The Egg and I (1947)

77% of users liked it
(737 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 film's… 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

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: Chester Erskine
Written By: Chester Erskine, Fred F. Finklehoffe
Genres: Drama, Romance, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 21, 1947 Wide

Critic Reviews

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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Featured Audience Ratings

moon r

Cute, quaint fish out of water story, almost surely the ground from which the old teevee series "Green Acres" was sprung, about a sophisticated big city girl trying to adapt to farm living. Colbert and MacMurray are friendly enough to get you to "set a spell".
AJ V

A pretty nice, sentimental, romantic little movie, with some funny scenes, but sometimes it's a bit too silly or sentimental. Overall pretty good, though.
First L

The Egg and I is one of the biggest grossing pictures in the history of Universal pictures and also one of the longest running movie series for that company. Based on the book by Betty Macdonald, it also features the film debut of "Ma and Pa Kettle" (the role of Ma Kettle… More
The Egg and I is one of the biggest grossing pictures in the history of Universal pictures and also one of the longest running movie series for that company. Based on the book by Betty Macdonald, it also features the film debut of "Ma and Pa Kettle" (the role of Ma Kettle earned Marjorie Main an oscar nomination). Ma and Pa Kettle are definitely the most entertaining thing about the film, with their acres of kids and a nest of chickens in every nook and cranny of the house. MacMurray plays his usual obliviously affable self, while Colbert is the hapless newlywed, swept off into the mountains to live on a chicken farm by her egg-obsessed husband. There's some unexpectedly heart-warming scenes, but the film itself isn't quite as funny as other similar films from that era.
Anthony V

Hilarious. Ma and Pa Kettle are one of the great comic parings of the golden age of cinema.

Cast

            Claudette Colbert as Betty MacDonald

            Fred MacMurray as Bob MacDonald

            Marjorie Main as Ma Kettle

            Percy Kilbride as Pa Kettle

            Louise Allbritton as Harriet Putnam

            Richard Long as Tom Kettle

            Billy House as Billy Reed

            Ida Moore as Old Lady

            Donald MacBride as Mr. Henty

            Samuel S. Hinds as Sheriff

            Esther Dale as Birdie Hicks

            Elizabeth Risdon as Betty's Mother

            John Berkes as Geoduck

            Victor Potel as Crowbar

            Isabel O'Madigan as Mrs. Hick's Mother

            Dorothy Vaughan as Maid

            William Norton Bailey
            
            Jack Baxley as Judge

            Joe Bernard as Pettingrew

            Robert Cherry as Goon

            Diane Florentine as Kettle Child

            Jesse Graves as Porter

            Herbert Heywood as Mailman

            Taylor Holmes
            
            Teddy Infur as Kettle Child

            Fuzzy Knight as Cab Driver

            Nolan Leary as Announcer

            George Lloyd as Farm Hand

            Louis Mason as Bergheimer

            Sam McDaniel as Waiter

            George McDonald
            
            Howard Mitchell as Announcer

            Bob Perry
            
            Gene Persson
            
            Beatrice Roberts as Nurse

            Hector V. Sarno as Burlaga

            Ralph Littlefield as Photographer

            Earl Bennett
            
            Vangie Beilby
            
            Joe Ploski as Goon

            Joe Recht as Goon

            Joe Hiser
            
            Gloria Moore
            
            Robert Winans
            
See full cast