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| Episode Commentary |
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Night 'N' Gales Released:
June 24, 1937 Skip
episode synopsis and go directly to commentary "The Little Rascals" and Little Rascals characters © and TM King World Productions, Inc. This website based in part upon a television series distributed by King World Productions and Turner Entertainment Company / MGM. Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat, and Porky are "The Four Nightengales", entertaining the Hood family one evening. After several hours of torturous singing, they finally finish up (to Mr. Hood's everlasting gratitude). But on the way out the door, a violent storm kicks up, and Darla's mother insists they all stay the night. Darla lends the boys some of her nightgowns, and the Nightengales slip into bed with Mr. Hood, who is positively thrilled with this arrangement. The boys unintentionally drive Mr. Hood batty. At one point, a moth flutters about, and after it lands on Mr. Hood's nose, Alfalfa smacks both it and the nose with a slipper. Mr. Hood eventually gets fed up and goes down to sleep in the living room. In the meantime, the boys decide they want a midnight snack. They go down to the Hood kitchen (followed by Junior, who has hopped out of his crib) and begin feasting on watermelon, pie, pickles, and other tidbits. Alfalfa tries to get some silverware, but the drawer falls out of the cabinet and the sound wakes up the Hoods, who rush to the kitchen. Mr. Hood gets there first, and scolds the kids for their kitchen raid. Mrs. Hood and Darla come in later, and Mrs. Hood blames her husband for the situation. She orders the boys back to bed. Meanwhile, Junior has climbed into the refrigerator, and when Mr. Hood puts the food back, he sees Junior sitting in the Westinghouse. I think I'm going to lose my mind, Mr. Hood cries as he lifts Junior from the refrigerator. 
Publicity still on the set of "Night 'N' Gales". Upstairs,
Buckwheat is besieged with a "headache in his stomach"
from the midnight snacking. Mr. Hood gets him a hot water bottle,
which later leaks, soaking all the boys. After this sequence, Mr.
Hood has a nightmare about his houseguests dressed in devil's costumes,
jabbing their beleaguered host with their pitchforks. He gets up
from the dream, and half-asleep with a bearskin rug wrapped around
him, enters the boys' room just as they have changed into their
dry clothes and made yet another attempt to settle down to sleep.
The boys think they are being attacked by a bear and start screaming;
Mr. Hood flops down on the bed, crashing it to the ground. Mrs.
Hood and Darla rush to the scene. Spanky tells Mrs. Hood that they
are going home because of all the commotion. The episode ends as
the kids walk out, all discussing the nature of Mr. Hood's odd behavior. Commentary This
is not to say "Night 'N' Gales" is without any redeeming
qualities; far from it. In addition to the delightfully grouchy
Mr. Hood, there are plenty of very amusing vignettes and set pieces
here. The first really funny moment comes when we see the "little
kiddies" (as Mrs. Hood addresses them) getting ready to bed
down with Mr. Hood. Our heroes are dressed in frilly nightgowns,
obviously borrowed from Darla's evening wardrobe. Alfalfa's battle
with a pesky moth is also noteworthy, although it culminates in
his smacking Mr. Hood with a slipper after it lands on his nose
(after Alfalfa hits him with the slipper, what's with Mr. Hood's
inexplicable shout of "Who threw that!?") The boys' nocturnal icebox raid is another high point. They empty the contents of the Hood refrigerator, excitedly passing watermelon, pickles, and pies among each other until the racket caused by Alfalfa's dropping the silverware drawer to the floor awakes Mr. Hood. A subsequent series of misunderstandings after Mrs. Hood and Darla reach the kitchen leads to more victimization for the "man of few words", with predictable results. But after the kitchen scene, "Night 'N' Gales" mysteriously falls flat and the misadventures of the boys (including Buckwheat's "stomach headache") begin to grow a bit tiresome. By the finale, when Alfalfa and crew flee the Hood house to go back home to get some sleep (since it's stopped raining and the moon's shining), it's probably just as well for all concerned. "Night
'N' Gales" provides a few good laughs but enough with the nonstop
attacks on Mr. Hood already! 3 cowlicks (out of a possible 5) |
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"The Little Rascals" and Little Rascals characters © and TM King World Productions, Inc. This website based in part upon a television series distributed by King World Productions and Turner Entertainment Co./ MGM. Episode commentary © 4alfalfa.com |
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