After "helping grandma", the Little Rascals got to help her again in this tale of greed as a sweet old lady (Margaret Mann) is swindled by her former son-in-law (Jim Mason) and is threatened with loosing even more when he finds out by accident that she's about to be a rich woman. Mann, having not given way to greedy developers out to take her convenience store in "Helping Grandma", basically plays the same part here, surrounded by much of the early sound cast of "Our Gang" including Wheezer, Chubby, Stymie and Farina. Freckle-faced Mary Ann, Dorothy and Shirley also appear, and it's always a delight to see the sassy Mary Ann stand up to the boys.
It's obvious that Grandma is a beloved neighbor to the young gang of friends which is multi-raced and not at all filled with any adult prejudices. Stymie is just as important to the gang as Wheezer and Jackie were, and he is treated with respect by his friends, although poor Farina never realizes that throwing rocks up in the air every few seconds will only result in the rock hitting him on the noggin, complete with the coconut thumping sound. There's plenty of slapstick, and Grandma gets to do a few back flips and even box as she prepares for battle with both Wheezer and her greedy ex son-in-law whom she presumably gave control of her estate to even though she believes that he drove her daughter to an early grave. So there's also a bit of darkness underneath all that Hal Roach schtick, making this era of the Rascals more entertaining than it would be when aging rascals needed to be replaced and MGM took over, making them more moralistic and less fun.
It's obvious that Grandma is a beloved neighbor to the young gang of friends which is multi-raced and not at all filled with any adult prejudices. Stymie is just as important to the gang as Wheezer and Jackie were, and he is treated with respect by his friends, although poor Farina never realizes that throwing rocks up in the air every few seconds will only result in the rock hitting him on the noggin, complete with the coconut thumping sound. There's plenty of slapstick, and Grandma gets to do a few back flips and even box as she prepares for battle with both Wheezer and her greedy ex son-in-law whom she presumably gave control of her estate to even though she believes that he drove her daughter to an early grave. So there's also a bit of darkness underneath all that Hal Roach schtick, making this era of the Rascals more entertaining than it would be when aging rascals needed to be replaced and MGM took over, making them more moralistic and less fun.