Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950)

Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950)

Continuing from where we left off in the previous chapter, the Kettles (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride) have resolved the dispute over the contest that awarded them a new futuristic house. Now, they are preparing for an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City, which they won in a different jingle contest.

A kind-faced stranger, (or so Pa thinks,) offers to babysit their kids in exchange for having somewhere quiet to stay and write his poetry. As a favor, he asks the Kettles that they deliver an empty case to his brother in the big city.

Unbeknownst to them, but apparent to the audience, the stranger is a bank robber on the run; and the case they are to deliver is filled with the stolen money.

We once again have fish-out-of-water humor with our pair of hillbillies in the big city, (i.e. having to deal with taxis, skyscrapers, tourist buses, zoos, city cops, revolving doors, etc.)

And again, the theme of jealousy arises when their son Tom becomes suspicious of a financial offer from his wife's former suitor.

The case of money is lost and replaced with a new, empty one; with the replacement stolen multiple times; Ma is given a makeover; Pa is confused for an eccentric millionaire; and the hapless bank robber is helpless with the rowdy bunch he offered to take care of.

The humor is innocuous and, while acceptable for its time, the portrayal of Native Americans may not meet contemporary standards.

With Charles McGraw, Jim Backus, Hal March & Elliott Lewis.