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Valentine's Day is a lot of hooey so far as
Spanky, Buckwheat, and Alfalfa are concerned. They decide to start
the He-Man Woman-Haters' Club to make their displeasure official.
But when Darla walks by and winks at Alfalfa, he forgets about his vow
and goes after her, accepting an invitation to lunch and exchanging
valentines. Spanky wants
to teach this Romeo a lesson, so while Alfalfa is off with Darla at the
swings, he substitutes soap for cheese in his sandwich, and liquid soap
for whipped cream in the cream puff. In class that afternoon, when
the teacher asks Darla to play the piano, she agrees if Alfalfa will
sing. He takes a drink of water first, so
that with every line of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," a raft of soap
bubbles flows from his mouth! At the finish of the song, Alfalfa runs
out of the classroom, and Spanky triumphantly tears up his lovelorn
pal's valentine from Darla.
Hearts Are Thumps (often misnamed "Hearts
Are Trumps") is another fast-moving, entirely satisfying one-reeler that
is built on a single, simple idea. Also, it's yet another short
that benefits tremendously from the superb musical background scoring of
Marvin Hatley. One is never quite sure why Alfalfa goes along with
his pals in the renunciation of women, since he hasn't indicated such
tendencies before. Nevertheless, he repeats Spanky's improvised
oath: "We, the He-Man Woman-Haters' Club, promise not to fall for
this Valentine business, because girls are the bunk." All it
takes, however, is goo-goo eyes from Darla to set Alfalfa's heart quite
literally a-thumping, and that's the end of his involvement with the
club. As he tells Spanky, "I have to live my own life."
Darla, of course, is no dummy. She knows how to go after her man,
combining flirtatiousness with food and telling Alfalfa that she likes
him above all the others because "you have personality." His face
lights up like a thousand-watt bulb as he replies, "Have I?"
When Alfalfa starts to eat Darla's sandwich
(as doctored by Spanky) he chokes on the soapy substance, contorting his
face in obvious pain. When he tries to make a tactful comment to
Darla, she haughtily replies that if he doesn't want to eat her lunch,
she knows plenty of boys who will. Alfalfa immediately begs her to
let him finish the lunch, promising to eat every bite. "Pretty
please?" she asks. "Pretty please," he replies sheepishly,
resigning himself to finish the sandwich and cream puff.
Later, when Miss Jones asks Darla to play
the piano, she in turn asks Alfalfa to sing with her. He replies
that he'd rather not...he isn't in the mood. Spanky leans toward
him, aping Darla, and says mockingly, "Pretty please!" goading Alfalfa
into agreeing to sing.
It's easy to take a sequence like the bubble
song for granted, but aside from the wonder of movie special effects to
make the gag seem real, there is the skill of Alfalfa and the other kids
in pretending to play with, and react to, imaginary bubbles onscreen
(the animated bubbles were added to the picture after the live-action
scenes were finished). Alfalfa's exaggerated emphasis of the words
in his song, especially at the end of each phrase, widen his mouth and
make more logical the thrust that propels the bubbles to emerge, a group
at a time. His wide-eyed amazement and discomfort at the results
are those of a skilled comic actor-who just happens to be nine years
old.
Laughter evoked by Alfalfa's mime and music
is doubled, too, each time the camera cuts away to a broadly smiling
Spanky and Buckwheat, who are content to sit back and relish the
crooner's struggles. The camera cuts to a stunned Darla, also,
though one may wonder whether she's bewildered as to what's made Alfalfa
become a bubble machine, or whether it's simply that she can't figure
out where the violins are coming from that gradually merge with her
piano accompaniment!
Of course, Spanky's momentary victory over
"women" doesn't keep Alfalfa from becoming increasingly fond of Darla,
as their on-again, off-again sweetheart relationship formed the basis
for more and more story lines during the coming year of
Our Gang films.
As a behind-the-scenes footnote to the theme
of this picture, it is curious to learn that late in life, Darla Hood
admitted to having had a slight crush on Spanky, rather than Alfalfa.
Spanky, of course, was never linked romantically with Darla on-screen,
and in front of the cameras was seldom a Lothario of any kind. "He
was by far, though, at least to my girlish eyes, the most likable of the
gang regulars," Darla said. "It was Alfalfa who was the dominating
one, and so was his father, who pushed Alfie and his brother Harold into
prominence, and encouraged Alfie's sometimes arrogant and unruly
behavior around the lot. Spanky may have gotten along with him,
but I was terrified of him. In regard to Spanky, though, I always
felt a certain kindliness and generosity; I guess I always had a gentle
feeling for Spanky, who after all was the real pro of the gang in every
way.
"None of us socialized off the set except
for an occasional birthday party. I believe the parents were
mostly to blame—as you know how kids are—they love anyone and everyone
unless they learn prejudices from their parents. I recall that
Alfie's and Spanky's fathers fought continually over billing, salaries,
and star status between their sons. Very much unlike his screen
character, Tommy Bond, of all, seemed most 'normal,' perhaps because he
was a semi-regular
Our Gang member and missed the jealousy and constant status-seeking
conflicts the Switzers and the McFarlands went through. Honestly,
I must say that these are my impressions, but as I was three to four
years younger than Spanky and Alfalfa, as well as being the only girl
around, I did feel a little left out of their activities, and perhaps
never fully understood these kinds of things." |
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