. . . begins a New Math problem posed to "Spanky" about halfway through THE NEW PUPIL. As THE FOUNDER recently taught America, this is the kind of calculation required of modern fast food technicians at Today's U.S. burger joints. Most enrollees accepted at the world-renown University of Hamburgology have posted perfect SAT scores, if not better. Competition is fierce for a highly-coveted slot at UH, since the incoming freshman are well aware that they'll have to outdo budding nuclear rocket surgeons to have any chance of obtaining a post under the famed Golden Arches. Though the curriculum ranges from Mandarin to Mandolin, the UH program's academic core centers around Advanced Math. "Sally" poses a basic question to Spanky from Burger Construction 101 during THE NEW PUPIL. It goes something like this: "If an F8 Tornado (on the Fajita Scale) strikes the delivery truck as it's unloading, how many Big Mac patties will result, assuming that six cows are caught in a crossfire of shingles from 37 standard-sized suburban homes?"
6 Reviews
"Rushin' Ballet" anyone? (possible spoilers)
marjcbs6 October 2004
Warning: Spoilers
A few years back, in "Rushin' Ballet," Spanky and Alfalfa disguised themselves as young ballerinas to discourage Butch and Woim.
OK, so much for the reference. Now, as to "The New Pupil" ---
The idea seems to be the following: if someone breaks a lunch date with you, get your revenge by humiliating them. That seems to be the case with Darla who feels slighted when Spanky and Alfalfa break that promise with her. So, with the help of Sally, the boys are cajoled into playing tea party, dressed up as the homeliest pair of young girls you'd ever see!
It's a good story, and seeing Spanky and Alfalfa play along is priceless. At one point, when the boys are given babies, Alfalfa is asked what he(she) feeds his(her) baby; he answers: "Oh, I give her some milk, a couple of hamburgers, and once a week a little..." (then is inspired by seeing a bag of fertilizer!). Pretty funny. Later on the boys sing "Go To Sleep My Baby," a song which, as many Our Gang aficionados know was sung by Alfalfa five years ago in "Little Papa."
A couple of things don't make sense though: why would Spanky and Alfalfa waste time going after a girl who's not interested in boys? Also, if Sally isn't interested in boys, and Mickey isn't interested in girls, why would they hang out together near the end of the film??
Bit of trivia: Froggy makes his first appearance in this Our Gang short (although, for some reason, he's called Harold by the teacher).
Juanita Quigley does an excellent job in her role as Sally. She would later be seen in "Going to Press." It's a shame she didn't do more Our Gang shorts. Given the general downward slide in the quality of these films, it couldn't have hurt.
OK, so much for the reference. Now, as to "The New Pupil" ---
The idea seems to be the following: if someone breaks a lunch date with you, get your revenge by humiliating them. That seems to be the case with Darla who feels slighted when Spanky and Alfalfa break that promise with her. So, with the help of Sally, the boys are cajoled into playing tea party, dressed up as the homeliest pair of young girls you'd ever see!
It's a good story, and seeing Spanky and Alfalfa play along is priceless. At one point, when the boys are given babies, Alfalfa is asked what he(she) feeds his(her) baby; he answers: "Oh, I give her some milk, a couple of hamburgers, and once a week a little..." (then is inspired by seeing a bag of fertilizer!). Pretty funny. Later on the boys sing "Go To Sleep My Baby," a song which, as many Our Gang aficionados know was sung by Alfalfa five years ago in "Little Papa."
A couple of things don't make sense though: why would Spanky and Alfalfa waste time going after a girl who's not interested in boys? Also, if Sally isn't interested in boys, and Mickey isn't interested in girls, why would they hang out together near the end of the film??
Bit of trivia: Froggy makes his first appearance in this Our Gang short (although, for some reason, he's called Harold by the teacher).
Juanita Quigley does an excellent job in her role as Sally. She would later be seen in "Going to Press." It's a shame she didn't do more Our Gang shorts. Given the general downward slide in the quality of these films, it couldn't have hurt.
barely okay
dbborroughs24 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Okay film has the boys becoming interested in a new girl much to Darla's disappointment. The new girl the gets revenge on the boys.
Well done but too rambling and pointless story that never builds up to the comeuppance that is delivered in the last bit. I don't know the film really doesn't work. Its a series of bits that are loosely connected but they aren't connected in away thats really interesting. The result is that you walk away from the film wondering why you bothered to spend ten minutes watching the film. Its not one of the truly bad of the series, but its not one of the good one's either. Its the sort of thing that struggles just to be okay. I'd take a pass.
Well done but too rambling and pointless story that never builds up to the comeuppance that is delivered in the last bit. I don't know the film really doesn't work. Its a series of bits that are loosely connected but they aren't connected in away thats really interesting. The result is that you walk away from the film wondering why you bothered to spend ten minutes watching the film. Its not one of the truly bad of the series, but its not one of the good one's either. Its the sort of thing that struggles just to be okay. I'd take a pass.
The New Pupil marks a new low in the Our Gang series
tavm20 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This M-G-M comedy, The New Pupil, is the one hundred ninety-first entry in the "Our Gang" series and the one hundred third talkie. Teacher introes new girl Sally (Juanita Quigley) in class getting both Spanky and Alfalfa smitten with her to the point of breaking their lunch date with Darla. But Sally hates boys and when she encounters Darla, they make a plan to teach the boys a lesson...Well, this was the first really awful OG comedy in the M-G-M produced-only series. Here's what's so bad about it: Darla's sudden crying, the female masquerade involving Spank and Alf in order to impress Sally, the rest of the gang laughing at them as a result, and the conclusion which makes the least sense. This was the only other time Spank and Alf were rivals for the same girl and it was much better done in Sprucin' Up. The only positive thing I'll say about this short is indeed Sally is, to quote Alf, "purdy". Oh, and Billy "Froggy" Laughlin debuted in this one though he's addressed as Harold here. Speaking of someone with that name, this was Alf's brother's last appearance in the series though since he's been an extra for most of that time, I didn't recognize him here. So that's definitely not a recommendation of The New Pupil.
The ABSOLUTE WORST non-musical MGM "Our Gang" film!
Moax4298 February 2009
Unfunny. Repulsive. Disgusting. Words fail.
Although I do think *THIS* time, Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann, who critiqued this sorry "Our Gang" outing in their 1992 "Little Rascals" book, said it best: "'The New Pupil' is not only embarrassing for Spanky and Alfalfa, but it's also pretty hard for an audience to stomach (I agreed with *that* observation even before I first read the original edition of Maltin and Bann's "Little Rascals" book published in 1977). Female masquerades are usually pretty grim in themselves. but what's worse is making fools of kids one used to identify with and admire (*QUITE TRUE!*)."
And, somehow, this waste of 8:52 (give or take) managed to return approximately $10,201 at the box office, according to Maltin and Bann. It wouldn't be long before the public began to associate "Our Gang" with weak and mostly educational scripts and staged performances, eventually leading to the series' death four years later.
joshlech and marjcbs, I agree with both of you on most of these MGM-produced "Our Gangs." But what the hell were you both thinking this time? Were you both stoned while you were watching this piece of crap?
Ask yourselves: What if somebody you knew pulled a sick prank on both of you like that? Wouldn't YOU be P.O.'d to the nth power that YOU'D want to teach the people who picked on YOU a lesson? If it were me, I'd make them reenact that infamous final scene of "Pink Flamingos" (I've *never* seen that film, and *don't* ever intend to - but anybody who has seen "Pink Flamingos," or heard about said scene as I have, will know *exactly* what I'm talking about)!
And with reference to marjcbs' comparison of "The New Pupil" and "Rushin' Ballet:" In the latter film, Spanky and Alfalfa donned those disguises to hide from and outwit Butch and Woim; that was all done for *comic* effect, and the results were very amusing. In "The New Pupil," on the other hand, Spanky and Alfalfa donned those costumes at Sally's request and played along with her, only to be humiliated by other members of the gang a few minutes later as a result of the ruse devised by Darla and Sally, causing extreme embarrassment for Spanky and Alfalfa - and that *WASN'T* funny at all. So you see, marjcbs, there *IS* a "BIG* difference between "The New Pupil" and "Rushin' Ballet" - and I'd say *"Rushin' Ballet" WINS* hands down!
(Speculation: Could future TV scripters Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Pugh-Davis possibly have been apprentices to writers Hal Law and Robert Anthony McGowan at MGM? If so, maybe that explains why 97% of their "I Love Lucy" scripts *sucked* - they utilized the "style" employed in "The New Pupil" to a *BIG disadvantage* in "I Love Lucy!" That also helps explain why I like and enjoy "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" *much better* than "I Love Lucy," but that's another story.)
It's a shame IMDb's voting system only goes down to 1 for poor films and TV shows. If it went backwards even further to -10, then I KNOW I would give "The New Pupil" *THAT* vote!
Finally, a memo to Warner Home Video: If you ever decide to release a DVD box set of these last 52 MGM-produced "Our Gangs," if you're smart you'll *EXCLUDE* "The New Pupil," "Ye Olde Minstrels," and "Family Troubles!"
*THE END!*
Although I do think *THIS* time, Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann, who critiqued this sorry "Our Gang" outing in their 1992 "Little Rascals" book, said it best: "'The New Pupil' is not only embarrassing for Spanky and Alfalfa, but it's also pretty hard for an audience to stomach (I agreed with *that* observation even before I first read the original edition of Maltin and Bann's "Little Rascals" book published in 1977). Female masquerades are usually pretty grim in themselves. but what's worse is making fools of kids one used to identify with and admire (*QUITE TRUE!*)."
And, somehow, this waste of 8:52 (give or take) managed to return approximately $10,201 at the box office, according to Maltin and Bann. It wouldn't be long before the public began to associate "Our Gang" with weak and mostly educational scripts and staged performances, eventually leading to the series' death four years later.
joshlech and marjcbs, I agree with both of you on most of these MGM-produced "Our Gangs." But what the hell were you both thinking this time? Were you both stoned while you were watching this piece of crap?
Ask yourselves: What if somebody you knew pulled a sick prank on both of you like that? Wouldn't YOU be P.O.'d to the nth power that YOU'D want to teach the people who picked on YOU a lesson? If it were me, I'd make them reenact that infamous final scene of "Pink Flamingos" (I've *never* seen that film, and *don't* ever intend to - but anybody who has seen "Pink Flamingos," or heard about said scene as I have, will know *exactly* what I'm talking about)!
And with reference to marjcbs' comparison of "The New Pupil" and "Rushin' Ballet:" In the latter film, Spanky and Alfalfa donned those disguises to hide from and outwit Butch and Woim; that was all done for *comic* effect, and the results were very amusing. In "The New Pupil," on the other hand, Spanky and Alfalfa donned those costumes at Sally's request and played along with her, only to be humiliated by other members of the gang a few minutes later as a result of the ruse devised by Darla and Sally, causing extreme embarrassment for Spanky and Alfalfa - and that *WASN'T* funny at all. So you see, marjcbs, there *IS* a "BIG* difference between "The New Pupil" and "Rushin' Ballet" - and I'd say *"Rushin' Ballet" WINS* hands down!
(Speculation: Could future TV scripters Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Pugh-Davis possibly have been apprentices to writers Hal Law and Robert Anthony McGowan at MGM? If so, maybe that explains why 97% of their "I Love Lucy" scripts *sucked* - they utilized the "style" employed in "The New Pupil" to a *BIG disadvantage* in "I Love Lucy!" That also helps explain why I like and enjoy "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" *much better* than "I Love Lucy," but that's another story.)
It's a shame IMDb's voting system only goes down to 1 for poor films and TV shows. If it went backwards even further to -10, then I KNOW I would give "The New Pupil" *THAT* vote!
Finally, a memo to Warner Home Video: If you ever decide to release a DVD box set of these last 52 MGM-produced "Our Gangs," if you're smart you'll *EXCLUDE* "The New Pupil," "Ye Olde Minstrels," and "Family Troubles!"
*THE END!*
Welcome Frog
Michael_Elliott19 February 2013
The New Pupil (1940)
** (out of 4)
At one point in this Our Gang short, Alfalfa says that girls get the funniest ideas. It's too bad that the writers of this film didn't come up with some funnier ideas. A new girl arrives at school and draws the attention of Alfalfa and Spanky. Soon the two of them are willing to do whatever it takes to get her attention even if it means dressing up as girls and playing with dolls. What the boys don't know is that the girl and Darla are playing a trick on them. THE NEW PUPIL is considered by many to be one of the worst films of the series and I really can't argue with that. What kept me from really hating this film is the fact that it's just so bizarre that it kept me entertained from start to finish. I'm really not sure what the writers were trying to do here but the entire story just really adds up to nothing. I'm not certain what the point of embarrassing the boys was and I'm really not sure why the new girl would go along with something like this. Yes, the two boys kept pestering her but the screenplay needed more. The scene with Alfalfa and Spanky all dressed up really didn't get a single laugh but the site was weird enough to help make it somewhat of a cult item.
** (out of 4)
At one point in this Our Gang short, Alfalfa says that girls get the funniest ideas. It's too bad that the writers of this film didn't come up with some funnier ideas. A new girl arrives at school and draws the attention of Alfalfa and Spanky. Soon the two of them are willing to do whatever it takes to get her attention even if it means dressing up as girls and playing with dolls. What the boys don't know is that the girl and Darla are playing a trick on them. THE NEW PUPIL is considered by many to be one of the worst films of the series and I really can't argue with that. What kept me from really hating this film is the fact that it's just so bizarre that it kept me entertained from start to finish. I'm really not sure what the writers were trying to do here but the entire story just really adds up to nothing. I'm not certain what the point of embarrassing the boys was and I'm really not sure why the new girl would go along with something like this. Yes, the two boys kept pestering her but the screenplay needed more. The scene with Alfalfa and Spanky all dressed up really didn't get a single laugh but the site was weird enough to help make it somewhat of a cult item.
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