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?

---

Plot Keywords:

based on true story | fatherhood | carton | motherhood | redhead | 

---

Taglines:

A Honeymoon is No Place to Have Kids!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Family

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deine, meine, unsere

Filming Locations:

USS Enterprise CVN-65, Newport News, Virginia, 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

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Helen and Frank met a little differently than in the movie. In her book, "Who Gets The Drumstick?"after Helen moved to San Francisco, she wanted to honor her dead husband's wishes by enrolling her children in parochial school. She finally found a school run by a nun, Mother Superior Sister Mary Eleanor. As she was enrolling her children in the school, Helen told Sister Mary that she was a widow with eight children. Sister Mary then confided to Helen that she has a brother with ten children who recently lost his wife to complications from diabetes. Helen asked Sister for Frank Beardsley's address and she sent Frank a copy of a prayer that she clipped out which gave comfort on dealing with a loss of a spouse. Encouraged by her brother and sister, Helen went on a batch of unsuccessful blind dates. When a friend's husband died, Helen wanted to send her a copy of the prayer that she sent Frank. She wrote to Frank asking for a copy of the prayer. Frank sent it back and a correspondence immediately began between Helen and Frank which finally led to another blind date. This time sparks flew between them.

---

Goofs

After the wedding the family moves in the new home. While the children are being assigned their rooms "Mike" is seen bringing suitcases upstairs. A couple of scenes later he is seen bringing the same suitcases upstairs a second time.

---

Quotes

Frank Beardsley: [narrating] It was a typical wedding: enemies of the bride on the right, enemies of the groom on the left.

---

Connections

Remade as Makkala Sainya (1980)

---

Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

UNplanned Parenthood!

"Yours Mine And Ours" is one of the best "family films" of the 1960s. (Very) loosely based on the real-life story of Helen North, a Navy widow with eight children, who married Navy career man Frank Beardsley, a widower with ten children of his own. Lucille Ball bought the rights to Mrs. Beardsley's book "Who Gets The Drumstick?", co- produced it, and took the starring role of Helen North. For those who know her chiefly as a comedienne, this film will be a pleasant surprise. For not only does she have the opportunity to indulge in some of the slapstick she is famous for, she proves conclusively that she was an excellent dramatic actress as well. Moreover, she can switch abruptly (and seemingly effortlessly) from comedy to pathos, sometimes in the same scene! Henry Fonda takes the part of Frank Beardsley and gives it both dimension and strength. As his bachelor friend, Van Johnson is a welcome presence, as is Tom Bosley as a sardonic doctor. There is also a hilarious performance from Louise Troy, as Frank's date early in the story. The kids are well cast and include future notables Tim Matheson, Suzanne Cupito (who grew up to be Morgan Brittany), Mitch Vogel and Tracy Nelson. A good deal of the plot involves the mutual dislike most of the kids have for their step-siblings, but a great deal of charm is present as well. Aiding the production is a nice score by Fred Karlin, a lovely song "It's A Sometimes World", and handsome San Francisco location photography. A remake has just been completed and will be released around the holiday season, but it's not likely to top this one. Incidentally, if you read the original book by Helen Beardsley, you will most likely come away with a far different picture of the Beardsley family, one which may not have transferred as well to the screen. This may also explain why there is no mention of the book as the story source in the movie's opening credits.