Party Fever

In this MGM short of the Our Gang series, Alfalfa and Butch vie for the title of Boy Mayor for a Day of the city. The winner gets to take Darla to a party. The boys notice the methods of real politics, and Butch gets an upper hand when he offers all the kids free marshmallows. Alfalfa tries to outdo him with sky writing from a balloon ascent. He gets a dozen or more balloons filled with helium and takes off.

On the announcement day, the boys are dumbfounded when the mayor announces the winner - Waldo. When Waldo walks up to accept the keys of the city with Darla on his arm, he thanks the major, Uncle Frank. It's an early lesson in the politics of the day.

Party Fever is the second of 52 MGM-produced Our Gang shorts and the first one directed by future famed director George Sidney, whom the studio had assigned to learn his chops. Metro had bought the series upon the conclusion of a 12-year distribution deal with Roach (which had ended with the Laurel & Hardy feature Block Heads) and brought over the entire cast (temporarily minus Spanky who was on loan out to RKO for Peck's Bad Boy of the Circus; he'd return with the following production). Party Fever ranks among the best of the MGM efforts---the MGM production values shine in this 3-way fight for the affections of Darla. Alfalfa and Butch try to top each other while Waldo has other ideas. The quality of the first five MGM Our Gang shorts should have promised a bright future for the venerable series, but it wasn't meant to be. The sixth MGM short, Practical Jokers (also directed by Sidney), was a huge letdown and plowed a path of mediocrity that most of the remaining entries would be hard pressed to achieve. The sad fact is the series just got worse and worse, with a rare entry that displayed a spark of originality. As Roach's kids outgrew their roles, MGM brought a parade of less-talented and far more obnoxious newcomers on board that only exacerbated the humorless scripts. Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas would remain the sole Roach survivor until the bitter end. Unfortunately, these mostly-awful MGM versions are what people remember. After riding on the tide of it's 21-year fame, MGM would pull the plug after Dancing Romeo in April, 1944.

Alfalfa and Butch, in order to win Darla's heart, decide to participate in a "Boy's Week Mayor for a Day" race. Butch has a gigantic marshmallow roast, and Alfalfa tries to do skywriting with a homemade balloon rig.

The second of MGM's shorts, it's just as fun and charming as a Hal Roach short. There's not much in the way of belly laughs, but some of the Roach shorts were also that way. It carries itself on a group of kids who still seem believable (with the exception of a pair of twins which MGM ill-advisedly added to the cast). Tommy Bond has some funny scenes as Butch, and is somehow extra funny being bashful in front of Darla, in contrast to his usual tough-guy persona.

The punchline is also funny and somehow telling about society. Definitely worthwhile and a fun way to spend ten minutes.

Party Fever (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Both Alfalfa and Butch want to date Darla but she only agrees to go out with whichever ones wins the "Mayor for a Day" contest. Soon the two boys are trying to do what they can to get votes (Alfalfa doing nice stuff, Butch beating people up). This second Our Gang-MGM isn't quite as good as THE LITTLE RANGER but there's no question that the series still had some charm, which is something that would be lost as this series went along. I think the best moments of this film deal with Alfalfa trying to do nice things in order to get votes. This includes going around cleaning the streets but of course something happens to make him look like he did nothing. There's also a rather clever ending involving one boy taking off in a homemade balloon ride. The one thing the film lacks are any major laughs as pretty much the entire thing is rather straight with only a few scenes that will put a smile on your face. All of the child actors are still in good form here and especially Tommy Bond playing Butch.

Waldo asks out Darla Hood to the Strawberry Festival, but Alfalfa and Butch had already asked her. Waldo suggests a competition for Darla. There is a story in the newspaper where a boy is supposed to be appointed Mayor for One Day.

This is an Our Gang short. The premise is very manufactured and a little awkward. It does get to some fun situation comedy. I never saw the balloons coming, but it's a fun silly concept. I like it for Our Gang. The premise does lead to a very good ending. I saw it coming after a little while although I was expecting an unknown character to come in as a banker's son.