Forgotten Babies (1933) Plot Summary Explained

Spanky is blackmailed into babysitting. The other children threaten to tell on him for breaking a neighbor's window unless he stays home and takes care of all the babies while they go swimming.

Foreshadowing: The blackmail is set up early in the film when the children gather and pressure Spanky.

• spanky
• blackmail
• babysitting
• window broken

One baby turns on a radio playing a murder mystery broadcast, then dials a telephone and leaves the receiver near the speaker. The radio drama and phone line combined make the operators think a real murder is happening, so they call the police.

Foreshadowing: The radio in the house is established as a household fixture earlier.

• police
• murder mystery
• radio
• phone call
• misunderstanding

After one baby keeps slipping away and climbing the stairs, Spanky pours glue on the floor and sits the baby in it to prevent the child from climbing further and potentially getting hurt.

Foreshadowing: The stair-climbing baby is first noticed slipping away during the Tarzan story.

• baby
• glue
• stairs
• climbing
• immobilize

Spanky uses two birdcages as improvised restraints to contain two of the babies, keeping them separated and unable to cause further mischief around the house.

Foreshadowing: Spanky's escalating desperation is shown through his increasingly creative solutions.

• babies
• birdcages
• restraints
• kitchen

Pete the dog is trapped in a breadbox as part of Spanky's effort to keep the dog contained. The dog had been eating food the babies flung from the icebox onto the kitchen floor, creating a mess Spanky needed to control.

Foreshadowing: The babies initially feed Pete by throwing food from the icebox.

• pete
• dog
• breadbox
• kitchen
• contained

While the stair-climbing baby is causing problems upstairs, the bathtub overflows, causing water to leak through the ceiling. This happens simultaneously with the police arriving, adding to the chaotic scene.

Foreshadowing: The same baby causing trouble on the stairs likely caused the bathtub overflow.

• bathtub
• water
• overflow
• ceiling
• leak

The babies turn on a vacuum cleaner and use it to spray flour all over the kitchen, coating the counters, furniture, and Pete the dog in a white powdery mess while Spanky tries to maintain control.

Foreshadowing: The babies are established as causing escalating chaos throughout the house.

• vacuum
• flour
• kitchen
• mess
• chaos

One of the babies tosses the fish out of its bowl as part of the general havoc being caused around the house, adding to the mounting chaos that Spanky struggles to control.

Foreshadowing: The fish incident is mentioned as one of the early destructive acts.

• fish
• bowl
• baby
• chaos
• house

The children return from swimming just as the police arrive at the house. They explain to the officers that they left Spanky in charge of the babies while they went swimming.

Foreshadowing: The children's swimming plans were established at the beginning when they blackmailed Spanky.

• children
• swimming
• return
• police
• explain

Spanky uses a chair, spittoons, and flatirons to immobilize a fourth baby, creating yet another improvised restraint to keep the children from hurting themselves or causing more damage.

Foreshadowing: Spanky's solution shows increasing creativity and desperation as the chaos escalates.

• chair
• spittoons
• flatirons
• baby
• immobilize