Helping Grandma
Encyclopedia
Helping Grandma is a 1931 Our Gang
short
comedy film
directed by Robert F. McGowan
. It was the 103rd (15th talking episode) Our Gang short that was released.
The gang thinks both parties want to practically steal the store away from her. The swindler stops in and tries talking Grandma into selling her store immediately for very little money. She balks and then goes downtown to run some errands leaving the gang in charge. Chain store officials then stop by and the gang tries to scare them away from buying the store. They leave as well.
Meanwhile Wheezer and Dorothy tease Stymie and do not let him have any candy. When he tries to con them into giving him some, they have Stymie sampling dog food, oil, lard, lux, gasoline, and fertilizer. Grandma returns along with the swindler who is in a rush to get her to sign away her store. She assumes she has signed the store away and tells the children that she just sold the store. The man then calls the kids hoodlums and tells them the store is his and he is the boss and they must leave. Grandma refuses to let him throw them out. Then the chain store officials arrive and the swindler states that the store now belong to him. He shows them the paper she signed and it was blank. The real bill of sale was not signed. Grandma also learns that the swindler pretended to be Grandma over the phone and told the officials she did not want to sell the place. The officials also say they will offer Grandma three times more than the original price agreed upon. The swindler accuses Grandma of tricking him. Grandma then socks the guy so hard he falls across the room. Wheezer then hits him on the head with a hammer.
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Robert F. McGowan
Robert F. McGowan
Robert Francis McGowan was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933.-Career:...
. It was the 103rd (15th talking episode) Our Gang short that was released.
Plot
An older woman owns a small grocery store and the gang helps her run it by waiting on customers, delivering groceries, and keeping her company. They call her Grandma, though she is not any one kid's grandmother but everyone's grandma. She loves the gang and the gang loves her. A chain store company wants to buy her store for more than market value while a swindler also wants to buy it for next to nothing.The gang thinks both parties want to practically steal the store away from her. The swindler stops in and tries talking Grandma into selling her store immediately for very little money. She balks and then goes downtown to run some errands leaving the gang in charge. Chain store officials then stop by and the gang tries to scare them away from buying the store. They leave as well.
Meanwhile Wheezer and Dorothy tease Stymie and do not let him have any candy. When he tries to con them into giving him some, they have Stymie sampling dog food, oil, lard, lux, gasoline, and fertilizer. Grandma returns along with the swindler who is in a rush to get her to sign away her store. She assumes she has signed the store away and tells the children that she just sold the store. The man then calls the kids hoodlums and tells them the store is his and he is the boss and they must leave. Grandma refuses to let him throw them out. Then the chain store officials arrive and the swindler states that the store now belong to him. He shows them the paper she signed and it was blank. The real bill of sale was not signed. Grandma also learns that the swindler pretended to be Grandma over the phone and told the officials she did not want to sell the place. The officials also say they will offer Grandma three times more than the original price agreed upon. The swindler accuses Grandma of tricking him. Grandma then socks the guy so hard he falls across the room. Wheezer then hits him on the head with a hammer.
Note
This episode was heavily edited on the Little Rascals television prints beginning in 1971. Scenes with Stymie being teased were all cut out due to perceptions of racism toward African Americans. Most, but not all of the deleted scenes were reinstated on the TV prints shown on AMC from 2001-2003Cast
- Bobby Hutchins - Wheezer
- Matthew Beard - Stymie ('Tumble-Weed' in script)
- Allen Hoskins - Farina
- Mary Ann JacksonMary Ann JacksonMary Ann Jackson was an American former child actress who appeared in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1928 to 1931. She was a native of Los Angeles, California.-Career:...
- Mary Ann - Norman Chaney - Chubby
- Jackie CooperJackie CooperJackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
- Jackie - Shirley Jean RickertShirley Jean RickertShirley Jean Rickert was an American child actress who was briefly the "blonde girl" for the Our Gang series in 1931, during the Hal Roach talkie period.-Career:...
- Shirley - Clifton YoungClifton YoungRobert Howard "Clifton" Young was an American film actor.-Career:Born Robert H. Young, the child actor played "Bonedust" in nineteen Our Gang films from 1925 to 1931, his most notable film being School's Out...
- Robert 'Bonedust' - Dorothy DeBorbaDorothy DeBorbaDorothy Adelle DeBorba was an American former child actress who was a regular in the Our Gang series of short subjects as the leading lady from 1930 to 1933.-Early life:...
- Dorothy - Donald HainesDonald HainesDonald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
- Donald - Oscar ApfelOscar ApfelOscar C. Apfel was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in 167 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.-Biography:...
- "Mr. Pennypacker" the swindler - Margaret MannMargaret MannMargaret Mann , was a Scottish - American actress. She starred in a number of major films such as Black Beauty in 1921 and played the lead role in the 1928 film Four Sons one of John Wayne's first films...
- Mrs. Margaret Mack, 'Grandma' (storekeeper) - Dell HendersonDell HendersonGeorge Delbert Henderson was a Canadian actor, director and writer in films from the early silent days.-Biography:Henderson was a frequent associate of film pioneer D.W. Griffith and, on a less prolific basis, Mack Sennett...
- Chain store official - William Gillespie - Chain store official