Again concocting an elaborate hooky-playing scheme, Our Gang kid Spanky McFarland places a block of ice on the chest of his pal Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. The strategy this time is to convince their mothers that Alfalfa has a bad cold, and that Spanky must remain by his side to nurse him back to help. In fact, the boys plan to go fishing the moment their mothers' backs are turned -- and the scheme might have worked, had not little Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee spilled the beans to Spanky's mom. Vowing to teach the boys a lesson, she orders Spanky and Alfalfa to remain in the house all day and look after Spanky's kid brother Junior. This turns out to be a major mistake when, while trying to clean Junior's clothes, the boys end up locked in a steam cabinet, while poor Buckwheat finds himself stuck in the washing machine's rinse cycle. Though adhering strictly to formula, the "Our Gang" one-reeler Canned Fishing pleased the crowd when it was originally released on February 12, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi