Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)

Director:

Charles Barton

Writers:

John Grant (writer)
Jack Henley (story)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Ma and Pa are trying to raise enough money at the county fair to send their daughter Rosie to college...

Plot Keywords:

County Fair | Horse Race | Runaway Horse | Pitchfork | Sequel

Cast

Marjorie Main	...	Ma Kettle
Percy Kilbride	...	Pa Kettle
James Best	...	Marvin Johnson
Lori Nelson	...	Rosie Kettle
Esther Dale	...	Birdie Hicks
Emory Parnell	...	Billy Reed
Oliver Blake	...	Geoduck
Russell Simpson	...	Clem Johnson
Rex Lease	...	Sheriff

Also Known As:

Ma and Pa Kettle at the County Fair (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

In one scene Geoduck and Crowbar make references to Abbott and Costello. Director Charles Barton, and especially writer John Grant, are veterans of the Abbott and Costello features which were also being made at Universal.

Quotes:

Ma Kettle: [looking over Clem] Haven't you growed?
Rosie Kettle: Ma, what did I tell you? It's not "growed", it's "grown".
Ma Kettle: Well what have I got to groan about?

Movie Connections:

Followed by Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953)

good, lightweight entertainment

I watched "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair" again yesterday, as I do every year at fair time. Do not expect a profound masterpiece here; the humor is corny and some of the jokes are telegraphed, but you will laugh your head off anyway. Pa thinks up several ways to earn money to help his daughter, Rosie, with her college expenses. Probably the funniest is when he gets the bright idea to apply for unemployment. Rosie reminds her pa that one has to have worked before one can get unemployment. Apparently the only work Pa has ever done is to sire his brood of 14 children ha. The broken-down old mare that Pa has been tricked into "purchasing" has a secret that turns her into a real terror, and here we find one of those "telegraphed" jokes. "Emma" runs away with Ma at the reins, and they charge across a plowed field straight toward a scarecrow. You will just know what is going to happen, but I just about collapse in gales of laughter when it does--twice! The writers of this series used similar situations more than once, such as in one where the farm animals get into the moonshine, and, in this case, when a couple of crows pick at Ma's cement-baked loaves of bread and the obvious happens here, too! "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair" is a worthy member in the series, so just settle back and enjoy the yuks!