Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (screenplay)
Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. (novel) ...

Release Date:

April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

He's the New Father of His Country!

Plot:

"Cheaper By the Dozen", based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, follows them from Providence...

Plot Keywords:

Large Family | Montclair New Jersey | Father Son Relationship | Brother Sister Relationship | Surgeon

Cast

Clifton Webb	...	Frank Bunker Gilbreth
Jeanne Crain	...	Ann Gilbreth
Myrna Loy	...	Mrs. Lillian Gilbreth
Betty Lynn	...	Deborah Lancaster
Edgar Buchanan	...	Dr. Burton
Barbara Bates	...	Ernestine Gilbreth
Mildred Natwick	...	Mrs. Mebane
Sara Allgood	...	Mrs. Monahan

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | UK:U | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #14218) | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

On the shelf in the living room is a picture of the real life Frank Gilbreth in uniform as an Army Major during WWI. This is visible outside the makeshift operating room during the mass tonsillectomies.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As the camera zooms in during the tonsillectomy, you can see the shadow of the camera on the back of one of the nurses' white coats.

Quotes:

Man on street: Hey Noah, what are you doing with that Ark?
Frank Gilbreth: Collecting animals like the good Lord told me brother. All we need now is a jackass. Hop in!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wheels of Terror (1990) (TV)

Soundtrack:

When You Wore a Tulip (and I Wore a Big Red Rose)

Life With Father

Clifton Webb is a joy in this delightful film, based on a true story, of an eccentric genius and his twelve children. The color is gorgeous, and the interior design of the family's New Jersey home ought to have won an Oscar. Myrna Loy is solid as Webb's patient, loving wife, and Jeanne Crain energetic as his spunky daughter. There isn't much story here, as events unfold naturally, as they do in life, and one isn't always sure where the film is going. Early twentieth century America is captured in all its overstuffed, art nouveau-ish glory, as the film's plot, irregular, often going off on odd tangents, perfectly mimics that style of design so popular at the time. The movie is really about the end of an era, as we see the very tail end of the Gilded Age turning into the roaring twenties, and with it the death of the old paternalism, at times stiff, occasionally charming, perfectly embodied by Mr. Webb; and there is an awesome sadness at the film's conclusion, as we see a man and his era pass into history.