Here is a short-list of things I have not seen until recently:
An attack on the CapitOl Building
A pandemic
A Ma and Pa Kettle movie
That's right, you read that correctly. In my 57-year love affair with vintage films, I have totally missed the 9 movies that followed Universal-International's THE EGG AND I.
Now, even as a youth I was not crazy about the Claudette Colbert/Fred MacMurray filmed adaptation of Betty MacDonald's 1945 memoir. In the film I was shocked to find Betty's character (portrayed by Miss Colbert) so subservient to her chicken farming obsessed husband (MacMurray) as to be a totally unbelievable caricature of the obedient housewife. This intelligent woman, who was so used to the comforts that life had to offer, follows her husband into the hardscrabble world of farm life with a smile on her lips and a heart full of devotion. It still makes me slightly ill to think about. When I did the research about the real Betty MacDonald, I was not surprised to find that her real chicken loving husband (Robert Eugene Heskett) actually was a bit of a loony and an abusive drunkard. The marriage lasted just over 3 years when Betty hightailed out of that nightmare situation pronto. Now that seems much more believable.
So, I was/am not a fan of THE EGG AND I, and this led me to be totally disinterested in the Ma and Pa Kettle series which followed in its very successful wake. To be frank, I wasn't crazy about the supporting characters of Ma and Pa Kettle in this first film. Ma was abrasive and way too loud (Marjorie Main was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for it, too!), and Pa was in no uncertain terms A BUM! His borrowing ways and extreme laziness were presented as supposedly lovable traits, but the whole thing only annoyed the heck out of me.
Well, my good pals Lon and Debra Davis had recently gotten in touch with me and asked if I would like a copy of their latest book, MA AND PA KETTLE ON FILM (so I could review it). Suddenly something inside of me clicked. I realized that I'd never given these films a chance, and with the book on the way I thought it would be a good time to order the entire series on DVD. I'm so glad I did. The subsequent films are funnier, possess more warmth, and are much more endearing than the film from whence they sprang. Of the nine films a few are really terrific, some are very good, and only a couple are just so-so. Not a bad record, to be sure.
I grew up in the New York area in the 1960's and 70's and I enjoyed watching Abbott and Costello films every Sunday at 11:30 AM. A few years before Bud and Lou took over that spot I watched the Bowery Boys every Sunday at noon. I even made time for the Blondie and Dagwood movies on Saturday mornings, and occasionally I would sit through one of the Francis the Talking Mule films (not a big favorite). But, only once do I remember a Ma and Pa Kettle movie being shown during my childhood. It was on CBS one Saturday afternoon back in the late 60's, but I didn't watch. I just wasn't interested. You have to remember that I was also inundated with TV's THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, PETTICOAT JUNCTION, and GREEN ACRES (my favorite of the bunch), so the thought of another hillbilly comedy just wasn't at the top of my list of desired viewing.
Boy, was I wrong. After a shaky first film, simply called MA AND PA KETTLE (which was basically a rehash of what we'd encountered in THE EGG AND I) I began to get sucked into this family's warm and wacky world. I even found a new favorite Christmas movie, MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME. Not only does it feature a very touching Christmas themed final half, but it also features one of my all-time favorite actors, Alan Mowbray, in a hilarious performance as a snooty agricultural writer. In this film the “stuffy” Brit is butted in the rear end by a goat, doused in pig's mud, pelted with eggs (among other things), and tortured by a frog named Oscar. This is the best film in the series and I can honestly say that I laughed and cried before the film's end.
As expected there are complaints from some modern audiences regarding non-PC content (it just wouldn't seem right if SOMEBODY wasn't offended!). There are two Native American characters, Geoduck and Crowbar who do ALL of Pa's work. While Pa lies in his hammock, or sits in his rocking chair, his friends do his heavy lifting. The bottom line is that these characters, despite their stereotypical way of speaking, are the Kettle's best and most loyal friends. They help Pa because they love the guy, and that's OK with me. They are usually the smartest people in the room, and their devotion to their friends is nothing short of admirable. There is also grunting about the stereotypical depiction of “mountain folk.” Yes, they dress in old-fashioned clothing, and they seem a bit out of touch with the modern world in general, but how nice it is to see these simple folk constantly outwit, or tame the dishonest or uptight city-folk.
Watching the films also made me realize that the running gags were as familiar to the fans of the series as the harassed mailman was in the Blondie movies, or Slip Mahoney's mangling of the English language was in the Bowery Boys films. Pa banging his rocking chair on the floor to turn on the radio is found in all of the films (the radio ALWAYS plays “Tiger Rag” until Pa bangs the chair again to switch the station to a more sedate melody). There is also Ma's bellowing, “COME AND GET IT!” as she calls their stampeding 15 children to the table for mealtime and the perfunctory saying of Grace by Pa always follows that, which is more of a tip of his battered derby than an actual prayer (apparently this was Kilbride's own derby given to him by New York governor, Al Smith decades before!).
As for character traits, Pa is still the laziest man in town and he still borrows everything he needs from anyone who will comply, but somehow those traits seem more forgivable in these films. Perhaps seeing the struggle of the young couple in THE EGG AND I being undercut by Pa's deadbeat ways made it somewhat tough for me to forgive. But in these films he doesn't prey on anyone who can't afford to lend a hand to the laconic layabout. He owes money to everyone in town, but it's accepted by most because it's who he is. He just wouldn't be Pa Kettle if he didn't have these foibles. Ma is also accepted as she is a loving mother and wife, in spite of her coarse and sometimes rough and tumble behavior.
Another plus is Ma and Pa's relationship. They occasionally feel romantic, but even more than that there is a benign acceptance between them of who they are and what they mean to each other. It's almost sophisticated in its depth. Ma knows full well what Pa is and accepts his behavior as his nature. Pa sees Ma as his savior, She does his work for him, raises the kids, pulls the plow, and on and on. Some might think that is unconscionable behavior from Pa, but there is almost something sweet in the unconditional love they feel for each other. Ma's workhorse ways are just the way it is, has been, and always will be. She doesn't mind so neither do we.
The children remind me of the Bowery Boys who weren't Leo Gorcey or Huntz Hall. That means they could have been played by anyone who fit the costumes. There was usually one adult child who took on the role of love interest with an outside character, but the children were mainly there for crowding purposes, If Ma occasionally forgot their names, it was okay because so did we.
So many welcome familiar faces show up in these films, and I was sure glad to see such favorites as the aforementioned Alan Mowbray, Ray Collins, Sig Ruman, Barbara Brown, Teddy Hart, Stan Ross (he of the Jackie Gleason Show, with his catchphrase, “I'm with YOU!”), Una Merkel, Emory Parnell, Ted DeCorsia, Charles McGraw, Ben Weldon, Sid Tomack, Esther Dale (as the stuffy “Birdie Hicks”), Marjorie Bennett, Elvia Alman, and so many more.
The directors and writers are like a who's who of classic comedy. Here we find Charles Barton, Charles Lamont, Eddie Sedgwick (MA AND PA KETTLE BACK ON THE FARM was the comedy veteran's final film), and Lee “Roll 'em” Sholem. Writers included Leonard Stern and Martin Ragaway (from the Abbott and Costello radio show, and The Honeymooners), Jack Henley, and Kay Lenard. But the most tantalizing name in the bunch is that of John Grant. Grant was one of the main architects of the comedy of Abbott and Costello. He was on salary so that he could effortlessly weave the reworked burlesque routines that he knew so well into the boys' films. Here he does the exact same thing for the Kettles. He was not a story man, nor was he great at structure, but he was expert at including bits like 7x13=28, or The Lemon Table bit seamlessly into a film's trajectory.
For Ma and Pa, the prolific writer included a version of 7x13, only this version was 5x14=25 (gone viral on YouTube!). He also managed to include the old Bud and Lou standby, “Loan me $50.00”. This is where Bud needs to borrow 50 dollars from Lou. When Lou tells him that he only has 40 dollars Bud accepts but adds, “Okay, give me the 40 and you'll owe me 10.” I found it fascinating after watching Bud and Lou do these routines for decades, to see these actors (who weren't comedians) performing this very familiar material. Unfortunately it doesn't work as well with Ma and Pa, but it still adds to my fascination with the films. (I've often said that if you want to know about the artistic merits of Abbott and Costello just watch somebody else try to do one of their routines. Nobody even comes close.)
As in other series films, the main characters are thrown into some unlikely situations. The Kettles win a contest and move into an ultra-modern house in MA AND PA KETTLE, they are invited on a trip to Paris, France in MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION, they go to Hawaii in MA AND PA KETTLE AT WAIKIKI, and even visit New York City in MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN. In most of the films they deal with swindlers, gangsters, spies, ornery neighbors, and a whole lot of various opportunists. None of them stand a chance against the homespun Kettles though.
Of course it's Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride who are the main reason for watching these low budget (but hugely profitable) programmers. It's their relationship, comic reactions, and all around innate decency that made me fall for these films. In MA AND PA KETTLE AT THE FAIR, Pa is asked to stand in for the ailing church minister. Of course I suspected some kind of comical disaster to occur, but I was totally surprised and delighted as Pa makes a heartfelt and serious sermon about tolerance, and gratitude toward things like family and friendship. And as for Ma, she is one big raucous bundle of good common sense, loving motherhood, and total support for her enormous family.
I really like these people a lot, and I eagerly looked forward to each film as I devoured them in chronological order.
The final two films of the series are the weakest. This is due to the retirement of the irreplaceable Percy Kilbride. The man was in his mid 60's and he was quite tired of playing the same role over and over again. He lived quietly on his savings and his social security before succumbing in 1964 due to the effects of being hit by a car. He was 76 years old. Marjorie Main stayed on for the two Percy-less films, but it seems that those entries suffered from Stanley Clements disease. When Leo Gorcey left the Bowery Boys series they decided to keep things going with a different partner for Huntz Hall, played by Mr. Clements. These are the least entertaining films in the series, and so it was for the Kettle films, as well. Character man Arthur Hunnicut played Pa's act-alike cousin in THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS, and then they hired a new Pa played by Parker Fennelly (most known as New England's own Titus Moody on the Allen's Alley portion of the Fred Allen radio show). But it didn't work. Fennelly and Hunnicut were both terrific actors, but only Percy Kilbride was Pa Kettle.
And so the series came to end after 10 films (including THE EGG AND I). Miss Main, who was by all accounts a very neurotic germaphobe who often “spoke” with her dead husband, did a little television after her final Kettle film (THE KETTLES ON OLD MACDONALD'S FARM, her 85th and last film) but decided to retire to a comfortable life in her Palm Springs home. She died of cancer in 1975 at the age of 85.
As for the brand new book, MA AND PA KETTLE ON FILM (Bear Manor Media/368 pages), it is the perfect reminder for those of you who'd grown up with these films, and the perfect guide for the uninitiated. Not only does it cover each film in complete detail, but we also are treated to firsthand stories from surviving cast members, biographical information on the main and supporting players, and relevant reviews (some by the New York Times, no less). We are also treated to full cast and crew listings, running times, an index, and so much more. It is the perfect book on the subject and I am proud to include it in my library.
In closing I just want to say that a part of the joy for vintage film fans/historians is the fact that we haven't seen every film ever made. In fact, we haven't seen most films...period! But it's the joy of the chase and the satisfaction of discovering roads not yet taken that keeps the fascination and curiosity burning within us. Even something as seemingly unimportant as catching up to these delightful low budget treats is enough to make the trip a more bountiful one. Long live Ma and Pa Kettle, and with streaming, DVDs, and hopefully Blu-rays, they will live a good deal longer than anyone probably ever expected them to.
Nick Santa Maria: A native New Yorker, he has been a walking encyclopedia of show biz history since he was in single digits. He has appeared on Broadway in GREASE!, and THE PRODUCERS. He's done TV, film, radio, and stand up. He is the co-author, lyricist/composer of the Off-Broadway show, REAL MEN, the Musical. He has done more than 250 audiobooks, and is the dumber half of Biffle and Shooster, the fake 1930's comedy team (DVD on Kino-Lorber Video). His book THE ANNOTATED ABBOTT AND COSTELLO (w/co-author, Matthew Coniam) will be published by McFarland Press in November of 2022. Check out his website: nicksantamaria.com
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