On the verge of being evicted from their run-down farmhouse, the large Kettle family is given a new, modern home after Pa wins a contest, but he is accused of plagiarizing his winning slogan by a jealous local woman.
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Title: Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Marjorie Main | ... | Ma Kettle | |
| Percy Kilbride | ... | Pa Kettle | |
| Richard Long | ... | Tom Kettle | |
| Meg Randall | ... | Kim Parker | |
| Patricia Alphin | ... | Secretary | |
| Esther Dale | ... | Mrs. Birdie Hicks | |
| Barry Kelley | ... | Mr. Victor Tomkins | |
| Harry Antrim | ... | Mayor Dwiggins | |
 |
Isabel O'Madigan | ... | Mrs. Hicks' Mother |
| Ida Moore | ... | Emily | |
| Emory Parnell | ... | Bill Reed | |
|
|
Boyd Davis | ... | Mr. Simpson |
| O.Z. Whitehead | ... | Mr. Billings | |
| Ray Bennett | ... | Sam Rogers | |
| Alvin Hammer | ... | Alvin | |
Learn more
More Like This
Comedy
Director:
Edward Sedgwick
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Percy Kilbride,
Richard Long
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
(1950)
Comedy
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Crime
Director:
Charles Lamont
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Percy Kilbride,
Richard Long
Ma and Pa Kettle at Home
(1954)
Comedy
Director:
Charles Lamont
Stars:
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Percy Kilbride,
Alan Mowbray
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Romance
Director:
Chester Erskine
Stars:
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Fred MacMurray,
Marjorie Main
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
(1952)
Adventure
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Comedy
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Romance
Director:
Charles Barton
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Percy Kilbride,
James Best
Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
(1953)
Action
|
Adventure
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Comedy
Director:
Lee Sholem
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Percy Kilbride,
Lori Nelson
Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation
(1952)
Comedy
Director:
Charles Lamont
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Percy Kilbride,
Ray Collins
Comedy
Director:
Virgil W. Vogel
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Parker Fennelly,
Gloria Talbott
The Kettles in the Ozarks
(1956)
Comedy
Director:
Charles Lamont
Stars:
Marjorie Main,
Arthur Hunnicutt,
Una Merkel
Comedy
|
Horror
|
Mystery
Director:
Charles Lamont
Stars:
Bud Abbott,
Lou Costello,
Boris Karloff
Damn Yankees
(1958)
Comedy
|
Musical
|
Romance
Directors:
George Abbott,
Stanley Donen
Stars:
Tab Hunter,
Gwen Verdon,
Ray Walston
In the Good Old Summertime
(1949)
Comedy
|
Musical
|
Romance
Director:
Robert Z. Leonard
Stars:
Judy Garland,
Van Johnson,
S.Z. Sakall
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
The Kettles and their fifteen children are about to be evicted from their rundown rustic home when Pa wins the grand prize by coming up with a new tobacco slogan. Birdie Hicks is jealous of the family's new wealth, which includes a completely automated modern home, and accuses Pa of stealing the slogan. Reporter Kim Parker proves Birdie wrong and marries Tom Kettle. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Taglines:
It's Loaded . . . with new laffs !!! All Your Favorites fresh from "The Egg And I" ! See more »Genres:
ComedyCertificate:
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Ma Kettle: [grabs Birdie] Listen here Birdie, it may be a good day for you, but it ain't for Pa. All the poor man wanted was a new tobacco pouch and instead he won a house he didn't want and he got a bad sunburn.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Second of eight films in which Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride portrayed Ma and Pa Kettle. See more »Goofs
When the Mayor and Sam try to visit the Kettle home, Ma shoots the hat off of the mayor with a shotgun from 20 yards away. The spray of buckshot from that distance would cover 20 square feet, and severely injure both men. See more »Quotes
Mrs. Birdie Hicks: [after getting the Kettles evicted] Good day.Ma Kettle: [grabs Birdie] Listen here Birdie, it may be a good day for you, but it ain't for Pa. All the poor man wanted was a new tobacco pouch and instead he won a house he didn't want and he got a bad sunburn.
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
1 April 1949 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Further Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle See more »Filming Locations:
Courthouse Square, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USACompany Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
As the years go by, we become used to the sort of broad humor in comedies today, especially those half-hour sitcoms on TV. Back in '49 it may have seemed riotously funny to watch a hillbilly family move from a shack to a state of the art mansion, but the humor here is all based on the assumption that you'll fall down laughing at the antics of MARJORIE MAIN and PERCY KILBRIDE as The Kettles.
Not so. It's a tepid script that barely contains any real pratfalls--just a matter of the push button technology being a bit over the heads of the Kettle clan with some amusing gaffes to spring a few chuckles.
The push-button home entertainment features look pretty modern for 1949 at a time when most B&W TV sets were considered "big" if the screen was 16". The set shown here is bigger than the 32" screens today.
RICHARD LONG is the son home from college and MEG RANDALL is the sweet love interest, but neither one is able to bring any dimension to their supporting roles.
Watchable for fans of the series, but today nothing in it seems very original.