This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2021) |
The Kettles in the Ozarks | |
---|---|
Directed by | Charles Lamont |
Written by | Kay Lenard |
Based on | The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald |
Produced by | Richard Wilson |
Starring | Marjorie Main Arthur Hunnicutt Una Merkel |
Cinematography | George Robinson |
Edited by | Edward Curtiss |
Music by | Joseph Gershenson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1.3 million (US) [1] |
The Kettles in the Ozarks is a 1956 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont. It is the ninth installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and introducing Arthur Hunnicutt as Sedge, Pa's brother who lives in the Ozarks, replacing Percy Kilbride as Pa.
With Pa out of the way, Ma and the kids head out to help Pa's brother Sedgewick with his farm in Mournful Hollow, Arkansas. Ma and 13 of her 16 kids waste no time in turning both the train station waiting room and the train's day coach into a complete shambles.
Upon arrival, Ma discovers Sedgwick is at least as lazy as Pa, if not worse. And he's been keeping his fiancé Bedelia waiting for 20 years to marry him. Ma is determined to nudge Sedgwick towards the altar.
Sedgwick is renting out his barn to three men who have "Gangster" written all over them; and they are working an illegal moonshine liquor still in the barn. Disposing of the waste product from the still proves problematic. Every time the crooks go into the woods, they have problems with Mother Nature (bears, a hornet's nest, etc.).
When they dispose of the waste at the farm itself, it seeps into the groundwater. The result is a barnyard full of very tipsy animals.
Ma tricks the gangsters into taking part in a taffy pull contest. The taffy dough has been liberally spiked with glue, and the criminals' hands are trapped tight until the authorities come to arrest them.
Sedgwick and Bedelia are married, despite the minister's lips being accidentally glued shut when he tries the tainted taffy.
The Egg and I, first published in 1945, is a humorous memoir by American author Betty MacDonald about her adventures and travels as a young wife on a chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in the US state of Washington. The book is based on the author's experiences as a newlywed trying to acclimate to and operate a small chicken farm near Chimacum, Washington, with her first husband, Robert Heskett, from 1927 to 1931. On visits with her family in Seattle, she told stories of their tribulations, which greatly amused them. In the 1940s, MacDonald's older sister, Mary, strongly encouraged her to write a book about these experiences. The Egg and I was MacDonald's first attempt at writing a book.
Mary Tomlinson, professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1950s, and for her role as Ma Kettle in 10 Ma and Pa Kettle movies. Main started her career in vaudeville and theatre, and appeared in film classics, such as Dead End (1937), The Women (1939), Dark Command (1940), The Shepherd of the Hills (1941), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and Friendly Persuasion (1956).
Percy William Kilbride was an American character actor. He made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle series of feature films.
Ma and Pa Kettle are comic film characters of the successful film series of the same name, produced by Universal Studios, in the late 1940s and 1950s. “The hillbilly duo have their hands full with a ramshackle farm and a brood of rambunctious children. When the future comes a-callin' in the form of modern houses, exotic locales, and newfangled ideas, Ma and Pa must learn how to make the best of it with luck, pluck, and a little country charm.”
Richard McCord Long was an American actor best known for his leading roles in three ABC television series, The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor, and Bourbon Street Beat. He was also a series regular on ABC's 77 Sunset Strip during the 1961–1962 season.
Harold Goodwin was an American actor who performed in over 225 films.
Charles Lamont was a prolific filmmaker, directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed several Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films.
Edward Sedgwick was an American film director, writer, actor and producer.
The Egg and I is a 1947 American romantic comedy film directed by Chester Erskine, who co-wrote the screenplay with Fred F. Finklehoffe, based on the book of the same name by Betty MacDonald and starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, with Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle.
Judy Nugent is an American actress.
Teddy Infuhr, born Theodore Edward Infuhr, was an American child actor.
Esther Dale was an American actress of the stage and screen.
Ma and Pa Kettle is a 1949 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont. It is the sequel to the 1947 film version of Betty MacDonald's semi-fictional memoir The Egg and I and the first official installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont. It is the second installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Edward Sedgwick. It is the third installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride. It was also the last completed film of director Sedgwick's long career.
Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation is a 1953 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont. It is the sixth installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki is a 1955 American comedy film directed by Lee Sholem. It is the seventh installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride in his final starring role.
Kettles or Kettle's may refer to:
Leonard Goldstein was an American film producer who produced mainly low-budget films, making multiple films at a time.
Olive Sturgess is a Canadian former actress who worked in films, television shows, and theatre in the 1950s and 1960s. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Sturgess. Leonard hosted his own radio show. She came to Hollywood in 1954.