Post by operabuff67 on Jun 4, 2006 15:51:52 GMT -5
In the book by Leonard Malton and Richard Bann, they describe
Tiny Troubles as the first really bad MGM short. They say that the
production staff somehow expected the audience to swallow the
idea that eleven-year-old Alfalfa and ten-year-old Spanky couldn't
tell the difference between an infant and a midget dressed as one. Well, I think that this is the whole problem. Spanky started at the age of three, and Alfalfa started at the age of seven. These later scripts seem to be written with these same ages in mind. In
my opinion, the shorts were not "bad", the acting was not "bad",
it's just that the scripts were written for much younger people. The knickers that Spanky wore were cute when he was younger.
The suit that Alalfa wore with the elbow-lenth sleeves and the
calf-length pants was also cute when he was younger. However,
when they were older, it looked like they were wearing clothes that shrunk in the wash. So now for Joy Scouts. The scoutmaster
tells them that they are too young to go camping with them. HUH?
Obviously, Spanky and Alfalfa are just as old as the rest of the scouts. So I think this is the problem - the way the scripts were
written. Not bad acting - it's difficult for someone eleven to play
someone seven!
Tiny Troubles as the first really bad MGM short. They say that the
production staff somehow expected the audience to swallow the
idea that eleven-year-old Alfalfa and ten-year-old Spanky couldn't
tell the difference between an infant and a midget dressed as one. Well, I think that this is the whole problem. Spanky started at the age of three, and Alfalfa started at the age of seven. These later scripts seem to be written with these same ages in mind. In
my opinion, the shorts were not "bad", the acting was not "bad",
it's just that the scripts were written for much younger people. The knickers that Spanky wore were cute when he was younger.
The suit that Alalfa wore with the elbow-lenth sleeves and the
calf-length pants was also cute when he was younger. However,
when they were older, it looked like they were wearing clothes that shrunk in the wash. So now for Joy Scouts. The scoutmaster
tells them that they are too young to go camping with them. HUH?
Obviously, Spanky and Alfalfa are just as old as the rest of the scouts. So I think this is the problem - the way the scripts were
written. Not bad acting - it's difficult for someone eleven to play
someone seven!
