This M-G-M musical short, Melodies Old and New, is the two hundred fourth entry in the "Our Gang" series and the one hundred sixteenth talkie. The gang are trying to raise money for football uniforms so once again, Froggy's Uncle Walter Wills decides to put on a show. Compared to Ye Olde Minstrels, the show itself is once again a makeshift operation with one of the numbers involving Spanky, Mickey, Froggy, and Buckwheat doing their own amusing renditions of old popular songs with each-except for Buckwheat-also doing a solo. Janet Burston also does a nice number at the beginning before also introing some professional kid dancers doing what's popular at the time of this short. I really liked this one so that's a recommendation of Melodies Old and New. P.S. Supposedly Dwayne Hickman-later to be known as Dobie Gillis on TV-was one of the kid dancers.
4 Reviews
the music and dancing are good...but where's the Our Gang?
marjcbs22 November 2004
This is another one of those MGM mini-musicals in which the Our Gang kids seems almost peripheral, at least compared to the professional dancers in this film
In the beginning, we see the likes of Spanky, Buckwheat, Mickey, etc., as they ask Walter Wills to help them put on another show (sounds like "Ye Olde Minstrels II").
And in the opening number we do have Janet (in her pre-obnoxious days) doing a cute rendition of "Grandman Wore a Bustle." Then Spanky, Mickey, Buckwheat, and Froggy do a medley of songs. Each does a solo, except Buckwheat for some reason: perhaps he couldn't sing (though that didn't stop the other boys..heh heh).
Ironically, the best part of this short doesn't even involve the talents of Our Gang. This is where the professional child dancers come out to do show their stuff: they do the jitterbug, the Charleston, the boogie woogie, etc. It's really neat to watch.
With that said, I'm not entirely convinced I was watching an Our Gang short. It was more like a Dancing School recital with the Gang as supporting players. Still, it's an overall enjoyable film.
In the beginning, we see the likes of Spanky, Buckwheat, Mickey, etc., as they ask Walter Wills to help them put on another show (sounds like "Ye Olde Minstrels II").
And in the opening number we do have Janet (in her pre-obnoxious days) doing a cute rendition of "Grandman Wore a Bustle." Then Spanky, Mickey, Buckwheat, and Froggy do a medley of songs. Each does a solo, except Buckwheat for some reason: perhaps he couldn't sing (though that didn't stop the other boys..heh heh).
Ironically, the best part of this short doesn't even involve the talents of Our Gang. This is where the professional child dancers come out to do show their stuff: they do the jitterbug, the Charleston, the boogie woogie, etc. It's really neat to watch.
With that said, I'm not entirely convinced I was watching an Our Gang short. It was more like a Dancing School recital with the Gang as supporting players. Still, it's an overall enjoyable film.
Another musical interlude for the Our Gang kids
dbborroughs11 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Your tolerance for this film will depend upon your tolerance for the periodic "let's put on show" films that MGM dropped into the series every fourth film. If you're thinking I'm kidding all you need do is take a look at the sequence of the films and you'll see that almost with clockwork efficiency the fourth film is a musical extravaganza. Most barely have a plot and most of the ones in the second half of the run barely have the main actors at all. The plot this time out has the gang putting the show on to get uniforms for their football team. If you like the music and dancing you'll like the film. If not its a trial, or a reason to reach for the remote. Personally I find these films a waste of my time (though this one did impress me since its the first one I've seen that actually looks like what the kids would do.
"Dobie Gillis" a hoofer?
Moax42926 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I agree with joshlech's comment 100%. If "Melodies Old and New" was intended to be a sequel to "Ye Olde Minstrels," this film went in the other direction and hit the target (and, mercifully, it was also *free* of any negative, stereotyped ethnic caricatures!).
Again, after reading Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann's bashing of "Melodies Old and New" in their 1992 "Little Rascals" book, that only made watching this film funnier (although they *were* right on one count: "Melodies Old and New" was *much* better *without* Walter Wills' musical services). Especially hilarious, besides Janet Burston's opening song, was when Spanky, Mickey, Buckwheat, and Froggy sang "Toot, Toot, Tootsie" and the orchestra sped up so that the four kids had to sing the song fast, too, in order to move on to the "Dances Old and New" finale. (Ms. Burston *didn't actually* narrate the "Dances Old and New" sequence, as Maltin and Bann claimed; she merely *introduced* each dance in that number.)
Two other funny observations I have regarding "Melodies Old and New" are: (1) when the signs that introduce each act rise out of the floor near the stage, it reminded me of something out of an old Goodson/Todman game show, particularly the original "Password," in which the clues popped out of the desk where the contestants and celebrities played (could this film be how G/T got their inspiration for that?); and (2) Maltin and Bann inquire rather snarkily in their review, "How could kids who had no money for football uniforms afford the ornate costumes used in each specialty number?" (I always thought - with the exception of the finale - the kids simply rummaged through their folks' closets and old trunks for said costumes; at least, that's what the filmmakers would have you believe.) Well, I suppose you could chalk that up to some of that typical, unexplained MGM movie magic, even more prevalent in the studio's musical features!
Also, according to the cast info in Maltin and Bann's "Little Rascals" book, as well as here at the IMDb listings, Dwayne Hickman, who later starred as "Dobie Gillis" on TV, was one of the kids tap dancing in the chorus. Which one was he? (Hickman, by the way, appeared in some TV commercials for the Ohio Lottery in mid-2008, asking for voters' support in establishing casinos in the Buckeye state.)
For its feel-good hilarity throughout (especially fueled by Maltin and Bann's "dissing" of this film), I give "Melodies Old and New" an 8. Enjoy!
Again, after reading Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann's bashing of "Melodies Old and New" in their 1992 "Little Rascals" book, that only made watching this film funnier (although they *were* right on one count: "Melodies Old and New" was *much* better *without* Walter Wills' musical services). Especially hilarious, besides Janet Burston's opening song, was when Spanky, Mickey, Buckwheat, and Froggy sang "Toot, Toot, Tootsie" and the orchestra sped up so that the four kids had to sing the song fast, too, in order to move on to the "Dances Old and New" finale. (Ms. Burston *didn't actually* narrate the "Dances Old and New" sequence, as Maltin and Bann claimed; she merely *introduced* each dance in that number.)
Two other funny observations I have regarding "Melodies Old and New" are: (1) when the signs that introduce each act rise out of the floor near the stage, it reminded me of something out of an old Goodson/Todman game show, particularly the original "Password," in which the clues popped out of the desk where the contestants and celebrities played (could this film be how G/T got their inspiration for that?); and (2) Maltin and Bann inquire rather snarkily in their review, "How could kids who had no money for football uniforms afford the ornate costumes used in each specialty number?" (I always thought - with the exception of the finale - the kids simply rummaged through their folks' closets and old trunks for said costumes; at least, that's what the filmmakers would have you believe.) Well, I suppose you could chalk that up to some of that typical, unexplained MGM movie magic, even more prevalent in the studio's musical features!
Also, according to the cast info in Maltin and Bann's "Little Rascals" book, as well as here at the IMDb listings, Dwayne Hickman, who later starred as "Dobie Gillis" on TV, was one of the kids tap dancing in the chorus. Which one was he? (Hickman, by the way, appeared in some TV commercials for the Ohio Lottery in mid-2008, asking for voters' support in establishing casinos in the Buckeye state.)
For its feel-good hilarity throughout (especially fueled by Maltin and Bann's "dissing" of this film), I give "Melodies Old and New" an 8. Enjoy!
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