''Aladdin's Lantern'' is a 1938 ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 171st ''Our Gang'' short (172nd episode, 83rd talking short, 84th talking episode, and third

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

produced episode) that was released.

Plot

The gang members are putting on a musical show about Aladdin and his lamp. While Spanky, Alfalfa and Darla endeavor to stick to the script (such as it is), their efforts are undermined by smaller kids Buckwheat and Porky. The ending finds Alfalfa getting his

just deserts Desert () in philosophy is the condition of being deserving of something, whether good or bad. It is sometimes called moral desert to clarify the intended usage and distinguish it from the dry desert biome. It is a concept often associated wi ...

as his bottom gets set on fire in front of the audience. They roar in laughter as his seat cooks to a medium rare and his face turns bright red in embarrassment. As the show fades to black Alfalfa is happily cooling his blistered backside in a washing machine filled with cold water while the water boils from the heat and steam rises around him.

Cast

The Gang

Darla Hood Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the ''Our Gang'' series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of music teacher Elizabeth Dav ...

as Darla * Eugene Lee as Porky *

George McFarland George McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for starring as a child as Spanky in the ''Our Gang'' series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The ''Our Gang'' shorts were later syndicated ...

as Spanky / Caliph *

Carl Switzer Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

as Alfalfa / Aladdin *

Billie Thomas Billie may refer to: People * Billie Allen (1925-2015), American actress * Billie Bird (1908-2002), American actress and comedian * Billie Burke (1884-1970), American actress * Billie Joe Armstrong (born 1972), American singer and guitarist for ...

as Buckwheat * Gary Jasgar as Gary *

Darwood Kaye Darwood Kenneth Smith (September 8, 1929 – May 15, 2002), also known as Darwood Kaye, was an American child actor most notable for his semi-regular role as the bookish rich kid Waldo in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1937 to 1940. ...

as Waldo * Leonard Landy as Deacon * Joe "Corky" Geil as Tap dancing boy * Billy Minderhout as Genie * George the Monkey as Elmer

Dancers and audience extras

Gloria Brown, Bobby Callahan, Dix Davis, Tim Davis, Rae-Nell Laskey, Henry Lee, Peggy Lynch, Pricilla Montgomery,

Harold Switzer Harold Frederick Switzer (January 16, 1925 – April 14, 1967) was an American child actor, most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series as an extra. He was the older brother of gang member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, one ...

, Marylyn Astor Thorpe, Laura June Williams

Notes

''Aladdin's Lantern'' was the last episode directed by Gordon Douglas. It was also the first MGM entry produced with

as Spanky. He returned from loan to other studios. Gordon Douglas left the gang and MGM to return to

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

References

External links

* 1938 films American black-and-white films Films directed by Gordon Douglas Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films 1938 comedy films Our Gang films 1938 short films 1930s American films {{short-comedy-film-stub