''Five Little Peppers and How They Grew'' is a 1939 American black-and-white children's comedy drama film directed by Charles Barton, produced by

Jack Fier Jack Fier (November 8, 1896 – March 3, 1966) was an American film producer. He worked on more than 140 films between 1938 and 1965. Selected filmography * ''The Secret of Treasure Island'' (1938) * ''The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hic ...

and based on the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

of the same name by

Margaret Sidney Harriett Lothrop was an American author also known by her pseudonym Margaret Sidney (June 22, 1844 – August 2, 1924). In addition to writing popular children's stories, she ran her husband Daniel Lothrop's publishing company after his death. ...

. Starring

Edith Fellows Edith Marilyn Fellows (May 20, 1923 – June 26, 2011) was an American actress who became a child star in the 1930s. Best known for playing orphans and street urchins, Fellows was an expressive actress with a good singing voice. She made her ...

, Charles Peck,

Tommy Bond Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods on ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies (fir ...

, Jimmy Leake and Dorothy Anne Seese, it is the first of four Five Little Peppers films.

Plot

Mrs. Pepper and her five children Polly, Ben, Joey, Davie and Phronsie are a poor but happy family. Mrs. Pepper's husband John, a mine engineer, died when the copper mine that he half-owned caved in. Teenage Polly inherited her father's share of the mine, which her father wished for her to keep at least until she comes of age, although he never found copper in the mine. Polly looks after the other Pepper children while Mrs. Pepper is at work. By chance, Polly and Joey meet rich but lonely teenager Jasper King, who befriends the Pepper children. Jasper lives with his wealthy grandfather J.H. King, who ignores Jasper as he is obsessed with making money to the exclusion of all else. J.H. has no interest in Jasper befriending the Peppers until he learns about who they are. J.H. has bought the other half of the mine and wants Polly's half as cheaply as possible to start more exploration. Hiding his true intentions, J.H. starts spending time with the Peppers, plying them with gifts. With an outbreak of measles, Jasper and J.H spend more time with the Peppers than they had expected and the Pepper children grow to love them.

Cast

as Polly *Charles Peck as Ben *

as Joey *Jimmy Leake as Davie *Dorothy Ann Seese as Phronsie * Dorothy Peterson as Mrs. Pepper * Ronald Sinclair as Jasper * Clarence Kolb as Mr. King * Leonard Carey as Martin * Bruce Bennett as chauffeur (uncredited)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Five Little Peppers and How They Grew 1939 films Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films Films directed by Charles Barton American comedy-drama films 1939 comedy-drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films