If you've ever wondered what it'd be like to see the Little Rascals go up against two vicious murderers ... then seek psychiatric help immediately!

Mystery to Me returns this week with a double-feature of two short films from the Our Gang series— alias The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals. Both shorts play with the detective genre. One is your average silly Our Gang fare. The other has actual death and an extended shoot-out scene.

Hide and Shriek is a short film that was released on June 18, 1938. It was directed by Gordon Douglas, and is the last ever Our Gang flick to feature the participation of creator Hal Roach. It stars Carl Switzer as Alfalfa — alias X-10 — Billie Thomas as Buckwheat — alias X-6 1/2 — Eugene Lee as Porky — alias X-6 — and Darla Hood as Darla. In this story, Alfalfa recruits his friends to his new detective agency ... but a jaunt in a haunted house soon proves that mystery-solving can be a bone-chilling profession. This was the 168th Our Gang film.

Little Miss Pinkerton is a 1943 Our Gang film directed by Herbert Glazer, starring Billie Thomas as Buckwheat, Billy Laughlin as Froggy, Janet Burston as Janet, and Robert Blake as Mickey. It was released on September 18, 1943. This was the 216th entry in the Our Gang series. In this film, the kids witness a brutal murder and get taken hostage. No, really! That's the plot.

Listen to the gang discuss Dashiell Hammett, the Pinkertons, the trailer for The Batman, and aging Áine’s frail health.

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