Time Out for Lessons

{{Infobox film

| name = Time Out for Lessons

| image = Timeoutlesson TITLE.JPEG

| caption =

| director = Edward Cahn
Bud Murray

| producer = Jack Chertok for MGM

| writer = Hal Law
Robert A. McGowan

| narrator =

| starring =

| music =

| cinematography = Robert Planck

| editing = Ralph E. Goldstien

| distributor = MGM

| released = {{Film date|1939|12|2}}

| runtime = 10:49

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Time Out for Lessons is a 1939 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Edward Cahn. It was the 185th 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=233 |isbn=978-0-517-52675-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourganglifetimes0000malt/page/232/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}}

Plot

Afalfa is preparing for a football game with the gang before his father takes him aside to talk about his poor grades. Alfalfa is told that he has a lot of Grade "D" on his tests and unless he improves his academic standing he'll never get to college. Alfalfa responds, "Don't 'D' stand for 'Dandy'?" He then informs his father that he intends to sail through college on a football scholarship. His father then puts forth an illustration to Alfalfa who imagines that he is a student at "Hale University" (a spoof of Yale University) and that he is a big football star with poor grades. During his dream about future gridiron triumphs, Alfalfa is brought down to earth when he envisions himself being disqualified by his professor from the inevitable "big game" due to his lousy grades. After picturing this scenario our hero vows to put football on the back burner in favor of cracking the books. His father encourages him to balance them out and not neglect one for the other. So, while Alfalfa doesn't give up football, he promises and encourages the gang to take "Time Out For Lessons".{{Cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/226190/Time-Out-For-Lessons/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520201226/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/226190/Time-Out-For-Lessons/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-05-20 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |author=Hal Erickson |title=New York Times: Time-Out-For-Lessons|author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2011 |accessdate=2008-10-08}}

Cast

=The Gang=

Carl Switzer as Alfalfa
Mickey Gubitosi as Mickey
Darla Hood as Darla
George McFarland as Spanky
Billie Thomas as Buckwheat
Shirley Coates as Muggsy
Darwood Kaye as Waldo
Leonard Landy as Leonard

=Additional cast=

Gloria Brown as Spanky's dance partners
Hugh Chapman as Kid encouraging Leonard
Paul Hilton as Roommate
Dickie Humphries as Kid encouraging Buckwheat
Valerie Lee as Mickey's dance partner
Si Wills as Alfalfa's father

=College extras=

Joe "Corky" Geil, James Gubitosi, Jovanni Gubitosi, Janice Hood, Jackie Horner, Payne Johnson, Larry Kert, Sidney Kibrick, Rae-Nell Laskey, Gerald Mackey, Tommy McFarland, Glenn Mickens, Priscilla Montgomery, Betty Ann Muir, Jo-Jo La Savio, Harold Switzer

Notes

The film was the last appearance of Sidney Kibrick. He was initially a background character while his older brother Leonard was the gang bully. After his brother leaves, Sidney is teamed up with a new bully, Butch, played by Tommy Bond. Sidney becomes known as "Woim". His last episode as Butch's sidekick had been Captain Spanky's Showboat.
Features an instrumental version of "The Jitterbug", a song written (but removed) from The Wizard of Oz.