This third film in the Ma and Pa Kettle franchise ushers in a grandchild but the clever writing in the early going has Pa (Percy Kilbride) in a quandary over what he thinks is Ma's (Marjorie Main) number sixteen. Full of double takes and comical dialog, everyone at Pinewood Hospital shares in Pa's misunderstanding until Ma clears up the confusion. You know, I think Ma could have handled number sixteen.
For the new parents, things take a down hill turn when Kim Parker Kettle's (Meg Randall) parents arrive and the expected infighting occurs when Grandma Elizabeth Parker (Barbara Brown) takes charge of making decisions for the newborn. Things get so bad that Pa packs up the family and heads back to the old homestead so things can settle down a bit. Fortunately Pa's rocking chair still serves admirably as a radio tuner, and Ma's got this lemonade squeezer you'll just have to check out for yourself.
There's a side story here involving a potential uranium mine on the Kettle Farm, coming to light when Pa himself turns into a human dynamo. I had to chuckle when the Kettle's do a little Abbott and Costello math to prove that five goes into twenty, fourteen times. They show it can be done three different ways so it's hard to argue the point. At least on the subject of anatomy, Ma could tell the difference between a baby boy and baby girl by checking the plumbing. Obviously this didn't occur to Billy Reed (Emory Parnell) or Pa's Indian buddies (Oliver Blake and Teddy Hart) when they tried to do a good deed by kidnapping Little White Chief out of the hospital.
Well in her own inimitable style, Ma Kettle unites the family for a happy ending with a helping hand from Grandpa Jonathan Parker (Ray Collins). You can only battle the Kettle's for so long before good old family values get in the way. Anyone know what happened to Nurse Quimby?
For the new parents, things take a down hill turn when Kim Parker Kettle's (Meg Randall) parents arrive and the expected infighting occurs when Grandma Elizabeth Parker (Barbara Brown) takes charge of making decisions for the newborn. Things get so bad that Pa packs up the family and heads back to the old homestead so things can settle down a bit. Fortunately Pa's rocking chair still serves admirably as a radio tuner, and Ma's got this lemonade squeezer you'll just have to check out for yourself.
There's a side story here involving a potential uranium mine on the Kettle Farm, coming to light when Pa himself turns into a human dynamo. I had to chuckle when the Kettle's do a little Abbott and Costello math to prove that five goes into twenty, fourteen times. They show it can be done three different ways so it's hard to argue the point. At least on the subject of anatomy, Ma could tell the difference between a baby boy and baby girl by checking the plumbing. Obviously this didn't occur to Billy Reed (Emory Parnell) or Pa's Indian buddies (Oliver Blake and Teddy Hart) when they tried to do a good deed by kidnapping Little White Chief out of the hospital.
Well in her own inimitable style, Ma Kettle unites the family for a happy ending with a helping hand from Grandpa Jonathan Parker (Ray Collins). You can only battle the Kettle's for so long before good old family values get in the way. Anyone know what happened to Nurse Quimby?