DKosty123
I know Steve Martin fans will not agree, but this is the best version, the original. Granted the values of family and the father being really old fashioned are not today's values. The thing is though, the father here commands respect and because he gets it the family is much more of a well behaved unit than the newer version.Myrna Loy is really too beautiful to have 12 children, at least you would think so. Actually any woman who has 12 children would be attractive though. I once met a woman who in real life has 20 kids (10 boys and 10 girls) and she is still an attractive woman. Of course she is not Myrna Loy, but that's Hollywood. I mean they never would type cast Phyllis Diller as a mother of 12. She would be too funny anyhow.Clifton Webb is excellent as the father figure. This film has 1950 values throughout. It is the best dozen without any doubt. The remakes all fall short of this classic based upon a real family.
TheLittleSongbird
Forget the mediocre Steve Martin remake, this film is the Cheaper By the Dozen to see. Jeannie Crain is a little too old for her role as the oldest daughter that I have to agree with. The rest however is delightful entertainment. There is nothing hilarious here, but some lines and scenes are funny and very pleasant, plus some moments are touching. The film looks great, has a beautiful soundtrack and a story to warm the heart, and it has a script that has its humorous and sweet parts. The film is short but not too short, and it is snappily paced. The children are very believable, Myrna Loy doesn't have as much to do but is suitably warm and sympathetic and Clifton Webb is absolutely wonderful. All in all, still a joy. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Neil Doyle
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.
Michael Adams
I enjoyed the movie. It is a little corny in places, but damned good, and it is able to show that a better world might exist. Also, the Gilbreth boy who seems to be about twelve years old looks like Michael Eisner, but that name is not in the credits. Comments? Somewhere along the way, the pinhead pushers of rot have taken over our entertainment and made it ugly and political. It seems that in allowing more license that the subtleties of a good story are lost. Good new movies seem to be less and less frequent. Ten lines yet? I noticed that one of the persons commenting thought the whole thing was awful. My guess is that the person is young and is from some big city where the values seen in the movie have been replaced by modern vulgarities, and in fact are made to seem nothing but things imagined by a writer.
AD
