Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

"Cheaper By the Dozen", based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, follows them from Providence, Rhode Island to Montclair, New Jersey, and details the amusing anecdotes found in ... See full summary »

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (screen play), Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

"Cheaper By the Dozen", based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, 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). He resisted popular culture,railing against his daughters' desires for bobbed hair and cosmetics.

---

Plot Keywords:

fatherhood | motherhood | montclair new jersey | large family | psychiatrist | 

---

Taglines:

He's the New Father of His Country!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Im Dutzend billiger

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song "Sweet Lelani" that Tom Black is strumming with his ukulele on the beach was actually written by Harry Owens for his daughter in 1934, many years after the time that this movie is set. It also won an Academy Award for best song in 1937 when it appeared in the movie, Waikiki Wedding (1937).

---

Goofs

During the high school dance, the band plays "Lucky Lindy," a 1929 song describing Charles Lindbergh's solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. Frank Gilbreth died in 1924 - three year's before Lindbergh's flight and five years before the song became popular.

---

Quotes

Mailman: All those kids yours?
Frank Gilbreth: Oh, these aren't so many. You ought to see the ones we left behind.
Mailman: How you ever feed 'em?
Frank Gilbreth: Oh, they come cheaper by the dozen.

---

Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: This is the true story of an American family.

---

Connections

Referenced in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Love's Old Sweet Song (Just a Song at Twilight)
(1884) (uncredited)
Music by J.L. Molloy
Played by the children on various instruments

User Reviews

Clifton, Myrna and Their Merry Brood

Cheaper By the Dozen was a milestone film in the career of Clifton Webb. Though he had gotten great acclaim for his acerbic roles of the forties, Darryl F. Zanuck knew that Webb's screen persona made him extremely difficult to cast. Cheaper By the Dozen was an attempt to transition Webb into a kinder, gentler Clifton.

Of course to play wife and mother opposite him Zanuck got the services of Myrna Loy, THE personification of the screen wife. If the public were to accept Webb, she would be a part of their doing so.

Fortunately for 20th Century Fox the public did accept Webb in this role and he was able to branch out a bit in his choice of parts.

You mention this title now and of course most will think of Steve Martin and his two recent films that grossed gazillions at the box office. Martin's brood are a modern family, whereas Webb is the head of a family straddling the teens and twenties decades.

Cheaper By the Dozen also affords fans an opportunity to see a bit of Clifton Webb, dancer. Back when he was a musical comedy star on Broadway, Webb was considered every bit the equal of Fred Astaire as a dancer. He dances here with Loy and eldest daughter Jeanne Crain some of the period dances of the Twenties and cuts quite the rug.

Webb's character is Frank Gilbreath, well known industrial efficiency expert and a real person. Jeanne Crain provides the offscreen narration and we see the action in her eyes. She's also got an eye for lifeguard Craig Hill in the film and he's quite the eyeful.

This Cheaper By the Dozen is a nice nostalgic romp which a lot of studios were doing around this time. MGM did Life With Father and Warner Brothers filmed two of Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories with Gordon MacRae and Doris Day. This version can also hold its own with the Steve Martin version anytime.