DVD: Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Director(s): Walter Lang

Cast: Clifton Webb, Jeanne Crain, Myrna Loy

Genre: Family and Kids

Run Time: 86 minutes

Theatrical Release: 03/31/1950

MPAA Rating: NR

Common Sense Says: Old-fashioned upbeat family comedy with sad ending.

Common Sense Rates It:

Parents need to know
Parents need to know that Cheaper by the Dozen, which is set in the 1920s and based on a true story, offers a rosy look at parenting a very large family, but surprises at the end when one of the principal characters dies (off camera). The death is unexpected and significantly changes the upbeat, life-affirming tone of rest of the movie. Other than its sad ending and a scene in which a representative from Planned Parenthood is made the butt of jokes about birth control and large families, it's a sweet, but thin, depiction of the values, activities, and customs of a time gone by.

• Families can talk about the changes in family life and relationships over nearly a century. How are families still the same or different? Which changes do you see as positive? Negative?
• How does the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Gilbreth foreshadow the "co-parenting" that exists in many homes today?
• Ann's rebellion seems tame compared to kids who want to be independent today. Do the stakes seem higher now? What are some positive ways a teen can show a parent that he or she is ready for more freedom?

What's the story?
Based on a classic memoir by one of the older Gilbreth girls, CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN is the story of a family that delights in its size, its uniqueness, and its ability to deliver well-rounded, intelligent citizens to the world. It's 1921. Frank (Clifton Webb), an efficiency expert, and Lillian (Myrna Loy), a psychologist, are educated, economically-comfortable folks who love their dozen children. We watch them weather all sorts of humorous calamities -- wholesale tonsillectomies, changing schools, first proms, summer at the seashore, and more. Late in the film, however, a tragedy occurs which forces the family to reassess their lives and take on new purpose and responsibility

Is it any good?
It's old-fashioned from its acting style, uncomplicated characters, and story line, to the ease with which problems are solved. Still it's fun, innocent, and, until the sad ending, a likeable picture of an idealized family nearly 100 years ago.The 2003 version with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt is not actually a remake, and has only the title and size of the family in common with this earlier movie which was inspired by the real Gilbreth family.