This Hal Roach comedy short, Helping Grandma, is the one hundred third in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the fifteenth talkie. The gang work at Grandma's (Margaret Mann) store and help themselves to the goodies there. A local man is trying to buy that store. So are a couple of representatives from a chain. Which of them has a better deal? And will the kids still be allowed to hang there? I'll stop there and just say this was another funny film in the long-lasting series though there are some uncomfortable moments like when Stymie tastes some of the products like gasoline! Ms. Mann does get a bit melodramatic near the end but since it doesn't last too long, it's tolerable. Otherwise, Helping Grandma is mostly enjoyable for what it was. P.S. This marked the series debut of Shirley Jean Rickert.
9 Reviews
A decent story, but the acting is much worse than usual.
planktonrules2 December 2011
Grandma owns a general store and business isn't good. Considering her helpers are all the kids, I think I can understand why! Regardless, a great opportunity for her to sell out to a chain store is coming--but a nasty schmuck is trying to cheat her. This jerk has convinced her that no one wants the store and he's about to buy it out from under her for a pittance. Can the kids somehow help Grandma? Wheezer and Stymie were adorable little kids when "Helping Grandma" was made. However, they were also VERY young and could not read lines or act. In some cases, the directors were still able to get some decent performances from them. However, in this short, Wheezer in particular, is awful. He delivers his lines poorly and makes bizarre faces and is more of a distraction than anything else. As for the older kids, they really are minor characters here--so there's only so much they can do to make up for Wheezer's lack of skills. It's a shame as the story itself isn't bad.
Before the USA had Wal-Mart or even K-Mart . . .
tadpole-596-91825619 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
. . . Canadia (aka, America's Threat to the North) was running Blue Light Specials on strands of metal links under the auspices of "A & B Chain Stores," as illustrated by this 15th entry into the "Little Rascals" series documenting how juvenile delinquent gangs can bring nations to their knees. The plot of HELPING GRANDMA revolves around a title character Hell-Bent upon selling the gang's headquarters (cleverly disguised as her tiny general store) to a couple of unsuspecting franchise store organizers. While another potential buyer is bending over backwards to keep the ownership of Granny's Gang Store local (while permanently expelling the Little Rascal Rapscallions themselves), this Gangster Granny stubbornly holds out for the A & B Boys' dough, along with the chance to further infect Canadia with Her Gangland Values. Granny teaches the young wrong-doers under her influence a wide variety of scams, such as "buying" candy with buttons, and charging for cucumbers at watermelon rates. HELPING GRANDMA ends with its Gangland Granny sucker-punching the would-be local gang-buster in his face, as a presumed prelude to her hoodwinking A & B into expanding her bogus business model clear across Canadia.
Decent
Michael_Elliott23 December 2008
Helping Grandma (1931)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Our Gang short has the group helping out their adopted grandma who runs a small store. A group of chain stores might be willing to give her a good price for the property but a bad man is also there trying to rip her off. This isn't the best short from the gang but it's not the worst either. The movie doesn't contain too many laughs until the very end of the film but the final five minutes make it worth watching. I was surprised to see how well director McGowan handled the suspense as grandma comes closer and closer to signing a bad deal. McGowan edits back and forth to grandma and the good guys racing to get there and does a very good job with it. The highlight sees grandma punching a guy's lights out, which is always fun to see.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Our Gang short has the group helping out their adopted grandma who runs a small store. A group of chain stores might be willing to give her a good price for the property but a bad man is also there trying to rip her off. This isn't the best short from the gang but it's not the worst either. The movie doesn't contain too many laughs until the very end of the film but the final five minutes make it worth watching. I was surprised to see how well director McGowan handled the suspense as grandma comes closer and closer to signing a bad deal. McGowan edits back and forth to grandma and the good guys racing to get there and does a very good job with it. The highlight sees grandma punching a guy's lights out, which is always fun to see.
Watchin' Grandma's Store With The Little Rascals
Ron Oliver17 May 2000
An OUR GANG Comedy Short.
Jackie, Farina, Chubby & the rest of the Gang are HELPING GRANDMA run her little grocery store. After 55 years in business, there's a possibility that a chain store enterprise may buy her out at a good profit. But when a dishonest charlatan gets involved & attempts to cheat the old lady, it's time for serious action.
A good little film with both laughs & tears. Notice how the older Rascals vacate the whole midsection of the film, so as to showcase the younger generation. Highlight: Stymie's `smell test'. That's Margaret Mann playing Grandma.
Jackie, Farina, Chubby & the rest of the Gang are HELPING GRANDMA run her little grocery store. After 55 years in business, there's a possibility that a chain store enterprise may buy her out at a good profit. But when a dishonest charlatan gets involved & attempts to cheat the old lady, it's time for serious action.
A good little film with both laughs & tears. Notice how the older Rascals vacate the whole midsection of the film, so as to showcase the younger generation. Highlight: Stymie's `smell test'. That's Margaret Mann playing Grandma.
Decent Our Gang Entry
Corr2816 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I'd consider this a decent entry in the series. Not spectacular but enjoyable enough. Margaret Mann was always a most welcome addition and here she is as sweet, as caring and as feisty as ever. Not many belly laughs to be had with a lot of the focus on youngsters like Weezer and Stymie. The ending is quite well done though with McGowan showing a real affinity for action as the chain store guys race to Grandma's store as the conniving swindler attempts to bilk Grandma out of her store for far less than the chain store people will pay. All in all a pretty decent short that probably ranks in the middle to lower tier of Our Gang entries from this very fertile period in the series.
Grandma in need
Horst_In_Translation26 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Helping Grandma" is a live action short film from 1931, so this one had its 85th anniversary last year already. Director McGowan and writer Walker will tell film buffs already that this is just another Little Rascals movie. 20 minutes packed with Stymie, Jackie, Chubby, Wheezer and all the other that fans of Our Gang will probably enjoy. This time they help out her (adopted) grandma who is in danger of getting tricked by a shady businessman into selling her store for a sum that is considerably less than a fair price. But of course the kids do all they can and eventually Granny even helps herself by accidentally signing the wrong paper before the honorable businessmen arrive and pay her a fair amount. And we find out she packs quite a punch at the very end. I am personally am not the biggest Rascals fan and as a consequence this one here (neither among their most known or least famous) did very little for me in terms of comedic value. I just believe they are rarely funny and haven't aged well at all as except occasional cuteness, there is almost nothing to the Rascals. This description also fits these 20 minutes we have here. watch something else instead unless you really love the gang.
Ownership
tedg17 February 2006
This series went on for so long, and had so many changes that it forms a sort of kaleidoscope. No other comedy troupe varies so. As a result, there are some of these that will appeal, some that repel, others where you wonder why everyone wasted time. And a few that will stand out as gems. For many, this is one of those gems. But not for me. I like the ones from the Alfalfa/Buckwheat period. They seem more humane.
The form of these is always the same. There's a larger story, usually involving class or money. And within that are little jokes that have little or nothing to do with the wrapper. Both of these relate to the definition of the characters, who are sort of in between stereotypical film characters and stereotypical types we all knew from the playground.
This time the wrapper is about a cad trying to swindle Grandma out of the windfall purchase of her store, which is managed by the Gang. The jokes are written by Walker, a sort of phenomenon who could write dozens of movies a year for Roach, including some classics.
One of the interesting things to watch in these is what role the black kid plays. If you look at just about anything else from this period, you'll shudder when matters of race are raised. Mickey Roonie in particular offends.
In many Rascals shorts, the black kid is treated pretty much like anyone else, just as comically stupid but a solid member of the gang.
This one is different. There are two groups of kids, some of whom run the store and others merely visit. There is a black kid in each group. One of these is sort of the leader of the store gang in a model we'd find elsewhere. But the other takes a status completely different.
The joke is race neutral: a boy and girl buy candy and split it. The third boy (the black kid) gets none; when a pretty girl comes along and wants some, the boy takes some from the first girl for her. The third boy remains candyless. It would have worked with whatever white boy was at the bottom of the gang's pecking order.
But in this case, it is punctuated by the white kid repeatedly telling the black one that he wasn't going to get any, with the black kid saying "I knows." Its a bit heartrending.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
The form of these is always the same. There's a larger story, usually involving class or money. And within that are little jokes that have little or nothing to do with the wrapper. Both of these relate to the definition of the characters, who are sort of in between stereotypical film characters and stereotypical types we all knew from the playground.
This time the wrapper is about a cad trying to swindle Grandma out of the windfall purchase of her store, which is managed by the Gang. The jokes are written by Walker, a sort of phenomenon who could write dozens of movies a year for Roach, including some classics.
One of the interesting things to watch in these is what role the black kid plays. If you look at just about anything else from this period, you'll shudder when matters of race are raised. Mickey Roonie in particular offends.
In many Rascals shorts, the black kid is treated pretty much like anyone else, just as comically stupid but a solid member of the gang.
This one is different. There are two groups of kids, some of whom run the store and others merely visit. There is a black kid in each group. One of these is sort of the leader of the store gang in a model we'd find elsewhere. But the other takes a status completely different.
The joke is race neutral: a boy and girl buy candy and split it. The third boy (the black kid) gets none; when a pretty girl comes along and wants some, the boy takes some from the first girl for her. The third boy remains candyless. It would have worked with whatever white boy was at the bottom of the gang's pecking order.
But in this case, it is punctuated by the white kid repeatedly telling the black one that he wasn't going to get any, with the black kid saying "I knows." Its a bit heartrending.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
Too many tears, not enough rascals.
mark.waltz14 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Margaret Mann suits the same purpose here as Lucy Beaumont in RKO's "Caught Plastered" starring Wheeler and Woolsey, made the very same year. She's on the verge of losing her store, and it's only with the help of unlikely friends that it is avoided. A lot of time of this short shows the silly antics of the kids, featuring Stymie and Weezer and a little girl of the same age negotiating over candy. There's very little by the way of laughter, and even grandma's sudden turn from tears to toughness isn't really all that funny. There had been a slew of good to nearly excellent episodes up to this one, and it's sweet but misses the mark by a longshot.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
