Films About Large Families

Cheaper by the Dozen, The Sound of Music, and More Family Films

Mar 14, 2009

The more the merrier takes on a whole new meaning with these films about large and loving families.

It wasn't unusual for families to have five or more children in the early and mid 20th century. The truthful tales of these large families found their way to parchment as either fictional or factual retelling. The stories were popular and as a result many movies have been made about “full to bursting” families.

MGM musical, directed by Vincente Minelli, Meet Me In St. Louis shows a year in the life of the Smith family of St. Louis, Missouri. Anxiously awaiting the opening of the 1904 World’s Fair, the five Smith siblings experience various developments and episodes of daily life.

Mary Astor and Leon Ames, who played the Smith parents, were reunited five years later to play the parents to the four March sisters in Little Women (1949).

Life With Father (1947)

Based on the autobiographical book of stories by Clarence Day, Jr., the movie stars William Powell and Irene Dunne as parents to a collection of redheaded sons. Living the life of a late 1800s middle class family of Brooklyn, New York, the comic movie recounts the episodes of their daily existence. The movie used to be shown regularly on television. It is now aired much less frequently, and because the rights to the movie are not owned, many DVD versions are reviewed as being of poor quality. However, it is an endearing movie about family life.

Irene Dunne played another loving mother the following year, as Marta Hanson, the “Mama” of the title I Remember Mama (1948). Marta and her family are Norwegian immigrants living in San Francisco during the 1910s. It is another affectionate look at the daily existence of a family.

Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

As is the case with all the previously mentioned movies, this film is based on autobiographical writings of the children of the family. Cheaper by the Dozen recounts stories of the real-life 1920s efficiency experts Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy) and their twelve children.

In 1952, Bells On Their Toes, written as a sequel, was also made into a motion picture. Most of the cast reprised their roles, further following the lives of the growing Gilbreths.

Another movie entitled Cheaper by the Dozen was made within the last decade, but it exhibits very slight resemblance to either the original book of stories or the orginal movie, which held closer to the book.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

As implied by the title this movie musical depicts a set of seven brothers as they search for wives. Redheaded backwoods mountain men, the brothers are generally strangers to the nearby community within mid-1800s Oregon, but when Milly (Jane Powell) weds the oldest, Adam (Howard Keel), the other brothers come to appreciate the idea of marriage, so Milly attempts to assist her new brother-in-law in learning gentility. Misadventures and some of the most acclaimed and impressive athletic dance numbers of film follow.

The Seven Little Foys (1955)

Based on the life of Vaudville entertainer Eddie Foy, played by Bob Hope, when Foy’s beloved wife dies, he decides to take their seven children on the circuit. Although he considers his seven children to have no talent, he successfully trains the tribe to put on an entertaining show and he they relearn how to be a new sort of family in the process.

The comic film is opened with a narration by the voice of Eddie Foy Jr., and Jerry Mathers (Beaver Cleaver) has a small role as one of the children.

Spencer’s Mountain (1963)

Another family of redheads, the Spencers struggle to survive during the Great Depression. The film stars Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara, and based on the stories of Earl Hamner, Jr., the movie was later expanded into the highly successful television series The Waltons (1972-1981).

Also based on a factual family, the musical tells the story of a widower military officer, who hires a postulant nun, Maria, to look after his boisterous seven children. Set against the added difficulty of Germany’s 1938 annexation of Austria, the von Trapp family must flee their native country to escape the Nazis, and, as in the case of the Foys, the family becomes musical entertainers.

During the song, “I Have Confidence,” the actual Maria von Trapp can be seen walking in the background.

Yours, Mine, and Ours (1968)

Due to the death of his wife, Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda) returns from active naval service to care for his ten children. Meanwhile, recently widowed Helen North (Lucille Ball), naval nurse, rebuilds her life as the sole parent to eight children. When Frank and Helen meet, eventually falling in love, they experience difficulty blending their two large families, and just as they are succeeding in forming a happy home, things are further shaken by Helen discovering that she is expecting another baby.

In recent years, an appalling remake was made. The inane remake, has little to no similarity to the well-done original movie or the autobiographical book on which the original movie was based.

The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)

Comical spoof of the 1969-1974 American sitcom, The Brady Bunch, about a widowed mother of three golden-haired daughters, and a widower father of three sons. This movie and A Very Brady Sequel (1996) are amusing critiques of the sitcom.

Both movies star Shelley Long and feature cameos of some of the original sitcom cast.

The copyright of the article Films About Large Families in Comic Films is owned by M.L. Costa. Permission to republish Films About Large Families in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.