Determined not to leave Pud to Demetria, Gramps tricks Mr. Brink into climbing the apple tree. While stuck in the tree, he cannot take Gramps or anyone else. The only way anyone or anything can die is if Gramps touches Mr. Brink or the apple tree. Demetria plots to have Gramps committed to a psychiatric hospital when he claims that Death is trapped in his apple tree. Gramps proves his story first by proving that his doctor, Dr. Evans (Henry Travers), cannot even kill a fly they have captured. He offers further proof of his power by shooting Mr. Grimes (Nat Pendleton), the orderly who has come to take him to the asylum; Grimes lives when he should have died. Evans is now a believer, but he tries to convince Gramps to let Death down so people who are suffering can find release. Gramps refuses, so the doctor arranges for the local sheriff to commit Gramps while Pud is delivered to Demetria's custody. With the help of his housekeeper (Una Merkel), Gramps tricks Dr. Evans and Demetria into believing they are scheduled to go with Mr. Brink when he comes down from the tree. They beg Gramps to convince Brink otherwise, and Demetria vows never to bother Gramps or Pud again. Gramps realizes that sooner or later he will have to let Brink down; Death is an unavoidable part of life. He tries to say goodbye to Pud, who reacts angrily and tries to run away. Mr. Brink sees Pud in the yard and dares him to climb the tree. Pud climbs to the top of the fence Gramps has had built around the tree, but falls; his agonizing injuries would be fatal, if Death were there to take him. Distraught, Gramps lets Death down from the tree. He takes both Gramps and Pud, who find they can walk again. In the final scene, they walk together up a beautiful country lane and hear Granny Nellie calling to them from beyond a brilliant light. Frank S. Nugent said the film "isn't nearly so effective on the screen as it was on the stage", pointing out the "Hays code required the toning down of the salty dialogue that was at once the most comically shocking and endearing virtue" of Gramps and Pud. According to Nugent: The picture, like the play, is a tender thing and wistful, fantastic in its way, yet firmly rooted in human soil.