Main Cast: Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, Eugene "Porky" Lee, Pete the Pup
Release Year: 1938
Country: US
Run Time: 1rl minutes
Plot
Hoping to earn enough money to buy baseball equipment, the Our Gang kids elect to have all their teeth pulled out. Their logic is sublime: If the Good Fairy is willing to slip a dime under the pillow for one tooth, imagine how much the kids will earn if they extract all of their ivories. Upon learning of this scheme, playful dentist Dr. Schwartz (played with unaccustomed sobriety by perennial movie "drunk" Jack Norton) decides to teach the little rascals a lesson -- beginning with a terrified Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. The Awful Tooth was originally released on May 28, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Awful Tooth is a 1938Our Gangshortcomedy film directed by Nate Watt. It was the 167th Our Gang short (168th episode, 79th talking short, and the 80th talking episode) that was released.
Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Porky, and Spike in need of money to purchase baseball equipment, devise a scheme: they will have all their teeth pulled out, which they calculate will earn them one dime per tooth from the tooth fairy. Their dentist hears of their plan, and takes steps to dissuade the kids—beginning with a terrified Alfalfa. In the end, Alfalfa decides to keep his teeth, but the dentist does give them some baseball equipment as a reward for learning a valuable lesson about dental health.[1]
Note
This episode was one of the weaker Hal Roach Our gang entries. It is used to teach another lesson, a preview of what was coming at their new quarters over at MGM after they purchased the Our Gang unit months later. This episode is minus Darla Hood.
