Yours, Mine and Ours was released in the United States on April 24, 1968, by United Artists. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was commercially successful. A remake was released in 2005.
Plot
Frank Beardsley is a NavyChief Warrant Officer, recently detached from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and assigned as project officer for the Fresnel lens glide-slope indicator, or "meatball", that would eventually become standard equipment on all carriers. Helen North is a civilian nurse working in the dispensary at NAS Alameda, the California U.S. Navy base to which Frank is assigned.
Frank meets Helen, first by chance in the commissary on the base and again when Frank brings his distraught teenage daughter for treatment at the dispensary, where Helen informs him that the young lady is simply growing up in a too-crowded house that lacks a mother's guidance. They immediately hit it off and go on a date, all the while shying away from admitting their respective secrets: Frank has ten children and Helen has eight, from previous marriages ended by their spouses' deaths.
When each finally learns the other's secret, they initially resist their mutual attraction. But Chief Warrant Officer Darrell Harrison is determined to bring them together, so he "fixes up" each of them with a sure-to-be-incompatible blind date. Helen's date is an obstetrician who stands a good head shorter than she ("Darrell had a malicious sense of humor", Helen observes in a voice-over); Frank's date is a "hip" girl who is not only young enough to be his daughter but is also far too forward for his taste. As the final touch, Harrison makes sure that both dates take place in the same Japanese restaurant. As Harrison fully expects, Frank and Helen end up leaving the restaurant together in his car, with Frank's date sitting uncomfortably between them as they carry on about their children.
Frank and Helen continue to date regularly, and eventually he invites her to dinner in his home. This nearly turns disastrous when Mike, Rusty and Greg, Frank's three sons, mix hefty doses of gin, scotch and vodka into Helen's drink. As a result, Helen's behavior turns wild and embarrassing, which Frank cannot comprehend until he catches his sons trying to conceal their laughter. "The court of inquiry is now in session!" he declares, and gets the three to own up and apologize. After this, he announces his intention to marry Helen, adding, "And nobody put anything into my drink."
Most of the children oppose the marriage at first, regarding each other and their respective stepparents with suspicion. Eventually, however, the 18 children bond into one large blended family, about to increase—Helen becomes pregnant. Matters are also complicated by Frank leaving for several weeks on a shakedown cruise.
Further tension develops between young Philip North and his teacher at the parochial school that he attends: his teacher insists that he use his "legal" name, which remains North even after his mother marries Beardsley. This prompts Helen and Frank to discuss cross-adopting each other's children, who (except for Philip) are aghast at the notion of "reburying" their deceased biological parents. The subsequent birth of Joseph John Beardsley finally unites the children, who agree unanimously to adoption under a common surname of Beardsley.
Just before the baby is born, however, the eldest sibling, Mike Beardsley, receives a draft notice. Rather than take his chances, he decides to join the United States Marine Corps. The film ends with Mike going off to Camp Pendleton.
Tom Bosley as a family doctor who makes a house call on the Beardsleys, and is also the consulting physician for the CaliforniaDraft Board when Mike Beardsley reports for a required physical exam.
Pauline Hague as Nanny #2, aka "Mrs. Anderson." She lasts a week because she is hiding from the police. After a stint with the Beardsleys, she turns herself in.
Marjorie Eaton as Nanny #3, aka "Mrs. Ferguson," who famously says, "Mrs. Anderson was last week; I'm Mrs. Ferguson, and you can mail me my check!" She fights Louise precipitating Frank's second meeting with Helen.
The Beardsley Children
Tim Matheson as Mike, Frank's first son (Credited as "Tim Matthieson")
That Lucille Ball would portray Helen Beardsley was never in doubt. But a long line of distinguished actors came under consideration, at one time or another, for the role of Frank Beardsley. They included Desi Arnaz, James Stewart, Fred MacMurray, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, and John Wayne. Henry Fonda finally accepted, and indeed asked for, the role in a telephone conversation with Robert F. Blumofe in 1967. Ball, who had worked with Fonda before in the 1942 release The Big Street, readily agreed to the casting.[3]
One account[which?] says that Ball recalled in 1961 that Desilu Productions first bought the rights to the Beardsley-North story in 1959, even before Helen Beardsley published her biography, but this is highly unlikely because Frank and Helen Beardsley married on September 6, 1961, and their first spouses were both alive in 1959. More likely is the story that Bob Carroll and his wife brought the story of the Beardsley family to Ball's attention after reading it in a local newspaper.[4] However, Mr. Carroll is said to recall his wife mentioning the story in 1960—again, a full year before the Beardsleys were married and probably when Dick North was still alive. In any event, Desilu Productions did secure the rights early on, and Mr. Carroll and Madelyn Pugh began instantly to write a script.
Production suffered multiple interruptions for several reasons. It began in December 1962 after Ball's abortive attempt at a career on the Broadway stage. In 1963, production was halted after the box-office failure of her comedy effort Critic's Choice (with Bob Hope). Later, she was unhappy with the script presented by Madelyn Pugh (then known as Madelyn Pugh Martin) and Bob Carroll, precisely because their script overly resembled an I Love Lucy television episode, and commissioned another writer (Leonard Spigelgass) to rewrite the script.[citation needed] Mr. Spigelgass does not seem to have succeeded in breaking free of Lucy's television work, so producer Robert Blumofe hired yet two more writers (Mickey Rudin and Bernie Weitzman) to make an attempt.[citation needed] When this failed, Blumofe hired Melville Shavelson, who eventually directed. All further rewrite efforts came to an abrupt end at the insistence of United Artists, the film's eventual distributor.[citation needed]
At this point in the production cycle, Helen Beardsley's book Who Gets the Drumstick? was actually released in 1965. Like many film adaptations, exactly how much the book informed the final shooting script is impossible to determine.
Production began in 1967 with Henry Fonda definitely signed on to portray Frank. Mort Lachman, who had been one of Bob Hope's writers, joined the writing team at the recommendation of Shavelson.[citation needed] Leonard Spigelgass received no on-screen writing credit for his efforts in this film.
Filming was done largely on-location in Alameda and San Francisco, California with Mike's high-school graduation being filmed at Grant High School in southern California (Frank Beardsley's home, into which the blended family eventually moved, was in Carmel). The total budget is estimated at $2.5 million (equivalent to $21.9million in 2023),[5] including $1,700,000 for actual filming and post-production.
Reception
The film received lukewarm critical reviews. The film holds a 50% approval rating with 12 reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.[6]Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and praised the performances of Ball and Fonda.[7]
It was a massive commercial success, earning nearly $26 million ($182 Million adjusted for inflation) at the box office (on a tight budget of $2.5 million) and earning over $11 million in rentals.[8]
Frank Beardsley commented that his family enjoyed the film as general entertainment, and acknowledged that perhaps the scriptwriters felt that their screenplay was "a better story" than the truth.[9]
Home media
Yours, Mine and Ours was released on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video in 1989, 1994, and 1998. A Laserdisc version was released in 1994, featuring noise reduction applied to the film soundtrack.
It was released to DVD on March 6, 2001.[4] While the DVD was released in full frame, the original film was a widescreen release in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio; this, therefore, constitutes an open matte presentation.
Desilu Productions, Inc. was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Mannix, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA's Revue Studios, until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until Ball sold it to Gulf and Western Industries in 1968.
Jessurun James Oppenheimer was an American radio and television writer, producer, and director. He was the producer and head writer of the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.
The Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star.
Here's Lucy is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third network sitcom, following I Love Lucy (1951–57) and The Lucy Show (1962–68).
Tim Matheson is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated Jonny Quest TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 1978 comedy film National Lampoon's Animal House, and the recurring role of Vice President John Hoynes in the 2000s NBC drama The West Wing, which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Life with Lucy is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. Created by Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis, the series aired for one season on ABC from September 20 to November 15, 1986. It is the only Lucille Ball sitcom to not air on CBS.
Tracy Kristine Nelson is an American actress. From a long line of entertainers, she is the daughter of musician Ricky Nelson and actress and painter Kristin Nelson.
Morgan Brittany is an American actress. She began her career as a child appearing in films Gypsy (1962), Stage to Thunder Rock (1964) and Yours, Mine and Ours. In 1970s, Brittany began work as a model joining Ford Models. She played Vivien Leigh in films The Day of the Locust (1975), Gable and Lombard (1976) and The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980). Brittany is best-known for portraying Katherine Wentworth, the scheming younger half-sister of Pamela Ewing and Cliff Barnes, on the primetime soap opera Dallas.
Madelyn Pugh, sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis, or Madelyn Martin, was a television writer who became known in the 1950s for her work on the I Love Lucy television series.
Robert Gordon Carroll Jr. was an American television writer notable for his creative role in the series I Love Lucy, the first four seasons of which he wrote with his professional partner Madelyn Pugh, and collaborator Jess Oppenheimer.
Yours, Mine & Ours is a 2005 American family comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Dennis Quaid, Rene Russo, Rip Torn, and Linda Hunt. It is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. The film follows a blended family with 18 children, who try to stop the marriage between the two parents.
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television show. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, evolved into the groundbreaking television sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) written by Isabel Scott Rorick, the earlier of which had previously been adapted into the Paramount Pictures feature film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942), co-starring Ray Milland and Betty Field.
Yours, Mine and Ours may refer to:
Helen Eileen Beardsley was the mother of a noted blended family of twenty children — eight by her first marriage to Richard North, ten stepchildren from her second husband Frank Beardsley, and two that she and Frank had during their marriage. She wrote a book, Who Gets the Drumstick?, about her blended family's experiences.
Melville Shavelson was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1987.
Forever, Darling is a 1956 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Alexander Hall, written by Helen Deutsch, and starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and James Mason. In the film, Ball stars as a wife who tries to save her struggling marriage to a chemical engineer (Arnaz) with the help of her guardian angel (Mason). Louis Calhern and Natalie Schafer co-star in supporting roles.
Lucy is a 2003 television film directed by Glenn Jordan. It is based on the life and career of actress and comedian Lucille Ball. The film premiered on May 4, 2003, on CBS.
Mitchel L. "Mitch" Vogel is an American former child actor, musician and director. As of 2023, he is one of two surviving main cast members from Bonanza, next to Tim Matheson.
The Big Street is a 1942 American drama film starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, based on the 1940 short story "Little Pinks" by Damon Runyon, who also produced it. It was directed by Irving Reis from a screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass.
Robert F. Blumofe was an American film executive and producer known for his work on Bound for Glory (1976), Pieces of Dreams (1970) and Yours, Mine and Ours (1968).
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