Five Little Peppers at Home (1940)

Five Little Peppers at Home poster

Columbia Pictures Corporation
Starring:
 Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, Ronald Sinclair
Directed by: Charles Barton

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Loosely based on the popular book series by Margaret Sidney.  The Peppers are still living with Mr. King (Clarence Kolb) and his grandson Jasper (Ronald Sinclair) but the old man’s weath is jeopardized.  The salvation may be in the Pepper copper mine, if only the copper can be found!

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): The orange tabby kitten which Jasper gave to Phronsie (Dorothy Ann Seese) in the first film in this series returns for several appearances in this second entry.  The kitten is now referred to as Ginger and first appears when Phronsie is flooding one of the King’s bathrooms trying to give her dolly a bath.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Ginger tabby kitten in bathroom

Ginger is next seen when Phronsie is sneaking out of her room to pay a visit to the ailing Mr. King.  As she walks out of the room we can see Ginger has a little cat bed at the foot of Phronsie’s bed.  When Phronsie walks to the door the kitten meows.  Phronsie returns and we see the kitten, dressed in a pair of little pajamas, has climbed out of the cat bed.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Ginger tabby kitten in pajamas out of cat bed

Phronsie picks up Ginger and places her back in her bed, telling her to go to sleep.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Ginger tabby kitten in pajamas put to bed by Phronsie

When Mr. King and Jasper move in to the Pepper’s modest home there is a lineup at the bathroom.  Oldest son Ben (Charles Peck) pounds on the door telling whoever is inside to hurry up.  The door opens and Phronsie walks out carrying a wet Ginger and followed by soap-covered Prince, the Kings’ Great Dane.

Five Little Peppers at Home - wet Ginger tabby kitten carried out of bathroom by Phronsie

Later Phronsie is seen playing dress up and standing on the porch with her Dolly and kitten Ginger in attendance.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Ginger tabby kitten sitting in basket on porch

When Jasper leaves Phronsie asks if he’s going to take Prince.  Jasper says he is leaving Prince with her and she suggests maybe he take the dog anyway since she has Ginger.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Phronsie sitting with Ginger tabby kitten and talking to Jasper

Five Little Peppers at Home - Phronsie holding out Ginger tabby kitten to Jasper

Phronsie insists she is not crying after Jasper leaves as she sits on the porch step holding Ginger.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Phronsie crying on porch holding Ginger tabby kitten

Later in the film the King’s butler, Martin (Rex Evans) reveals he knows something about geology and thinks he might be able to use Mr. Pepper’s maps and information to find the copper in the mine.  The kids all decide to go to the mine with Martin and tell Mr. King they are simply going on a picnic.  Martin rides out of the Pepper yard on a bicycle with Phronsie and Ginger sitting in the front basket.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Phronsie and Ginger tabby kitten riding in bicycle basket

The Pepper children and Martin arrive at the mine and go down in the elevator, Phronsie taking Ginger with her!

Five Little Peppers at Home - Ginger tabby kitten in Phronsie's arms as they head into mine

Ginger is present throughout the scene in the mine, even when they are all trapped.  Although as the scene gets more and more serious the kitten has less and less of a presence.

Five Little Peppers at Home - Phronsie carrying Ginger tabby kitten in mine

Eventually when the children are rescued from the mine, you can barely see Joey (Tommy Bond) holding Ginger as they emerge.

Final Mewsings: Bicycle baskets and old copper mines are not safe for children or kittens!


Relevant Links:

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