Five Little Peppers and How They Grew

Having been on an Our Gang kick again, I found out that YouTube has a series of Five Little Peppers movies that featured Tommy Bond and Edith Fellows-who had previously appeared in a couple of the Little Rascals shorts: Birthday Blues and Mush and Milk which Bond also was in. It's Fellows who's the main star here as the oldest of the siblings who takes care of the house when the widowed mom is off at work. Bond is far from his bully Butch character in OG that he still occasionally portrayed during this period which is refreshing to see. While this was mainly a drama, there are some humorous touches reminiscent of The Little Rascals like when Edith and Tommy are riding in a makeshift boat or when Tommy and a little brother are comparing which one has the bigger measles! I don't want to reveal any more, just that I very much enjoyed Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and looking forward to the rest of the series entries...

You don't watch a film like this for the plot. It projects a world of morality, common decency and a naïve but infectious positivity in "defiance" of the cynical desire for narratives that almost glorify endless tragedy and suffering. There are plenty of classics that handle tragedy masterfully well but every story doesn't have to be about tragedy. "Feel good" narratives exist, and I'd rather see them in this form than 99% of the drivel we get today.

This family has no father. It is the mother raising the 5 children. You must be thinking of another movie. The father of these children died before the movie even starts. This is a beautiful movie that even my 11 year old son loved. He sat and laughed and laughed as he watched it. While some might see it as simplistic and unrealistic in this day and age, I was glad to see a movie that showed basic family values and was enjoyable for my children to watch. It also showed basic moral values and how they impact others. It became a series of movies and was followed up with Five Little Peppers in Trouble and Five Little peppers Out West.

I know too many people who refuse to watch any movie or television show filmed in black and white. That is too bad because they are missing some very good shows. The plot in this movie isn't overly exciting. There are no car chases or murders. Actually the plot is somewhat predictable. However it is a pleasant story about a family who loves each other. The children are polite and respectful unlike many children portrayed today. The youngest child, layed by then four year old Dorothy Ann Seese. Was a delight to watch. She is adorable and acts natural. There are several other movies in this series.

Back in the 1930s, you'd hardly know that they were in the midst of the Depression when you watched movies. Hardly any seemed to acknowledge that the country's outlook was bleak and that so many were out of work....and films generally featured rich and happy folks. "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" is unusual because it features a very poor family that struggles to make ends meet.

When the film begins, you learn that some rich industrialist if looking for the heirs of John Pepper, a mining engineer who owns 50% of a mine. The problem is they have no idea who the heirs are and the Pepper family is poor and completely oblivious to their good fortune.

Much of the film has to do with the Pepper children all working to make a cake for their mother's birthday. In the process of getting money and supplies for the cake, they meet a nice rich boy who is desperately lonely for friends. Naturally, the writers were trying to say to the audience that financial wealth is NOT the same as true wealth...such as the way the Peppers loved each other. Not surprisingly, the boy's family just happens to be the ones looking for the Pepper heirs. So what's next? See the film.

"Five Little Peppers" is a very nice film...sweet and the sort of thing some might think is a bit too schmaltzy. But its message was perfect for the Depression era and folks needed some hope. Overall, a nice little story that you can't help but enjoy...schmaltziness and all.



By the way, if you watch the film look for Tommy Bond playing one of the Pepper kids. In the Little Rascals films, he played Butch--the bully. Here, however, he's a nicer kid...and gave Bond a chance to do something different.