Mighty Lak a Goat

{{Infobox film

| name = Mighty Lak a Goat

| image = Our Gang Mighty Lak a Goat 1942.jpg

| caption =

| director = Herbert Glazer

| narrator =

| starring = George McFarland
Billie Thomas
Bobby Blake
Billy Laughlin
John Dilson
George B. French
Ava Gardner
Robert Emmett O'Connor
Joe Yule Sr.

| music =

| cinematography = Jackson Rose

| editing = Leon Borgeau

| distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

| released = {{Film date|1942|10|10}}

| runtime = {{duration | m=9 | s= 39}}

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Mighty Lak a Goat is a 1942 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Herbert Glazer. It was the 209th Our Gang short to be released.{{cite book |last1=Maltin |first1=Leonard |last2=Bann |first2=Richard W. |title=Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals |date=1977 |publisher=Crown Publishers |page=249 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourganglifetimes0000malt/page/248/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}} The title is a reference to the 1901 song, "Mighty Lak' a Rose".

Plot

The gang tries to clean off their clothes after being splattered with mud accidentally by a passing motorist. A unique cleaning solution devised by Froggy works beautifully, but with one major drawback: The stuff has a terribly pungent odor. Froggy tells the gang that they would get used to the smell. They do get used to the bad odor to the point of being oblivious to it. The kids manage to empty out a bus trying to board it.

They walk to school and get thrown out of the classroom due to their smell. Then, being free from school, the gang goes to see a movie called Don't Open That Door at the theater. The movie-house cashier notices their smell, but they head into the auditorium. Then even the actors on the screen cannot stand the smell and stop performing. They finally get removed from the theater and remove their clothes behind a tree.{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/226212/Mighty-Lak-a-Goat/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520205003/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/226212/Mighty-Lak-a-Goat/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-05-20 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |publisher=Baseline & All Movie Guide |author=Hal Erickson |title=New York Times: Mighty-Lak-a-Goat|author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2011 |accessdate=2008-10-08}}

Cast

=The Gang=

Bobby Blake as Mickey
Billy Laughlin as Froggy
George McFarland as Spanky
Billie Thomas as Buckwheat

=Additional cast=

John Dilson as Banker Stone
George B. French as Patron
Ava Gardner as Girl at the theatre box office
Robert Emmett O'Connor as Detective King
Anne O'Neal as Schoolteacher
William Tannen as Bus driver
Joe Yule Sr. as Patron
Lee Phelps as Police officer
Charlie Sullivan as Bus passenger

Production notes

Ava Gardner plays the role of the cashier at the film theater. According to Robert Blake, Mickey Rooney, who was married to Gardner at the time, came in to direct her one scene. Rooney's father, Joe Yule, Sr. has a cameo as a movie patron.Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang, p. 220, New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. {{ISBN|0-517-58325-9}}
The film they see is called Don't Open That Door. The scene in the movie shown on this film starred Robert Emmet O'Connor, Banker Stone and John Dilson.