mmallon4 Frank Beardsley's (Henry Fonda) opening narration tells of how his children feel he neglected his wife and their mother; an interesting parallel to real life in which Fonda told his wife Frances Ford Seymour in 1949 he wanted a divorcée so he could remarry after an unhappy 13 year marriage; a confession which drove her to suicide. Not to mention Fonda was a man who was "emotionally distant" to his children starring in a movie like Yours, Mine and Ours, but being the great actor he is, never is he out of place.Yours, Mine and Ours doesn't have a massive amount of substance but has just enough to keep it afloat. It's not the most advanced comic material for the likes of Lucille Ball but she makes the most of it. Apparently Fonda became deeply in love with Ball during film and the two became very close; always a benefit to the on screen chemistry. Likewise sex references still manage to slip into a family film ("He'll bring me home in plenty of time for dessert"). The cinematography is also surprisingly advanced for a movie of this kind such as seen in the very opening shot of the film in which the camera pans back from a close up of Fonda to a battle ship in its entirety. Likewise there are plenty of effective shots of San Francisco.The old fashioned family ideals in Yours, Mine and Ours were not in tune with a changing America of the time. The film was originally to be made in the early 60's but was delayed due to various setbacks but the fashions present here are clearly of the late 60's. With the film's inclusion of battleships and planes the movie clearly has US Navy endorsement and I can see this pro-military aspect of the film not going down well during the days of the Vietnam War. Likewise at the end of the film the eldest son Michael Beardsley joining the armed forces; so I guess that's off to Nam! This is the aspect of Yours, Mine and Ours which I find the most interesting; it's a film which the product of before it's time, clinging onto bygone values. For example the movie has Van Johnson in a supporting role whom I've always pictured as being an archetypal 50's actor. But more importantly Frank Beardsley can't be a stay at home father, he's clearly a man's man as evident from his high ranking position in the navy.

Python Hyena Yours, Mine and Ours (1968): Dir: Melville Shavelson / Cast: Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Tom Bosley, Van Johnson, Walter Brooke: Seems like a remake of Cheaper by the Dozen but director Melville Shavelson manages to heighten a theme of family and togetherness. Henry Fonda plays a Navy veteran while Lucille Ball plays a nurse and their stories come together in a detailed narrative where we learn that they're both widowed and he has ten children while she has eight. That is more sex combined than a whole slew of porn stars, and more labour pain than one human body should desire. Although insightful and clever it is also very obvious. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they will marry and the children will struggle to adapt. What does work is the two leads. Fonda is terrific as a devoted father yet he misses he place within the Navy. Ball is hilarious particularly during a drunken dinner segment. Supporting roles are flat but then again who can keep track of these children? It is mind boggling to ponder someone having this many children. Tom Bosley is given a few witty lines as a doctor but even his appearance is pretty much standard issue. The kids are so many that one would think that popcorn had more personality. The film stresses the ordeal of raising a family and building bridges when something is missing...Such as why so many children? Score: 5 / 10

Ed Uyeshima I remember when this old-fashioned family comedy came out in 1968 because I saw it from the back of my parents' Rambler station wagon at a suburban drive-in. Ironically, it was released about a month before Robert Kennedy was assassinated, a pertinent fact since he was the Kennedy brother with by far the most children - eleven. The wholesome image of Kennedy as a young family man with a large brood is what much of the country responded to at the time, and this movie echoes those sentiments on a broader, sitcom level. It helps when you have two veterans like Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda play the leading roles as the widowed parents of sizable broods that combine eighteen children. One is a screen icon, the other America's most beloved TV comedienne. In hindsight, it seems predictably cautious for a movie set around the Alameda Naval Base to ignore the Vietnam War entirely, even though Fonda plays a naval officer and his oldest son a draftee.The plot is based on a true story as recounted in a 1964 memoir by Ball's character Helen North Beardsley. She was a part-time nurse on the base and a recently widowed mother of eight. In typical meet-cute fashion at the grocery store, Helen bumps into naval officer Frank Beardsley, the recently widowed father of ten children. They meet again at the clinic when his daughter needs female attention for her budding young womanhood. Their first date leads to the mutual revelation of the size of their respective families. Frank's best friend and fellow officer Darrel Harrison also knows Helen well and is determined to get them together through a pair of mismatched blind dates. Once Frank and Helen realize they are made for each other, the couple spends the rest of the movie trying to meld their warring families together into one happy unit. It's hardly a spoiler to say that they eventually succeed but not without a lot of trial and tribulation - including another baby on the way.Truth be told, Ball and Fonda are too old by a decade or so for their roles. However, it doesn't really matter since they are immensely likable here. Even though she is given plenty of Lucy schtick to do between false eyelashes and toxic screwdrivers, Ball lends surprising dimension to Helen when it matters. Van Johnson is in typical wise-guy mode as Darrel, while Tom Bosley shows up as the befuddled family doctor. Among the children, you can recognize Tim Matheson as the eldest and most resentful of the pack and Morgan Brittany as a middle daughter, though the scene stealer is Eric Shea, who would have a memorable turn as the crafty kid in "The Poseidon Adventure" four years later. Reflecting on this film forty years later, I am struck by the pro-life message it seems to encourage, although religious themes are smartly avoided. The whole venture was directed and co-written by journeyman Melville Shavelson. The 2006 DVD only offers the original theatrical trailer as the one extra.

Little-Mikey OK, the movie is really quite dated. Perhaps this is why the movie sells for less than $9.99 on DVD. But in spite of its being dated, the movie is still very funny. Maybe it's funny because it is outdated. The movie was made a long, long time ago, in a day when "comedy" took priority over "politically correct". With Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr writing the script, it couldn't be anything but a sure fire winner. The two also provided their talents on I LOVE LUCY. (Madelyn Davis was known as Madelyn PUGH during the I LOVE LUCY era).Lucille Ball, in this movie, has really taken a big risk in stepping out of her domain where she truly reigned as the queen of comedy. Her brilliance as a comedian has always been in her ability to act like the perfect scatterbrain, driving a totally frustrated straight man well past his breaking point with her totally insane schemes. On TV, this straight man was played by Desi Arnaz and later, by Gale Gordon.In this movie, Lucille Ball shone brighter than ever, showing an ability to go from "scatterbrain" to "serious to the point of tears" and back, so effortlessly. And there was no "straight man" to bounce her brand of comedy off of.Tom Bosely was hilarious as the family doctor, with his deadpan approach. Seeing him later as Howard Cunningham in HAPPY DAYS, I wonder if he was really acting or was he simply being himself? He certainly has that dry wit down to an art.Oh, and then, there is that issue of age. Lucille Ball was 57 and Henry Fonda was around 61 when the movie was made. This issue is obviously irrelevant. The movie was a hit when it was released in 1968. And it obviously beats that remake in 2005, hands down, in spite of the age of leading roles in the remake.Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda rule!