Jack Benny believes that the most successful blend for a television show consists of mild pinches of nostalgia and large doses of laughter.
The comedian has really reached into the not too distant past on "The Jack Benny Program" which airs over CBS-TV on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 9:30 p.m., when he recalls the period of the famed "Our Gang" comedies.
Darla Hood, the dimpled doll who was the "sweetheart" of all the gang members, is Jack's guest on the show and they spoof the era when millions of youngsters poured into theaters across the nation to howl at "Spanky," "Buckwheat" and "Alfalfa."
Darla, now a trim and attractive mother of two, sat on Jack's set at Revue Studios, sipped on a carton of milk, and recalled her first meeting with the comedian.
"I guess it was 20 years ago and Jack was a big star even then," she smiled. "He came to our set at MGM one day to watch us rehearse. We must have done a funny show because he howled with laughter and told me he'd like to do a picture with me someday."
Darla, who does nightclub and TV appearances when she is not being a housewife, thinks that shows like Jack's are the "only ones on TV worth watching."
"There are some shows I would never let my children watch," she said, "but we never miss Jack. His comedy is similar to the kind we got across on the 'gang' series - family fun and clean as Monday's wash."
Between the time she was three and twelve, Darla recalled that she appeared in about 150 "Our Gang" comedies for Hal Roach, Sr. The shows, she added, were usually shot in five days. "Now," she said, "they spend a year on some comedies and they don't come out funny. I think our secret was that we were spontaneous in a lot of the things we did. Too much careful planning can lose a lot of laughs."
Darla said that she was washed up in the comedies when people began to notice she was not a little girl any longer. "The first time a boy whistled at me I knew my career as a 'gang' member was over," she smiled. She also noted that life had not been exactly kind to some of her former colleagues.
"Carl Switzer, who plays 'Alfalfa,' was killed in a shooting brawl," she said. "Another was arrested on narcotics charges and another was killed in a car crash. I think that 'Spank' is a bartender today and I know 'Buckwheat' went into the army."
A talented comedienne and impressionist, Darla gets a chance to sing "A Most Unusual Day" on Jack's show. Married to a music publisher, Darla recently cut her first record, "Only Yours" and hopes it is a hit.
"I don't think being a child star hurt me," she said, "and I don't think it is bad for a well adjusted youngster. Look at Jackie Cooper. He made the trip from 'Skippy' to 'Hennesey' without any trouble."
Darla said, however, that being in the limelight and the center of much adulation could turn a youngster's head "if it wasn't screwed on right." "Actually we weren't really the stars of the comedies," she added. "The prop men were. They were miracle men who saved many an episode by their cleverness."