Mike Fright

In 'Mike Fright' Spanky, Stymie and gang try to get on a radio amateur show as The International Silver String Submarine Band. They compete against a variety of different children, all groomed to perfection by unseen stage mothers. One has to think that 'Mike Fright' was, in a way, Hal Roach's revenge. One can only imagine the countless stage mother's and obnoxious children he had to deal with. Of course, the kids Roach made a part of his gang were not these kind of primped and polished little munchkins. He always went for just plain kids who loved to have fun. That's what makes the Our Gang shorts so great. Seeing the gang up against their exact opposites in this short makes for some great comedy. My favorite scene features Tommy Bond and Alvin Buckelew sabotaging Leonard Kibrick's trumpet performance by eating a lemon. Interesting to note that Bond and Kibrick would be partner's in crime as Butch and The Woim in later Our Gang Shorts.