"On Our Merry Way" -Stewart, Fonda & MacMurray

This was a real curio of a movie... James "Slim" Stewart and Henry Fonda were long time friends and roommates in NYC in their halcyon Broadway stage days, and here they are together in 1948 in a nearly forgotten little comedy called "On Our Merry Way", an episodic comedy tied together with Burgess Meredith's character playing a reporter doing a story about Children. In this scene Hank and Jimmy are musicians traveling with a ragtag band in a beat up old bus. Down on their luck they happen on an aspiring horn player (Played here by Carl "alfalfa" Switzer, who had a tiny role 2 years earlier with Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life" as a Mischeivous high school kid who opens up the dance floor to drop the dancing kids into the swimming pool~!)




Here, Carl plays a young "Hepcat" who dreams of a life traveling with such a band.
Dig his way-out rendition of "You must have been a beautiful Baby" as he plays along with the great Harry James. "Beat me, Daddy!"
Stewart and Fonda are way too "unhep" to be real Jazz bohos, and it's still too early in 1948 to give much creedence to the new Jazz phenomenon called BeBop. They play a safe, watered down form of Swing. Yet, it is still a pleasure to see these real life pals onscreen together (in spite of their growing postwar political differences) at the young ages of 40 and 43. James Stewart would never seem this young again.




Here's another segment of the 1948 film that shows Fred MacMurray in an early comedic role along side his future TV costar in "My Three Sons", William Demarest, who would play Uncle Charlie 12 years later for the duration of the show (after a season with William Frawley, of course). Fred started out as a leading man only to discover he had a gift for light comedy. Look at his adroit handling of these magic tricks. Although MacMurray and Fonda starred together in their earliest roles, the Technicolor film, "trail of the Lonesome Pine", it's too bad Fred and his real life friend James Stewart weren't in any scenes together in this one. Their's might have been a cinematic teaming that could have really thrived!
-Enjoy this rare bit of 20th century Americana

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[HarleyQuinn81290]

I totally agree :-)

[crazy4fray]

@92af, I'm sorry but I gotta disagree w/ ya on that one...I think Carl Switzer was the best actor ever!!:)

[92af]

Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart were the 40s, 50s and 60s best movie actors ever

[crazy4fray]

Seems like the greatest and hottest always die young...doesn't it?

[HarleyQuinn81290]

carl is so fucking hhott in general but in this movie he's. like. wow hes even more hot dam

[HarleyQuinn81290]

carl is sexy i wish he was born in my time so we could be together i wanna make a time. machine to i can go back in the 30s to meet him i love him you will be forever missed alfie ily

[xIselin1993x]

@AlwaysaFanofALFALFA

I couldn't agree more!<3

Thanks for posting this!I've looked everywhere for it!

I'm a big fan of Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer even though he starred in movies long before I was born lol! They air "The Little Rascals" in Norway now and then and I sometimes watch it with my little brother:p

[AlwaysaFanofALFALFA]

I now also realize and know for certain that Carl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer was a very gifted and talented Trumpet player. It is absolutely wonderful to know that my favorite actor had millions of talents and gifts to share with all of us, and we must never limit Carl Switzer (1927-1959) as only Alfalfa on/of the Little Rascals/Our Gang! Had he lived, he would have always proved he was extremely talented!!!

[AlwaysaFanofALFALFA]

Proof Positive that Carl "alfalfa" Switzer never lost his talent after Our Gang ended its tenure. Carl proved beyong any doubts whatsoever that he was gifted, talented, and my all-time favorite actor!!

[nexttimewelove51]

Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda were superb in this. Jimmy's look on his face when "alfalfa" hit the sour notes was pricelesss. The scenes that Jimmy and Henry were in were in my opinion the greatest scenes in this movie. Too bad these two legends weren't in the whole movie.