Cheaper by the Dozen

Movie Review: Cheaper by the Dozen

Year of Release: 1950
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Walter Lang
Cast: Clifton Webb, Jeanne Crain, Myrna Loy, Betty Lynn

Plot outline: Based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, Frank Gilbreth, Sr., a pioneering efficiency expert, tests his theories on his large family (IMDb).

The story was originally a book by Ann Gilbreth, Frank Gilbreth’s eldest daughter. It is very difficult to say how close the movie is to the experiences of the real family, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were very close. What parents of 12 children wouldn’t be experts of time efficiency? Frank Sr. is a very funny father. He is a quirky, endearing, loving and crazy man. Such characteristics make for an interesting father. One disappointing part of the movie is that you do not get a full sense of each character. You see a few crazy things Frank does and you laugh. But you really don’t understand exactly how the children feel about their father’s behaviour. You get to love Frank and like Lillian, and Ann, but you don’t know anything else about the remaining 11 family members. The rest of the characters were made to be so unessential that I don’t even remember their names. Now it isn’t to say that this is a bad movie or anything like that. It is definitely a fun family movie to watch. But it was more like watching one 86 minute long episode of Leave it to Beaver. I think I would have really liked to see the entire family incorporated to make it funnier, even if it meant that the movie would be longer. (KV)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars