An impoverished father, with his young son and daughter, begs for food in a marketplace. When a merchant angrily turns them away, their plight attracts the attention of a woman of charity. Calling shame upon the unkind merchant, she buys the poor family some food, talks with the family, and adopts the two children. Marketplace workers, witnessing the scene, give the father work as a sign carrier.[2]
Release
The Helping Hand was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 1326–1328 in its catalogues.[3] The American trade periodical The Moving Picture World, in a brief notice about some of Méliès' films, praised The Helping Hand for offering "a wholesome lesson of charity."[4]
