Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (1954)

Director:

Charles Lamont

Writers:

Kay Lenard (screenplay)
Kay Lenard (story)

Release Date:

10 March 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They've Got the Whole County In Hysterics!

Plot:

Elwin Kettle might win a scholarship to an agricultural college. Essay contest judges Mannering and...

Plot Keywords:

Frog | Native American | American Indian | Umbrella | Sequel

Cast

Marjorie Main	...	Ma Kettle
Percy Kilbride	...	Pa Kettle
Alan Mowbray	...	Alphonsus Mannering
Alice Kelley	...	Sally Maddocks
Brett Halsey	...	Elwin Kettle
Ross Elliott	...	Pete Crosby
Mary Wickes	...	Miss Wetter
Oliver Blake	...	Geoduck
Stan Ross	...	Crowbar
Emory Parnell	...	Billy Reed
Irving Bacon	...	John Maddocks
Virginia Brissac	...	Martha Maddocks
Richard Eyer	...	Billy Kettle

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16566)

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

This was the last acting role for Percy Kilbride. Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955), which was filmed several years earlier, was not released until 1955.

Movie Connections:

Follows Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)

A breath of fresh air in the Ma and Pa Kettle series.

After seeing the Kettles traveling to big cities and living in their ultra-modern house, it was a nice to see them in their natural setting. Although they never totally abandoned their old farm, the family lived in the new house. This time all the kids and pets are back in the old farmhouse again.

Oldest son Elwin has written an essay about how wonderful the Kettle farm is. The essay is entered in a contest that potentially sets him up for a college scholarship, but there is a catch. The contest judges must see the farm. Not to worry, Pa takes care of fixing up the old farm-- with Crowbar and Geoduck's help. Using cardboard and borrowed equipment and livestock, Pa and the Indians make the old farm look almost believable. One sympathetic judge is smart enough to know what is going on while the other is so out of place on a farm that Pa's ruse is almost a success. In the opening scene a calendar shows the date as December 1, and the movie ends up as a wonderful Christmas story with a message.

A stunt double fills in for Marjorie Main as Ma goes through pratfalls more than once. There is a little bit of joke recycling. As with the other movies, almost all the kids are young except for the one that is about to go to college. Elwin appears in enough scenes, but he is hardly the center of attention.