Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)

Director:

Charles Lamont

Writers:

Al Lewis (writer)
Betty MacDonald (characters)

Release Date:

1 April 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It's Loaded . . . with new laffs !!! All Your Favorites fresh from "The Egg And I" !

Plot:

The Kettles and their fifteen children are about to be evicted from their rundown rustic home when Pa...

Plot Keywords:

Large Family | City Country Contrast | Sequel

Cast

Marjorie Main	...	Ma Kettle
Percy Kilbride	...	Pa Kettle
Richard Long	...	Tom Kettle
Meg Randall	...	Kim Parker
Patricia Alphin	...	Secretary
Esther Dale	...	Mrs. Birdie Hicks
Barry Kelley	...	Mr. Victor Tomkins
Harry Antrim	...	Mayor Dwiggins
Isabel O'Madigan	...	Mrs. Hicks' Mother
Ida Moore	...	Emily
Emory Parnell	...	Bill Reed
Boyd Davis	...	Mr. Simpson
O.Z. Whitehead	...	Mr. Billings
Ray Bennett	...	Sam Rogers
Alvin Hammer	...	Alvin

Also Known As:

The Further Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Second of eight films in which Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride portrayed Ma and Pa Kettle.

Quotes:

Ma Kettle: [about Pa's underwear] It's the latest thing, Billy Reed said they'd fit perfectly.
Pa Kettle: They probably would if he were in them with me!
Ma Kettle: [laughs] Well, we'll just pin them up for right now, they'll shrink once I wash them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "You Bet Your Life: (#2.35)" (1952)

Mildly amusing as the Kettles move into a new dwelling...

As the years go by, we become used to the sort of broad humor in comedies today, especially those half-hour sitcoms on TV. Back in '49 it may have seemed riotously funny to watch a hillbilly family move from a shack to a state of the art mansion, but the humor here is all based on the assumption that you'll fall down laughing at the antics of MARJORIE MAIN and PERCY KILBRIDE as The Kettles.

Not so. It's a tepid script that barely contains any real pratfalls--just a matter of the push button technology being a bit over the heads of the Kettle clan with some amusing gaffes to spring a few chuckles.

The push-button home entertainment features look pretty modern for 1949 at a time when most B&W TV sets were considered "big" if the screen was 16". The set shown here is bigger than the 32" screens today.

RICHARD LONG is the son home from college and MEG RANDALL is the sweet love interest, but neither one is able to bring any dimension to their supporting roles.

Watchable for fans of the series, but today nothing in it seems very original.