Five Little Peppers at Home
Brief Synopsis
Five siblings enlist a crusty old businessman to help save their mother from bankruptcy.
Cast & Crew
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Charles Barton
Director
Edith Fellows
Polly Pepper
Dorothy Ann Seese
Phronsie Pepper
Clarence Kolb
Mr. King
Dorothy Peterson
Mrs. Pepper
Ronald Sinclair
Jasper
Film Details
Also Known As
Five Little Peppers Midway
Genre
Comedy
Adventure
Drama
Release Date
Feb
8,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Five Little Peppers Midway by Margaret Sidney (Boston, 1890).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 7m
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
The Pepper children, Polly, Phronsie, Ben, Joey and Davie, and their mother are staying at Mr. King's hilltop mansion when King suffers a heart attack and severe financial reverses. All of King's financial resources are tied up in a copper mine in which the Peppers are his partners. Experts have failed to locate the rich copper vein that Polly's late father believed to be under the property, and now that the bank is pressing for repayment of the loan, King is forced to sell his mansion and move in with the Peppers at Gusty Corners. King also loses custody of his grandson Jasper when the boy's aunt objects to his new "sordid" surroundings. At the Pepper house, King's butler, Martin, tells Polly that he once studied geology, and after examining the mineral samples found on the property, he shares the late Mr. Pepper's enthusiasm for the mine. This encourages Polly to organize a picnic at the mine, but as Martin and the children descend to the main level looking for the lost lode, Ben triggers a rock slide that traps the others in a cave-in. Scrambling out of the mine, Ben peddles off on his bicycle to summon help, returning with King and Jasper to help dig the Peppers out. Meanwhile, inside the mine, Martin, struggling to dig his own way out, causes another slide, which exposes a rich vein of copper. After several frightening hours, the rescue is completed and the Peppers and King are reunited. With the discovery of the vein, King is financially solvent and, having found contentment at the Pepper house, decides to build a new house at Gusty Corners for himself and the Pepper family.
Director
Charles Barton
Director
Cast
Edith Fellows
Polly Pepper
Dorothy Ann Seese
Phronsie Pepper
Clarence Kolb
Mr. King
Dorothy Peterson
Mrs. Pepper
Ronald Sinclair
Jasper
Charles Peck
Ben Pepper
Tommy Bond
Joey Pepper
Bobby Larson
Davie Pepper
Rex Evans
Martin
Herbert Rawlinson
Mr. Decker
Laura Treadwell
Aunt Martha
Spencer Charters
Mr. Shomer
Bruce Bennett
King's chauffeur
Jack Rice
Bainbridge
Ed Lesaint
Dr. Emery
Ann Doran
Nurse
Paul Everton
Townsend
John Dilson
Daniels
Joe Destefani
Hart
Richard Fiske
Wilcox chauffeur
Tom London
Miner
Sam Ash
Hartley
Marin Sais
Neighbor woman
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Five Little Peppers Midway
Genre
Comedy
Adventure
Drama
Release Date
Feb
8,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Five Little Peppers Midway by Margaret Sidney (Boston, 1890).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 7m
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Five Little Peppers at Home
Columbia released Five Little Peppers at Home (1940) six months after their first entry in the series, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939). Most of the cast returned for this sequel, filmed in haste before any of the child actors could register a growth spurt. The tiny Edith Fellows was 17 and a survivor of a rough childhood. She made a major impression in the 1936 musical Pennies from Heaven, garnering more positive critical attention than the film's star Bing Crosby. But the young Miss Fellows had also weathered daunting family problems, spending months as a pawn in courtroom custody battles. Both of her parents and her grandmother wanted control of her Hollywood income. As it turned out, Fellows' spotlight in the Peppers movies was challenged by the 5-year-old child actor Dorothy Ann Seese as the youngest Pepper, Phronsie. Exhibitor reports from the first film were so enthusiastic that Seese's credit was moved to the top of the bill, just behind Fellows. In the next three films, the other Pepper children were pushed aside to make room for cuter Phronsie moments. This second episode creates a conflict by reversing the fortunes of both the poor Peppers and the wealthy Kings. The miraculous copper mine appears to fail and both families must move back into the Peppers' rickety "little brown house" in Gusty Corners. A mineshaft cave-in traps several of the Pepper children, but both prosperity and rescue are just around the corner: the Kings' fancy butler locates a new vein of copper during the search. Variety contested that the series lacked conflict because the Pepper moppets were too uniformly sweet and virtuous. The reviewer must have had children of his own, as he remarked that Polly was unbelievable because she enjoys washing the family dishes.
Five Little Peppers at Home
Columbia released Five Little Peppers at Home (1940) six months after their first entry in the series, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939). Most of the cast returned for this sequel, filmed in haste before any of the child actors could register a growth spurt. The tiny Edith Fellows was 17 and a survivor of a rough childhood. She made a major impression in the 1936 musical Pennies from Heaven, garnering more positive critical attention than the film's star Bing Crosby. But the young Miss Fellows had also weathered daunting family problems, spending months as a pawn in courtroom custody battles. Both of her parents and her grandmother wanted control of her Hollywood income. As it turned out, Fellows' spotlight in the Peppers movies was challenged by the 5-year-old child actor Dorothy Ann Seese as the youngest Pepper, Phronsie. Exhibitor reports from the first film were so enthusiastic that Seese's credit was moved to the top of the bill, just behind Fellows. In the next three films, the other Pepper children were pushed aside to make room for cuter Phronsie moments. This second episode creates a conflict by reversing the fortunes of both the poor Peppers and the wealthy Kings. The miraculous copper mine appears to fail and both families must move back into the Peppers' rickety "little brown house" in Gusty Corners. A mineshaft cave-in traps several of the Pepper children, but both prosperity and rescue are just around the corner: the Kings' fancy butler locates a new vein of copper during the search. Variety contested that the series lacked conflict because the Pepper moppets were too uniformly sweet and virtuous. The reviewer must have had children of his own, as he remarked that Polly was unbelievable because she enjoys washing the family dishes.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Five Little Peppers Midway. For additional information, consult the Series Index and see entry for Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (above).
