the year: 1950
the genre: comedy
the cast: Clifton Webb (Frank Bunker Gilbreth); Myrna Loy (Lillian Gilbreth); Jeanne Crain (Ann Gilbreth); Edgar Buchanan (Dr. Burton)
the plot: Based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, the film follows them from Providence, Rhode Island, to Montclair, New Jersey, and details the amusing anecdotes found in large families. Frank Gilbreth, Sr., was a pioneer in the field of motion study, and often used his family as guinea pigs (with amusing and sometimes embarrassing results).
don't miss: how the kids get a dog.
listen for: "Hey Noah, what are you doing with that Ark?" "Collecting animals like the good Lord told me brother. All we need now is a jackass. Hop in!"
did you know: On the shelf in the living room is a picture of the real life Frank Gilbreth in uniform as an Army Major during WWI - the picture is visible outside the makeshift operating room during the mass tonsillectomies.
extra bonus points: if you can identify the galaxy drawn in the beach house.
Cheaper by the Dozen and it's follow up, Belles on Their Toes are a great breezy read - I give them two thumbs, way up!
3 comments:
Does it have the "skunk up a tree"? That's one of my favorite scenes in the book.
Imagine, if you will, 15 year old Scott (who at 15 looked closer to 12), with silver spray-painted hair, a false mustache, a voice walking the squeaky line between tenor and alto, bedecked in a period tweed business suit, trying not to blush onstage has he held a bright pink negligee up to himself in front of some of the more popular girls in school (who happened to be playing his daughters) and a packed auditorium on opening night. I was, perhaps, the most mis-cast Mr. Gilbreth in the history of this production.
I haven't quite been able to make myself watch it since.
Answer: The drawing of the galaxy in the beach house is M-51, The Whirlpool Galaxy.
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