Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

A widower with ten children falls for a widow with eight, and they must decide about forming a huge, unconventional family.

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Bob Carroll Jr. (story), Madelyn Davis (story)

Stars:

Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, Van Johnson

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lucille Ball	...	Helen North Beardsley
Henry Fonda	...	Frank Beardsley
Van Johnson	...	Warrant Officer Darrel Harrison
Louise Troy	...	Madeleine Love
Sidney Miller	...	Dr. Ashford
Tom Bosley	...	Family Doctor
Nancy Howard	...	Nancy Beardsley
Walter Brooke	...	Howard Beardsley
Tim Matheson	...	Mike Beardsley (as Tim Matthieson)
Gil Rogers	...	Rusty Beardsley
Nancy Roth	...	Rosemary Beardsley
Gary Goetzman	...	Greg Beardsley
Morgan Brittany	...	Louise Beardsley (as Suzanne Cupito)
Holly O'Brien	...	Susan Beardsley
Michele Tobin	...	Veronica Beardsley

Storyline

When a widower with 10 children marries a widow with 8, can the 20 of them ever come together as one big happy family? From finding a house big enough for all of them and learning to make 18 school lunches, to coping with a son going off to war and an unexpected addition to the family, Yours, Mine and Ours attempts to blend two families into one and hopes to answer the question Is bigger really better?

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Plot Keywords:

fatherhood | carton | motherhood | redhead | single mother | 

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Taglines:

A Honeymoon is No Place to Have Kids!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deine, meine, unsere

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$25,912,624

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions,Walden Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tim Matheson and Gary Goetzman also appeared as brothers in the movie Divorce American Style a year earlier.

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Goofs

In the dispensary, when the scene freezes so that Van Johnson can talk to the camera, a bus can be seen passing by the window (at 37:14 on the DVD).

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Quotes

Helen North: [getting ready for her date with Frank] Good heavens! What did you do to this dress?
Colleen North: Oh, Mother, it was practically an antique!
Janette North: We just shortened it a little.
Helen North: A little? I look like a teeny-bopper!
Janette North: What's wrong with that?
Helen North: I can't go out like this!
Jean North: Why not? Your legs are better than mine.

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Connections

Referenced in The Perfect Pitch (2002)

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Soundtracks

It's a Sometimes World
(uncredited)
Music by Fred Karlin
Lyrics by Ernie Sheldon

User Reviews

...And Baby Makes... 21?

YOURS, MINE, AND OURS reunites Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda, who had worked together in the 1942 B-film THE BIG STREET, the former a heavy-handed drama making a contrast to this lightweight comedy. Reminiscent of CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, the premise -- a man and woman, both with a huge family, meet, fall in love, and marry -- would be unbelievable if it weren't true.

Based on the autobiographical novel by Helen Eileen Beardsley, YOURS, MINES, AND OURS is a blueprint of sorts of future television shows "The Brady Bunch" and "Eight is Enough" but amps it up to eleven. While on those shows we never got to see just how a real household was handled (being situation programs, their stories were resolved in minimal time), here we get glimpses of what happens at dinnertime, or how groceries get done, and it's those trivial things that keep the charming story in check instead of throwing it into la-la land. Both Fonda and Ball are well-matched and have funny scenes together despite that both actors were a little too old for their characters, but it's not even a minor contrivance. Very enjoyable, witty, sunny: just what this kind of movie should be.