Mush and Milk

Mush and Milk
Directed by	Robert F. McGowan
Produced by	F. Richard Jones Hal Roach
Written by	Carl Harbaugh Hal Roach H. M. Walker Hal Yates
Music by	Leroy Shield Marvin Hatley
Cinematography	Hap Depew
Edited by	Louis McManus
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	May 27, 1933 (1933-05-27)
Running time	18:02[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Mush and Milk is a comedy short subject; part of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) series. It was produced and directed by Robert F. McGowan for Hal Roach, and was originally released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on May 27, 1933.^[2] It was the 123rd (35th talking episode) Our Gang short that was released.

Plot

The children live in the Bleak Hill boarding school, where they are yelled at, punished, and browbeaten by the ghastly old headmistress. The day begins with the headmistress waking the boys up and telling them to get their chores done or she'll "whale the daylights out of them" and they'll get nothing to eat. In school, however, they are taught by the headmistress' husband, the gentle and lovable Old Cap, who runs the school in an informal manner. Cap wants to do something nice for the children, since their school meals usually consist of mush (cornmeal) and milk. Just as the headmistress leaves the boys' sleeping quarters, Old Cap comes in to say hi to them. At that time, he promises that when he gets his back pension they will all leave that place and live well with tons of presents for the children. After the boys are up, the headmistress tells the boys to milk the cow and that they will be thrashed if they spill even one drop of it.

Pete the dog spills the milk and the kids use plaster of paris to substitute the milk. They warn the other classmates, by passing a message at the breakfast table. Stymie warns his neighbor to not drink the milk ("it's spoiled!"). This message is passed in this manner around all the breakfast tables. Then Spanky innocently warns the headmistress to not drink the milk, who in turn, scolds the children and demands that milk be put on their mush without issue and eaten immediately. This results in the forming of a hardened plaster mix in their bowls, and leaves them banging their spoons against the "spoiled" mush and milk, in a futile attempt to do as they are told.

Then after an amusing class session of foolish answers, Cap allows them an impromptu talent show. The kids do a dance, Spanky speaks a poem, Stymie plays a harmonica, and Tommy belts out a scowling rendition of "Just Friends (1931 song) (Lovers No More)", complete with adult-oriented lyrics.

During class, the phone rings and is answered by Spanky. The call is from Mr. Brown at the bank who wants to speak to Cap; both Spanky and Mr. Brown engage in one of the funniest scenes in the series. Finally, after getting Spanky to retrieve Cap, Mr. Brown tells Cap that his back pension of $4000 (worth $74,285 as of 2016) has finally arrived. Ecstatic, Cap treats the children to toys, a day at an amusement pier, and a meal at a fancy restaurant. They decide to order an exotic-sounding French dessert, which turns out to be none other than mush and milk, which is thrown at the waiter.

Cast

The Gang

• Matthew Beard as Stymie
• Tommy Bond as Tommy
• Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy
• Bobby Hutchins as Wheezer
• George McFarland as Spanky
• Dickie Moore as Dick
• John Collum as Uh-huh
• Edith Fellows as Girl in kitchen
• Bill Farnum as Billy
• Dickie Jackson as Dickie
• Marcia Mae Jones as Our Gang member
• Olga Therkow as Olga
• Pete the Pup as Himself

Additional cast

• Gus Leonard as Cap, teacher
• Louise Emmons as Cap's wife, the Headmistress
• James Finlayson as Mr. Brown, the banker
• Rolfe Sedan as Waiter
• Joe the Monk as Monkey

Notes

• Mush and Milk marked the last appearances of Bobby Hutchins, Dorothy DeBorba, Dickie Jackson (Mary Ann Jackson's brother), and Dickie Moore in the Our Gang series. Wheezer was the last regular full-time Our Ganger left from the silent era.
• Mush and Milk also was the last Our Gang episode to use exclusively music by Leroy Shield throughout the episode (except for the brief talent show sequences in the classroom). Bedtime Worries, the next episode would begin to incorporate scenes with no music in the background and focus more on dialogue than the films from the past few years. The look and feel of the series would begin changing the next season. While the gang are students at Bleak Hill Boarding School, the environment seems more like an orphanage and the film appears to be portraying the kids as orphans rather than students.
• This film was edited due to negative treatment towards children and negative, stereotypical misconceptions of old people from syndicated Little Rascals television package in 1971. The edited portions were reinstated in 2001 on AMC and aired there from 2001 to 2003.

Quotes

• • Cap: "Uh-Huh, can you use the word "isthmus" in a sentence?"
  • Uh-Huh: “Uh-huhhhhh… Isthmus be my lucky day!"
  • Spanky (cheerily): "Hellooooooooooo!"
  • Mr. Brown: "Who is this?"
  • Spanky (looking into receiver): "I don't know, I can't see ya!"
  • Mr. Brown (reacting) "This is Mr. Brown of the First National Bank. Who is this?"
  • Spanky: "Mister Brown of the First National Bank! That's whatcha just told me!"
  • Mr. Brown: "What number is this?"
  • Spanky: "How many guesses?"
  • Mr. Brown (squinting, outraged): "What's the big idea anyway?"
  • Spanky: "I dunno! You started it!"

See also

• Our Gang filmography

References

External links

• Mush and Milk at the Internet Movie Database
• Mush and Milk at the TCM Movie Database
• The short film Mush and Milk is available for free download at the Internet Archive