Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

With both Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy in it -- and a high reputation to boot -- I was really looking forward to this film. Unfortunately it seems to be one of those US 'family' pictures ("Mrs Miniver", "Since You Went Away") that are simply too saccharine for my taste: I note that many reviewers here recommend it on the grounds that it contains no bad language or violence, but for my part I felt it needed something more than these omissions to make it appealing. It sets out, I think, to be a feel-good comedy; but I found too much of the comedy to be grating without myself possessing the requisite nostalgia for a Golden Age of America. I spent too much of the film finding it simply annoying, although I did enjoy the ballroom scene towards the end.Try "Bachelor Knight" (1947) or "Miracle on 34th Street" (also 1947) for child-centred humour/romance from this era.

Not much less than a year ago, I saw the 2003 remake of "Cheaper by the Dozen", a remake starring Steve Martin, a comedian I had seen in some funny movies. I didn't know that film was a remake until no more than a few hours before I watched it. That was when I learned about this 1950 film of the same name, an adaptation of a book of the same name, but it would be a while before I would finally see this one. I was not very impressed with the remake, and found its unbelievably stupid 2005 sequel to be even worse. I was expecting this 1950 version to be much better. While I certainly don't think this original film is a GREAT family film, like some clearly do, it definitely is better than the cheesy and crude remake, like I was led to believe.Based on a true story, set in the early 1920's, Frank Bunker Gilbreth is an efficiency and motion study expert with an extensive family. He and his wife, and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, have a total of eleven offspring, and all eleven of them live with their parents in Providence, Rhode Island. The Gilbreth family moves from there to Montclair, New Jersey, where they live in a large house, and the many children of the family are often used as test subjects for their father's scientific theories. The family also welcomes a twelfth child. The film focuses on several different events as the Gilbreths stay in Montclair, scientific tests are carried out, and family meetings are held to make decisions based on votes. Frank often has trouble with his offspring, especially with his rebellious teenage daughter, Ann, who disagrees with his old-fashioned views.I was obviously expecting to laugh when I saw this original "Cheaper by the Dozen" film adaptation, something I don't recall doing while watching the remake. While this 1950 family comedy movie is far from hilarious, I certainly did laugh a number of times, even if the laughs were usually small, and Clifton Webb's performance as the easily angered Frank Bunker Gilbreth was a major part of this. Unlike the remake, I can't describe any of the gags here as notably lame. The part I laughed the hardest at might have been Frank's reaction when he is informed that there was no film in the movie camera when it was used to document the tonsil operations. The plot isn't the most fascinating I've ever seen in a movie, but it can be interesting, and it also gets poignant towards the end. All this film's merits make it not a masterpiece in family filmmaking, but a recommendable piece of family entertainment, unlike the 2003 version and its sequel.

I confess that I had seen the Steve Martin remake before seeing this original from director Walter Lang (Call Me Madam, The King and I), but that didn't stop me. Basically in Providence, Rhode Island, the Gilbreth family are made up of husband/father Frank Bunker (Clifton Webb), wife/mother Lillian (Myrna Loy), and their eleven children, and including daughters Ann (Jeanne Crain) and Ernestine (Barbara Bates). There is no specific story, it is just seeing how the family cope in certain situations, e.g. going on a day out and stuff, but you do see some storyline concerning marriage and that. I will admit I dozed off somewhere in the middle, but I woke up to see the quite sad ending with father Frank dying. Also starring Betty Lynn as Deborah Lancaster, Edgar Buchanan as Dr. Burton, Mildred Natwick as Mrs. Mebane and Sara Allgood as Mrs. Monahan. I did laugh at quite a few moments, I almost prefer the concept of the remake, but this original period comedy certainly does feel like it deserves three stars out of five. Worth watching!

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.