Family Troubles


Family Troubles is a one-reel comedy short subject and is an episode of the Our Gang series. It was released to theatres on April 3, 1943, produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the 212th Our Gang short to be released.

Plot

Janet feels that her parents no longer love her because they made her older sister the definite center of attention during her aunt's visit. Filled with anger and despair, she decides to run away. The gang volunteers to look for a family or couple who will "adapt" Janet. After naming off potential candidates, they decide on the elderly Mr. and Mrs. Tom and Mary Jones and escort Janet to their home. A neighbor boy who witnesses the exchange runs to the Burstons' house and inadvertently reports that Janet was kidnapped by a gang whose leader has a heavy voice. Janet's parents, Mary and Jasper, quickly call the police.
When the gang pay the Jones a visit and offer Janet to them, the Jones quickly realize that Janet is a runaway and decide to teach her and the gang a lesson. They agree to adopt her but make her life a living hell by forcing her to scrub the kitchen floor and show where she will sleep. They even force her to give up all food in exchange for bread and water. When Mrs. Jones decides that Janet is unhappy enough, she and Mr. Jones leave the kitchen and Mr. Jones phones Janet's parents to retrieve her. But once they leave, Janet runs away again.
The gang soon discover that the police are searching for them, so they run and hide in a cave. While trying to cook some food, they burn them and create heavy smoke, which leaves their faces covered with soot and ashes. Once they see that the soot will hide their true identities, they bring Janet back home and tell Janet's parents why she wanted to run away.
Janet's family now realize how fortunate they are to have her. Mary apologizes for her unfeeling behavior and assures that it will never happen again. With everything happy, Froggy says, "All's well that ends well, I always say." Jasper corrects him, saying that Shakespeare originally said that phrase. "He did? Shucks!" answers a disappointed Froggy.

Cast

The Gang

Additional cast