Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

The film succeeds because it brings back such nostalgia regarding what the meaning of a true family is.Clifton Webb, as always, is just fabulous in the title role. Eccentric, loving and king, he etched an unforgettable character.In order to show the subservience of women at that time, Myrna Loy's role is very weak and only until the unhappy ending is it revealed what she went on to achieve.Webb, a great character actor, was able to relate to children so well in this film as well as his Oscar nominated performance in "Sitting Pretty." (1948)When tragedy strikes at the end of the film, the children react in a manner that only children who were brought up so well would react.Surprised though that Sara Allgood, such a great actress, was relegated to such a tiny part here. This was probably her last film and it was sad to see her career end on such an unimportant role.The film succeeds because of Webb's tight but loving rule of the children.Mildred Natwick steals one scene as a woman who asks Webb and Loy to use their home for meetings regarding the limiting of children in a family!"Cheaper By the Dozen" succeeds because it's a part of Americana that can never be captured again.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed enjoyed the classic "Cheaper By The Dozen", despite how cheesy it could be by today's standards, I thought it had such a kind feel to it and felt like a baby blankie. I wanted to see the original before ever thinking about seeing the remake with Steve Martin, but Hilary Duff is holding me back from seeing it, shallow, I know, but she's so annoying! But the original just had such a sweet and touching story about the struggles of coming from a huge family.Cheaper by the Dozen is about the Gilbreth family, a family of a mother, who is a house wife, a father, who is an engineer, and 12 of their children. They move together in a bigger house only to find that it wasn't big enough for them, but too small for the maids to be hired, so they must chip in and work on the house together. The kids are growing up and the father is finding it so hard learning how to sometimes let go.Honestly, I don't know if I'll see the remake, I'm afraid of what today's Hollywood has done to it, not to mention my sheer dislike of Hilary Duff. But please see the original Cheaper By The Dozen if you get the chance, it may be a little Leave It To Beaver, but I think it's one of America's finer family films.7/10

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN is based on the true life experiences of a family with a dozen children, although when watching the film you have to suspect that some of these "events" were embellished for the sake of laughs rather than accuracy. And Clifton Webb, in stiff collar and still bossing everyone around, reminds one of Mr. Belevedere with a family.Still, he's the main reason for watching this highly sentimental illusion of what family life was like in America in the early 20th century. The film itself is no more than a series of vignettes, just glimpses of humorous minor events that happened in a family where the father ruled the roost while the mother (MYRNA LOY) took care of the children and her husband, not necessarily in that order.MYRNA LOY and JEANNE CRAIN (as the oldest daughter), don't have much to do and Crain is a bit simpering and coy in a role she was really too old to play. But most of the kids have some good moments and it's all over in a brisk 86 minutes, so no need to squabble about too many dull moments.If you like CLIFTON WEBB as an eccentric and overbearing efficiency expert, you'll get a lot of amusement from this one.

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.