Copyright 22 March 1950 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 31 March 1950. U.S. release: April 1950. U.K. release: 26 June 1950. Australian release: 22 December 1950. 7,733 feet. 86 minutes.SYNOPSIS: On a summer day in 1921 Frank Bunker Gilbreth (Clifton Webb), a time and motion expert, imperils traffic in all directions as he pilots his Pierce Arrow down a street in Providence, R.I. Stepping into the hallway of his home, he whistles the "family assembly", and children of all ages quickly converge on him. Home from a trip, he has presents for everyone, for his wife, Lillian (Myrna Loy), who is carrying a baby, Jane. For Ann (Jeanne Crain), his eldest daughter, Ernestine (Barbara Bates), and all the other children. The children are thunderstruck when he breaks the news that they are moving to Montclair, N.J. Mrs Monahan (Sara Allgood), the cook, helps them pack, and a few days later they climb into the Pierce Arrow and head for Montclair. As they are moving into their new house, the mailman comes by. "How do you feed 'em?" he asks. "Oh, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know," Dad answers.NOTES: Number 4 at the domestic box-office for 1950 with a rentals gross close to 4½ million. The movie came in at number 11 in Australia for 1951, but did less well in the U.K. A sequel "Belles On Their Toes" was released in 1952. Although sold as a remake, the 2003 movie is really a different story altogether.COMMENT: A period comedy based on a best-selling book about an eccentric but decidedly fertile and opinionated pater familias. Sound familiar? Fox's attempt to cash in on the success of Warners' "Life With Father" demanded ditto Technicolor — and got it from Fox's ace cameraman Leon Shamroy. Although the book was written by Ernestine (Barbara Bates) and Frank (Norman Ollestad), the movie is narrated by Jeanne Crain's Ann, the spoiled, willful daughter who comes to realize that father knows best after all. Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy, Edgar Buchanan and company do fortunately manage to make their characters likable — so much so in fact that you often have the feeling that moments of bright comedy are just around the corner. Alas, the film never really delivers this. The scriptwriter seems determined to stick to the facts – a recipe that many will argue is highly admirable!Nonetheless, there's really no excuse for Lang's dull-as-usual direction. Lang also cops the blame from me for allowing some of the less attractive youngsters to hog the camera to the exclusion of more promising moppets.For me, the film's most entertaining asset turns out not to be Technicolor nor players nor script, but the wonderful music score. Songs include "When You Wore a Tulip" by Jack Mahoney (lyrics) and Percy Wenrich (music); "Memories" by Richard A. Whiting and Frederick Hollander; and Bob Carleton's "Jada, Jada" to which Clifton Webb and Jeanne Crain dance their famous "Toddle".AVAILABLE on an excellent Fox DVD.

"Cheaper By the Dozen", based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, follows them from Providence, Rhode Island, to Montclair, New Jersey, and details the amusing anecdotes found in large families.Although most people have heard of "Cheaper by the Dozen", these days (2014) they are probably more familiar with the Steve Martin incarnation. This is unfortunate, as the Gilbreth clan (as depicted here or in the book) are a very interesting slice of American life. While some of the measurements Frank makes seem silly, he did have some important contributions to society, such as the use of a surgeon's "caddy".The film is a bit more of a comedy, and tends to focus on Frank's struggle with his eldest daughter and the fight against modernity. This is a bit interesting itself in hindsight, as one could see the 1950s/1960s cultural divide, which was obviously not the intent for a film made in 1950 and taking place in 1923.

This movie is an excellent slice of life back in the day. The father and the mother were both pioneers in motion studies and took on the challenge of raising a dozen children according to their precepts of high educational and moral standards and this movie concerns the various humorous situations that occur throughout the years including the woman who was told that the mother would be a good "family planning representative," democratic family meetings, the father's insistence that the girls wear old fashioned bathing costumes at the beach, the father's stand against make up and new-style undergarments. Sadly, the father suffered a fatal heart attack while traveling and we get to see the family pull together to enable the mother to carry on with the family business.

Cheaper By the Dozen was a milestone film in the career of Clifton Webb. Though he had gotten great acclaim for his acerbic roles of the forties, Darryl F. Zanuck knew that Webb's screen persona made him extremely difficult to cast. Cheaper By the Dozen was an attempt to transition Webb into a kinder, gentler Clifton. Of course to play wife and mother opposite him Zanuck got the services of Myrna Loy, THE personification of the screen wife. If the public were to accept Webb, she would be a part of their doing so.Fortunately for 20th Century Fox the public did accept Webb in this role and he was able to branch out a bit in his choice of parts.You mention this title now and of course most will think of Steve Martin and his two recent films that grossed gazillions at the box office. Martin's brood are a modern family, whereas Webb is the head of a family straddling the teens and twenties decades.Cheaper By the Dozen also affords fans an opportunity to see a bit of Clifton Webb, dancer. Back when he was a musical comedy star on Broadway, Webb was considered every bit the equal of Fred Astaire as a dancer. He dances here with Loy and eldest daughter Jeanne Crain some of the period dances of the Twenties and cuts quite the rug.Webb's character is Frank Gilbreath, well known industrial efficiency expert and a real person. Jeanne Crain provides the offscreen narration and we see the action in her eyes. She's also got an eye for lifeguard Craig Hill in the film and he's quite the eyeful.This Cheaper By the Dozen is a nice nostalgic romp which a lot of studios were doing around this time. MGM did Life With Father and Warner Brothers filmed two of Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories with Gordon MacRae and Doris Day. This version can also hold its own with the Steve Martin version anytime.