Ma and Pa Kettle

Ma and Pa Kettle are comic film characters of the successful film series of the same name, produced by Universal Studios, in the late 1940s and 1950s. “The hillbilly duo have their hands full with a ramshackle farm and a brood of rambunctious children. When the future comes a-callin' in the form of modern houses, exotic locales, and newfangled ideas, Ma and Pa must learn how to make the best of it with luck, pluck, and a little country charm.” Originally based on real-life farming neighbors in Washington, United States, Ma and Pa Kettle were composite characters created by Betty MacDonald in whose 1945 best-selling, semi-fictional memoir, The Egg and I, they appeared. The success of the novel spawned the 1947 film The Egg and I starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, also co-starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle. Main was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. After the audiences' positive reaction to the Kettles in the film, Universal Studios produced nine more films, with Marjorie Main reprising her role in all and Percy Kilbride reprising his in seven. The films grossed an estimated $35 million altogether at the box office and are said to have saved Universal from bankruptcy. Premise Phoebe "Ma" Kettle (played by Marjorie Main in all 10 films) is a raucous, hardworking country woman with a robust figure. She is smarter than Pa, but not by much, and can easily be fooled. (In the book, she is earthier and more profane. When she was a newly emigrated Baltic teenager, she married Pa under the impression that since he owned a farm, he was a solid prospect.) Ma is content with her role as mother to 15 rambunctious, mischievous children on their ramshackle farm in rural Cape Flattery, Washington. Because she has so many children, Ma sometimes gets their names confused. A misspelled sign "Be-ware of childrun" is posted in front of the farmhouse to warn unwanted visitors of hurled rocks, projectiles from slingshots and pea shooters, and other missiles launched by the rowdy and unpredictable Kettle brood. Franklin "Pa" Kettle (played by Percy Kilbride in the first eight films and by Parker Fennelly in the 10th and last film) is a gentle, slow-speaking, slow-thinking, and lazy man. His only talents appear to be avoiding work and winning contests.