The Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle, Vol. 1 (The Egg and I / Ma and Pa Kettle / Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town / Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm)
by Charles Lamont, Chester Erskine, Edward Sedgwick
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Actor: Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Louise Allbritton, Marjorie Main, Percy KilbrideDirector: Charles Lamont, Chester Erskine, Edward Sedgwick
Brand: Universal Studios
Writer: Chester Erskine
Writer: Al Lewis
Writer: Betty MacDonald
Writer: Fred F. Finklehoffe
Writer: Herbert H. Margolis
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 345 minutes
Published: 2004-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle, Vol. 1 (The Egg and I / Ma and Pa Kettle / Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town / Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm)
DVD Review: Everybody's Welcome; Don't Stand on Ceremony
Summary: 4 Stars
Ma and Pa Kettle were first seen as supporting characters in the classic comedy "The Egg and I." They almost stole that show, proving to be so popular with audiences that they were spun-off into an early franchise of their own feature films. Here is a collection of the original and the first three follow-up films starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
"The Egg and I" is the quintessential Ma and Pa Kettle vehicle. Pa's lackadaisical approach to life and Ma's fond ruling of the roost make them an irresistible couple. Their casual style of housekeeping liberated me from tidiness forever. Pa's procrastination has further served me as a model of leisureliness.
The movies aren't in chronological order on this disc. After watching the introductory "Egg and I," you have to flip the disc over to see the beginning of the Kettles' "Further Adventures." Here Pa wins a slogan contest. The couple's prize is a spanking-new "House of the Future" and a trip to New York. The futuristic house is remarkably predictive of what we have today, over sixty years after the movie was made. It features a wide-screen TV set in an entertainment center, and extensive remote control. However this is the weakest film of the foursome. Most of it consists of the couple's slap-shtick run-ins with the new technology.
Flip back to the first side of the disc for the better-written "Ma and Pa Go to Town." Here they claim the second half of their prize, an all-expense-paid trip to New York. Their native west coast town of Cape Flattery has a few Native American citizens who have recurring roles in the series. Their treatment would hardly be considered politically correct today, but for the late 1940's, it does a better than average job of trying to stir the general public to awareness of the mistreatment such minority groups suffered. As Ma and Pa are leaving for their trip, the Native Americans hand them a bag of old beads. When Pa asks what those are for, the Native Americans respond, "Tell them we're buying Manhattan back."
This second sequel includes some other creative writing flourishes. Ma and Pa do pause a moment wondering if they might have been a bit rash leaving their fifteen children with a virtual stranger as babysitter, and a somewhat shady stranger at that. They wonder if their children will be safe. But remembering their children's over-the-top tendency to rambunction, they realize that the real question is whether or not the stranger "will be safe." That's a twist on the menacing babysitter theme.
Then Pa tries to capture some bad guys in a novel way. While he's serving as caller for a square dance, he makes headway corraling them with all the "do-se-do" and "allemande left" formations he engineers.
The fourth movie has the Kettles returning to their original homestead. This sequel is midway between "Further Adventures" and "Go to Town" in quality. It involves some commentary on the modern tendency to take expert advice about child-rearing too seriously and to keep newborns in sterile surroundings. It has the Kettles tangling with their new daughter-in-law and her parents over these issues. There's also a subplot centering on the public's interest in hunting for uranium then in the wake of the recent discovery of atomic power.
Overall, this is an affable series with two of the most memorable, enduring characters in cinematic history. "Ma and Pa Kettle" has become a shorthand way of describing a casual lifestyle that invites everyone to the table - goats, chickens, and people, all alike members of one big happy family.
More The Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle, Vol. 1 (The Egg and I / Ma and Pa Kettle / Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town / Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm) reviews:
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Description of The Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle, Vol. 1 (The Egg and I / Ma and Pa Kettle / Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town / Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm)
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