In 1947 a great comedy flick was released called "The Egg And I" starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. It was all about a couple that moves to the country to run a chicken farm. It was and is still a great movie to watch if you need a laugh. Keeping the comedy fast paced and moving right along were some of the wackiest neighbors ever to grace the silver screen. Two of them were Ma and Pa Kettle and their brood of kids. They didn't exactly steal the show but were so popular that landed their own very successful movie series.Ma was played by Marjorie Main and Pa was played by Percy Kilbride. They were the ultimate hillbilly bumpkins, naive and simple, but somehow able to thwart bumbling thieves in New York and blundering spies in Paris. Ma was the ambitious one always trying to get Pa to fix up the homestead which was falling apart around them. But Pa was good at two things, getting out of work and winning advertising contests. Many of Pa's prizes would be the basis for the plot of the films. He won everything from soda pop and trips to a totally automated house.They also had a bundle of kids numbering from 12 to 15 depending on which film you may be watching at the time, giving poor ma the frets because she could never seem to remember all their names. And when the dinnerbell rang the stampede began and God help anyone who was standing between the kitchen table and the kids.They first appeared in their own flick in 1949 and the series ran until 1957 for a total of 6 episodes, plus the original "The Egg and I". Various veteran character actors popped in and out throughout the years. In 1955 Percy Kilbride left the series and was sorely missed. The last two films didn't have the magic of the earlier ones. But if you're a fan of "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "Green Acres", which surely owe more than a little to the Kettles, then you should enjoy these classic films.Send my pics and video to your cell phone!
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