Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm

Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951), the third installment in the Ma and Pa Kettle series (and the fourth time Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride appeared as the duo), sees the comic rural couple moving out of the ultra-modern house Pa won in Ma and Pa Kettle (1949) and back to the farm where we first discovered them as supporting characters in The Egg and I (1947). The reason for their relocation to the old homestead is ostensibly the rumor that uranium is to be found on the property, but the main focus of the plot is a fight between the Kettles and the snooty rich parents of their daughter-in-law, who decide the Kettles' first grandchild would be better raised in a more hygienic environment. The baby's parents, Tom Kettle and Kim Parker, the news reporter he married in the 1949 picture, are played once again by Richard Long (of later Big Valley fame) and Meg Randall. The two young actors virtually started their careers together, appearing as a couple five times within the first five years they were on screen, three times in the Kettle series as well as in the comedy The Life of Riley (1949) and the film noir thriller Criss Cross (1949). This was their last appearance with Ma and Pa, although the characters would be mentioned by name in later installments. Kim's parents, played by Ray Collins and Barbara Brown, were supposed to have appeared in the second film, Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950), but their scenes were cut before its release. The supporting players, however, weren't the draw here. Audiences wanted to see the raucous Ma and the indolent Pa in full-out absurd action, and Main and Kilbride delivered. But if the actress had her way, this and all the other episodes might never have happened. Not that she didn't like the part; the problem was that Main bridled over the notion that both MGM, the studio that had her under contract, and Universal, where the Kettle films were made, were making a fortune off the series with their mutual agreement for her services, while she received only her standard salary. She knew that if she refused to make another Kettle movie, MGM would put her on indefinite suspension, and she considered taking that career risk. In the end, however, she kept right on doing the role, reasoning that "I would rather make people laugh than anything else." At least she got to do many other movies between the Kettle assignments. Other offers were rare for Percy Kilbride, who had a long stage career prior to his work on film, and who became typecast in country bumpkin roles, although he was born and raised in San Francisco. Starting with this film, he never played another role except Pa Kettle and retired from acting in 1955. Both actors had mishaps on the set, perhaps the result of making the farm a little too realistic. The move back to the old location required a certain amount of reverse renovation by studio set workers––reapplication of rust, loosening of floor boards, a front door made to constantly fall, and hip-high weeds planted in the yard. Their efforts may have been a little too successful. Filming her very first scene, Main stepped out of the front door of the rickety farmhouse and fell right through the porch floor. It took four crew members to haul her out through the rotted planks. Kilbride had the entire chicken coop collapse on his head. Fortunately neither was hurt. Marjorie Main celebrated a birthday during production, bringing the filming to a halt for an entire afternoon. In addition to gifts and a birthday cake, she was touched by receiving a huge floral display sent by veterans of the Army's 96th Infantry Division, who had adopted her as a mascot during World War II. Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm was directed by Edward Sedgwick, who had been behind the camera on several Buster Keaton pictures starting with The Cameraman (1928) and including most of the actor's early talkies. Nearing the end of his life and more than 30-year career, Sedgwick made only two more movies after this, doing uncredited work on the Red Skelton vehicle Excuse My Dust (1951) and the little known I Love Lucy movie released in 1953. Consisting of three of the series early episodes strung together with additional footage to give the feel for what it would be like to be a part of the television studio audience, it was shown only once, to a test audience in Bakersfield, CA, and received an enthusiastic reponse. However, the film's release was blocked by MGM, which was about to premiere Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in The Long, Long Trailer (1953), billing it as the couple's return to the big screen. Director: Edward Sedgwick Producer: Leonard Goldstein Screenplay: Jack Henley Cinematography: Charles Van Enger Editing: Russell Schoengarth Art Direction: Bernard Herzbrun, Emrich Nicholson Cast: Marjorie Main (Ma Kettle), Percy Kilbride (Pa Kettle), Richard Long (Tom Kettle), Meg Randall (Kim Parker Kettle), Ray Collins (Jonathan Parker), Barbara Brown (Elizabeth Parker). BW-81m. by Rob Nixon