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| Esther Dale and Marjorie Main |
This fourth Ma and Pa Kettle film presents these two interesting characters -- and I do mean characters -- interacting with various townspeople, some friendly and some not, and finding themselves with financial problems. How, for instance, can they afford to send second oldest daughter Rosie (Lori Nelson of Untamed Youth) to college? Ma hopes to win some prize money with her jam and bread, but accidentally enters in the harness race. Fortunately, Pa just bought an old nag that used to race -- twelve years ago! After some accidents and blunders, Pa still thinks he has a chance of winning the race, but then he and Ma get arrested for supposedly poisoning the rival horses.
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair is another amusing and lively entry in the series. Richard Long and Meg Randall, who were married off, do not appear in this installment, but are replaced by Lori Nelson and James Best of Killer Shrews as her handsome beau. Esther Dale, who was also in The Egg and I and Ma and Pa Kettle, returns as Ma's rival Birdie Hicks, and the interchanges between her and Main are a lot of fun, especially a scene involving a pitchfork and Birdie's rear end. Emory Parnell is also back as the amiable general store owner, Billy Reed. The climactic horse race is a highlight, and Ma and Pa Kettle show their own brand of solid integrity in this.
Verdict: More fun with the Kettles. ***.
I forgot, were the Kettles introduced in The Egg and I? Is that how they were spun off into this series?
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Yes, Ma and Pa first appeared in "The Egg and I" and that film -- and the Kettles -- proved so popular they were given their own film and then a full series that never seemed to end.
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