When I saw the trailer for Cheaper by the Dozen last year,
I was a little intrigued. I admit that Steve Martin is my guilty pleasure. He
really does make me laugh. Then I heard that this film was actually a remake
of a 1950s film. I didn’t know quite what to make of that because in the
trailer, there was a scene in which Ashton Kutcher gets bit by a dog in the
most painful area I can think of, and it didn’t seem like something that
would be put into movies back then. I haven’t seen the latest version,
but it might be similar to the 50s version, only with a Steve Martin twist to
it.
The original version is a true story of a 12 children raised by a father, Frank
Gilbreth, Sr., (Clifton Webb), who is an efficiency expert and a mother, Lillian
(Myrna Loy), who is a psychologist. Frank Sr. is an old-fashioned man who uses
his expertise as an efficiency master in raising his family. He has a very particular
perception of how his family should be and he makes sure that it is exactly
the way he wants it to be.
The story was originally a book by Ann Gilbreth (Jeanne Crain), Frank’s
eldest daughter. It’s very difficult to say how close the film 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 scene that I particularly
enjoyed that shows exactly how crazy he is, was the scene in which he and all
of his children had to get their tonsils removed. Frank insisted that the doctor
operate on his family in their house so that he could tape the procedures to
watch them and find ways in which the doctor could make the procedure more time
efficient.
Some of Franks’ other actions were actually things that my father has
done. Frank forbade Ann from wearing makeup or cutting her hair, or wearing
the latest fashions because he felt that they were inappropriate and unbecoming
of his daughter. Most fathers are like Frank, and my father was no different.
He would have many arguments over what my sister could do and what she couldn’t
do. Once, when my sister was in high school, she cut her hair short. My father
was so angry with her, that he didn’t speak to her for 4 days. Now my
father’s reaction may be a bit too old fashioned and extreme for most
people today, but everyone has things that bother them, and short hair is my
father’s.
One disappointing part of this film 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
behavior. 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 film or anything like that. I loved
it. It is definitely a fun family film 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 film would be longer.
The special features in this film include three trailers, one for the original
Cheaper by the Dozen, which was in black and white, although
the film itself is in color. There is also a trailer for the Steve Martin version
of this film and finally a trailer for Belles on their Toes, a sequel to this
film. There was also a short clip of one of the Gilbreth daughter’s accepting
an award for the screenplay of this film. You can watch the film in stereo sound
in English and mono sound in Spanish. You can also add subtitles in English
and Spanish.
All in all, this is a good family film. Although I wasn’t sitting down
and laughing in every scene, but I was definitely amused many times throughout
the film. It is a perfect film to watch when you are having a family night at
home.
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