Our Gang: The Best of Alfalfa...Starring: and 50 similar items

Format: VHS; Release Date: Jul 1994; Rating: Not Rated; Length: 40 minutes; UPC: 027616469939. Condition: Very Good. From personal collection, NOT a previous rental. Watched just a few times, so cover is still in overall great shape and tape plays well. Same cover design as that shown here. Synopsis: Four classic Our Gang episodes originally produced between 1939 and 1940 featuring Alfalfa, owner of the world's most famous cowlick. "Alfalfa's Double", "Alfalfa's Aunt", "Clown Princes", and "Time Out For Lessons". See below for individual episode descriptions. Alfalfa's Double The title of this one-reel Our Gang comedy is explained when Gang member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer comes face to face with his wealthy lookalike Cornelius (also played by Switzer). This fateful meeting provides a golden opportunity for both boys: By trading places with his double, Alfalfa will be able to weasel out of his yard work and live a life of luxury, while Cornelius will be able to escape the rigors of dancing lessons, baths, and the like, and briefly enjoy the benefits of being a "regular kid". But the consequences of the boys' identity-trading serves only to lend credence to the old saying "Stay in your own backyard". Originally released on January 20, 1940. Alfalfa's Aunt Marie Blake, the real-life sister of Jeanette MacDonald, played the title role in the one-reel comedy Alfalfa's Aunt. Hoping to launch a career as a mystery writer, Aunt Penelope composes a manuscript which leads her nephew Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer to conclude that Auntie plans to do away with him. With the help of the rest of the Our Gang kids, Alfalfa succeeds in scaring Aunt Penelope off the premises--much to the delight of his long-suffering parents. Brimming with clever and inventive sight gags, Alfalfa's Aunt--originally released on January 7, 1939--is one of the better MGM Our Gang entries. Clown Princes When the parents of little Eugene "Porky" Lee are threatened with eviction, the Our Gang kids decide to stage a circus to raise the rent money. Spanky McFarland doubles as ringmaster and acrobat, with Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as a swinging trapeze artist, Darla Hood as a lion tamer, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas as the "Wild Man of Borneo," and Porky himself as "The Head Without a Body". Things come to a spectacular climax when the circus' animal attraction, a cranky mule, is "energized" by a bee sting. The one-reel was originally released on April 15,1939. Time Out For Lessons Reprimanded for his poor grades ("Gee, Dad, don't 'F' stand for 'Fabulous'?"), Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer is told that, unless he improves his academic standing, he'll never get to college. But Alfalfa laughs this off, informing his dad that he intends to sail through college on a football scholarship. Dreaming about his future gridiron triumphs, Alfie is brought down to earth when he envisions himself being disqualified from the inevitable "big game" due to his lousy grades. Awakening from this nightmare, our hero vows to put football on the back burner in favor of cracking the books. The one-reel morality play Time Out for Lessons was originally released on December 2, 1939. Priority Mail delivery for this item costs $7.00 at the request of a buyer. Otherwise, the shipping rate given here applies to orders shipped via Media Mail within the U.S. only. Orders consisting of multiple purchases packaged together ship by any of these delivery methods at a discounted rate, usually for only $1.00 per additional item plus the shipping fee for the first item (determined to be the one with the highest delivery charge). International buyers: please contact us with your destination country for applicable base shipping rates. Multiple purchases that are packaged together save shipping costs for you, too! Payment is expected within two weeks of placing your order for the first item within a shipment. Paypal is preferred, but money orders and checks (either personal or cashier's) are also accepted. Orders typically ship within 48 hours of PROCESSED payment, excluding weekends and holidays. Inquiries from all shoppers are responded to promptly and courteously. Buyers are encouraged to ask questions prior to placing orders, as all sales are final unless the product you receive differs significantly from that which was advertised here in terms of either the product itself or its promised condition. In other words, "buyer's remorse" does not qualify for a refund. Exceptions are made only in the event that a buyer is willing to return at his or her own expense an unopened, BRAND NEW item for a refund of the original purchase price only. No original shipping costs will be refunded, unless we are at fault for sending you the wrong item or misrepresenting the product and/or its condition. This hasn't happened yet, but if it does: you are guaranteed a refund of the purchase price, the original shipping fee, PLUS the cost to ship the item back to us. Thank you for looking!