotty Beckett playing Alfalfa's Cousin Wilbur and in the mid 30's playing Spanky's witty sidekick were two different people. 1940-"Kiddie Kure"-Alfalfa's swan song. He more than compensates for his deliberate, underachieved acting in most of the other MGM shorts. 1941-"Come Back Miss Pipps" 1942-"Going to Press" 1943-"Election Daze"-the kid who taunts Froggy in his election speech is cute. Janet Burstyn is at her best. In this short, the Gang shows they have fully recovered from the loss of Spanky. 1944-"Tale of a Dog"-last of the Our Gang shorts to be produced. Director Cyril Enfield, after a poor start in "Radio Bugs", and mediocre effort in "Dancing Romeo" now shows himself as a director of Our Gang shorts.

10/10

[verakomarov · 10/10 · 17 October 2021]

The gang goes to the hospital to visit Darley, who is recovering from a tonsillectomy. Their plans quickly go awry and the gang finds themselves in the same hospital.