The Egg and I (1947)
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78% of users liked it
(758 ratings)
Based on the humorous autobiographical book by Betty McDonald, The Egg & I casts Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray as Manhattan-dwelling newlyweds. When MacMurray enthusiastically purchases an upstate farm in the hopes of cleaning up in the egg business, Colbert cautiously goes along. The… More Based on the humorous autobiographical book by Betty McDonald, The Egg & I casts Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray as Manhattan-dwelling newlyweds. When MacMurray enthusiastically purchases an upstate farm in the hopes of cleaning up in the egg business, Colbert cautiously goes along. The film's humor is derived from the efforts of these two hopelessly citified slickers to adapt themselves to the rigors of rural life. In a plot complication added to the film, pretty neighbor Louise Allbritton upsets the equilibrium of MacMurray and Colbert's union, but both husband and wife are happily reunited at the finale (in real life, Betty McDonald and her husband were splitsville before the book even hit the stands). Retained from the novel, though heavily laundered, were the earthy characters of farmers Ma and Pa Kettle and their huge brood of children. Marjorie Main as Ma and Percy Kilbride as Pa struck so responsive a chord with filmgoers that Universal headlined them in their own "Kettle" series of B pictures, which endured until 1956. The Egg & I would be adapted into a live TV comedy serial in 1952, with Pat Kirkland and John Craven in the leading roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Chester Erskine
- Written By
- Chester Erskine, Fred F. Finklehoffe
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Mar 21, 1947 Wide
- Studio
- Universal Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, this comedy about an urban couple who tries to live a happy rural life was so popuar at the box-office that it led to a sequel and to a whole series, Ma and Pa Kettle.
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Cast
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Claudette Colbert
as Betty MacDonald
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Fred MacMurray
as Bob MacDonald
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Marjorie Main
as Ma Kettle
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Percy Kilbride
as Pa Kettle
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Louise Allbritton
as Harriet Putnam
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Richard Long
as Tom Kettle
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Billy House
as Billy Reed
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Ida Moore
as Old Lady
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Donald MacBride
as Mr. Henty
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Samuel S. Hinds
as Sheriff
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Esther Dale
as Birdie Hicks
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Elizabeth Risdon
as Betty's Mother
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John Berkes
as Geoduck
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Victor Potel
as Crowbar
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Isabel O'Madigan
as Mrs. Hick's Mother
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Dorothy Vaughan
as Maid
- William Norton Bailey
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Jack Baxley
as Judge
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Joe Bernard
as Pettingrew
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Robert Cherry
as Goon
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Diane Florentine
as Kettle Child
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Jesse Graves
as Porter
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Herbert Heywood
as Mailman
- Taylor Holmes
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Teddy Infur
as Kettle Child
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Fuzzy Knight
as Cab Driver
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Nolan Leary
as Announcer
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George Lloyd
as Farm Hand
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Louis Mason
as Bergheimer
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Sam McDaniel
as Waiter
- George McDonald
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Howard Mitchell
as Announcer
- Bob Perry
- Gene Persson
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Beatrice Roberts
as Nurse
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Hector V. Sarno
as Burlaga
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Ralph Littlefield
as Photographer
- Earl Bennett
- Vangie Beilby
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Joe Ploski
as Goon
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Joe Recht
as Goon
- Joe Hiser
- Gloria Moore
- Robert Winans
