Directed by comedy veteran Charles Lamont (who had worked with everyone from Mack Sennett, to Buster Keaton to Abbott and Costello) and with a screenplay by Kay Lenard, from her original story, based on the characters created by Betty MacDonald in her novel The Egg and I, Ma and Pa Kettle at Home co-starred the always reliable Alan Mowbray and Mary Wickes, along with Irving Bacon and Virginia Brissac. The music was by William Lava, Herman Stein, and a young Henry Mancini (all uncredited).
The plot revolves around young Elwin Kettle (Brett Halsey) trying to win a college scholarship from National Magazine. Elwin becomes a finalist in the contest, but a snooty editor (Mowbray) from the magazine must come and stay at the family farm for a few days. The whole Kettle clan--in this film numbering fifteen kids--must make themselves presentable at Christmastime to help Elwin win.
The film opened in Los Angeles on April 14, 1954. Film critic Leonard Maltin later wrote that he considered this the best and funniest film of the "Kettle" series. Although the critics never took much notice of the "Ma and Pa Kettle" films, they made a lot of money for Universal Studios.
After Kilbride left the series, Marjorie Main continued on for two more films without him, before her own retirement in 1958. She once said of her most famous character, "I always thought of Ma Kettle as a real person. She was someone that I could imagine driving out into the country to see. Ma Kettle was a grand person."
SOURCES:
The Internet Movie Database
Maltin, Leonard Turner Classic Movies Presents Leonar Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965: Third Edition
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/82220/Ma-and-Pa-Kettle-at-Home/
Vogel, Michelle Marjorie Main: The Life and Films of Hollywood's 'Ma Kettle'
By Lorraine LoBianco
