Pud's idea for dealing with Aunt Demetria was to kill her and bury her in the back yard.
Gramps stopped Dr. Evans from touching the apples by threaten to clobber him with his cane. When Dr. Evans agreed to stop and Gramps backed down, you could see Pud putting down a shovel. What the heck was he going to do with that!
I saw that too! There was really a dark undercurrent to Pud that wasn't explored.
shareI saw it as typical little boy stuff for the time, he's been reading too many Adventure magazines. Plus, you've got to remember he was surrounded by death. His parents died, then his Grandma Nellie, people were dropping like flies. They were talking about death all the time, are you gonna die too, Gramps? With all the people he loved dying, why couldn't a rotten person drop dead for a change? You know? He's seven.
I'm all right, I'm alllll right!
Good heavens,no! Pud just mirrored his grandfather, even Granny comments that Pud mimics him. This is brought up again in the movie, too. If you watch, whenever Gramps talks ugly to someone or raises his cane to someone, Pud apes him by saying something ugly and acting more physical. It is completely normal for a small child to emulate a parent or a close relative/friend with whom he/she spends quality time.
Pud and Gramps are both able to see the angel of death, thus, they were both intended for death. Also, Pud knows who Mr. Brink is before they trick him to get in the tree. He fears when death tries to touch his grandfather and once death is in the tree, he fears when his dog keeps barking and trying to get at death. He instantly realizes that his dog will die after he touches death.
Remember, this movie was made at a different time when things were a lot different that in today's world.
Yes, Pud was helping his grandpa save Dr. Evans from death. I was surprised that the boy died too in the end. I'll bet if this movie had been made in the 40s, the story would have been changed so that he survived. The Code, you know.
I found it a very touching movie. I love Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi (again aged beyond recognition) and Una Merkel, this time out in a girl next door role. Bobs Watson I remembered from Boys' Town. He was over the top in that one, but seemed perfect for this one, it being a more emotional type of movie than BT, and Barrymore a whole different kettle of fish than Spencer Tracy.
What I thought was going to happen was that Gramps would "trade" his life for Pud's with Death, then Pud would be adopted by the nice maid and her new husband. I also thought (apparently wrongly) that Pud would cry out to his dead parents when he got to heaven (besides Granny), but nope! Why not??
shareI also felt it was a bit brutal to take Pud away and thought that Gramps would scare the Aunt into loving him. He seemed happy enough in the end though and that's all that counts.
shareI thought that as well, but it wouldn't have been logical, as Aunt Demetria would have had the legal right to be his guardian.
shareHilarious observation! there was something decidedly "off" about Pug. I thought it was creepy the way his parents were out of sight out of mind. Even when Gramps and Pug were going to heaven to reunite with the doggie and the grandmother, his parents were no where to be seen. Just wrong.
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