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The
Human Comedy "The Human Comedy" and images © MGM/UA Home Video  Lionel and Ulysses are two small boys from the neighborhood. They spend some time in the library on a pretty, late-March Saturday morning, then leave to go find out what the rest of the kids are up to. The nominal leader of this group is August "Auggie" Gottlieb (Alfalfa), a slightly older, taller boy whose scheme today is to continue the annual tradition of ringing in Spring by stealing some newly-ripened apricots from the tree of an old man named Mr. Henderson, who lives nearby. Lionel and Ulysses run up to join the other boys, already planning their strategy: Nickie Paloota: Where are we goin', Auggie? Alfalfa: To see if Henderson's apricots arrived. Lionel [played by ubiquitous child performer Darryl Hickman]: Can I come? Alfalfa: Okay, Lionel: If they're ripe, will you steal some? Lionel: It's a sin to steal. Alfalfa: Not apricots! Ulysses [the smallest of the group]: Can I come? Alfalfa [dismissively]: You go home, Useless, this is not for little boys, it's dangerous!  The gang then heads for old man Henderson's place. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, little Ulysses follows, despite Auggie's warning to go home. Once they reach Henderson's backyard—a large, rambling space with plenty of old trees and overturned farm equipment—they all crouch down behind some debris. Auggie whispers to his crew: Alfalfa: Ripe apricots is just about the best-tasting fruit in the whole world! Nickie: Apricots get ripe in March? Alfalfa: It's almost April... The kids trade some banter about the delights of apricots. One of them comments that last year, they didn't ripen until June. Alfalfa [angrily]: That was last year! This is this year...come on. They all creep out further into Henderson's backyard. They split up into two groups, hiding behind two different overturned wagons. Meanwhile, despite their attempts at concealment, the would-be apricot thieves have in fact gotten the attention of Mr. Henderson, who is quietly reading a book on his side porch. Instead of being a mean codger, as we had been led to believe, he is actually a sweet old man who in fact looks forward to the annual ritual. He peers out the window: 
Henderson [to himself]: Well, look at that—comin' to steal apricots in March. Look at 'em...coming to get apricots, like they come every year. Here they come...[he sees tiny Ulysses bringing up the rear] And look at that little fella there! He ain't more than five years old. No, he's a new one...come on—come to the wonders of the old tree. If I could ripen 'em for you to steal, I'd do it...for the wondrous faith in you... Back outside, the kids continue their plotting. 
Nickie: Henderson ain't home, Auggie. Alfalfa: He's home...he's always home. He's hidin'—it's a trap. He wants to catch us. Be careful everybody, there's no telling where he'll be [looks at Ulysses] Useless, go home!...Where's Lionel? Lionel [popping up from behind the other overturned wagon]: Here I am! Alfalfa: Be on your toes, and if you see old man Henderson, run! Lionel: Where is he? Alfalfa: In the house, I guess. He might be outside hidin' someplace, waitin' to surprise us [as Alfalfa says this, Ulysses, unable to resist the excitement, scampers on back to the scene of the caper]    Jackie "Butch" Jenkins as Ulysses and Darryl Hickman as Lionel. Lionel: What are you gonna say at Sunday school tomorrow, Auggie? Alfalfa: Stealing apricots isn't stealing like in the Bible, Lionel—it's different. Lionel: Then what are you scared of? Alfalfa: Who's a-scared? We just don't want to get caught, that's all [he emerges from behind the wagon and starts creeping even closer to the tree. He spots Ulysses:] Go home, Useless! 
The rest of the boys follow Auggie's lead, and they all tiptoe quietly toward the apricot tree. As they reach it, two of the boys comment that the apricots don't seem quite ripe yet. Alfalfa: Yeah, I guess they need a couple days more. Another boy named Shag Manoogian says that they should still steal at least one, for their trouble. Alfalfa: Okay, I'll get one—but if you see old man Henderson, run! Auggie climbs awkwardly onto one of the lower branches of the tree. As he swings about, trying to pluck an apricot, Mr. Henderson emerges from the porch. The sound of the screen door thwacking shut alerts the boys. Shag : Auggie— Henderson!! All the boys hightail it out of Henderson's yard. As a fleeing Auggie passes Ulysses, he shouts to the tot: "Run, Useless, run!" Lionel comes back to grab Ulysses so they can both flee to safety. After they have escaped immediate danger, they take a breather near some bushes and engage in a brief discussion about the meaning of "afraid" and "scared". Then we see the kids breathlessly returning to their base of operations on the sidewalk outside Ara's Market. They are all buzzing about what just happened, and one of them asks Auggie if he got an apricot. Alfalfa: You know I got one—you seen me in the tree, didn't ya'? The boys, including now Lionel and Ulysses, gather around Auggie as he dramatically holds out a closed fist, then slowly opens it to reveal the apricot he has taken it. Even though it is no bigger than a cherry, they all "ooh" and "ahh" as a proud Auggie smiles at their reaction and the scene dissolves. 
"The Human Comedy" was adapted from a William Saroyan novel. It is an episodic, sentimental tale of how a small California town called Ithaca, in the San Joaquin Valley deals with the disruptions of World War II. Mickey Rooney stars as Horace, a sensitive teenager who is forced to be the "man of the house" since his father is deceased, and his older brother (played by Van Johnson) is in the Army (incidentally, Horace's younger brother is our friend Ulysses; his older sister is played by Donna Reed.) To bring in some much-needed money to the family, Horace gets a job in the local Western Union office, which is supervised by Frank Morgan ("Wizard of Oz"). There are several handsome sequences in the film. In addition to Alfalfa's scene described above, there is a particularly moving vignette where Horace has to deliver a telegram to a local Hispanic woman. The telegram has news that the woman's son has been killed in action. Since she can't read English, the woman asks Horace to tell her what the telegram says. After hesitating, Horace blurts out the contents of the telegram. When he breaks down after relaying the sad news, it is the mother that winds up consoling Horace. Some critics have complained, not without justification, that "The Human Comedy" is a bit too maudlin and cloying, but there is no denying the power and simple beauty of the episodes of wartime America that fill the picture. Alfalfa's scene is one of our favorites among his non-Rascals appearances. This is the type of adolescent performance he was capable of turning in, if given proper direction and material. This stands as perhaps his most accomplished non-Rascals performance. As is often the case in films that are adapted from works of fiction, several details are omitted from the film for the sake of brevity. For example, Saroyan tells us (but the film does not) that Auggie inherited his position of leader of the boys after Horace (the Mickey Rooney character) outgrew the role at the age of twelve. We learn from Saroyan that Auggie lives next to Ara's Market, which is the boys' meeting place, and that he summons the rest of his crew by means of a newsboy-style whistle (one of the crew is named, interestingly, "Alf"). Saroyan tells us that "Auggie wait[s] with the confidence of a man who knows what he is doing and what results he is going to get." In Saroyan's novel, Auggie also appears in a couple other vignettes, including one in the telegram office, and another in Ara's Market. Both these scenes were eliminated from the film version. How things might have been different in the post-Roach Little Rascals franchise had the series somehow decided to pursue, under the auspices of MGM, a direction more similar to the tone of Alfalfa's apricot scene in "The Human Comedy". Such a hypothesis is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Keep in mind that the Little Rascals of, say, 1930, was a much different series than it was in 1937 or 1938. So, too, could the early-forties era Little Rascals further have evolved into a series featuring such gently humorous "slice of life" vignettes. Certainly, MGM was willing and capable of devoting the production resources necessary to pull off such an evolution; production values were never the main problem during the MGM era. Rather, the downfall of these later Little Rascals episodes was the total absence of credibility, spontaneity or charm. Shifting gears to a more subtle brand of comedy, with perhaps a slightly older bunch of actors, might have resuscitated the struggling series had it not been for the MGM executives' insistence on continuing to squeeze everything possible from the tarnishing Golden Goose that was the Little Rascals in its concluding years. Back to "Alfalfaddendum" main page |
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"The Human Comedy" and images © MGM/UA Home video Commentary © 4alfalfa.com |
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