The Silver Screen Oasis

I have a secret weakness for many of the formula programmers that studios used to be so could about turning out. Two series that I have always enjoyed, despite them getting snubbed by moist critics and suffer the occasional eye-roll who discussed among the elite, are Francis the Talking Mule and Ma and Pa Kettle.

My fondness for the Francis pictures is easy enough to explain, I have always thought Donald O'Connor was undervalued as a performer. I'm glad he was given the opportunity to truly shine in Singin' in the Rain.

My enjoyment of Ma and Pa is a little more difficult to explain, but is there none the less.

Anyone else feeling like a confession for either of these series? It can be very therapeutic, trust me!

It's been forever since I've seen either. The one I watched more than the others (and it's still been a while) is "Blondie." Arthur Lake must have been the original dumb husband that we are still saddled with to this day. Though he was far more loveable than anyone else. Penny Singleton was cute.

Chris,
I really enjoy the Blondie series and was able to acquire a couple of cheap discs that held 10 of the films.

Francis and Blondie no longer appeal to me, but the Kettles will never lose my affection.

Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main were the most unlikely of couples, and their performances as Ma and Pa are always a pleasure to watch, no matter how silly the movie is. Main's fire-engine approach to life as Ma balances wonderfully well with Pa's deliberate, laid-back, soft-spoken and insinuating delivery. (Ever see Allan Arbus as Dr. Sydney Friedman on M*A*S*H? A more benign version of Kilbride's sly delivery.)

Plus, the Kettle series gives me an opportunity to see one of my favorite eccentric character actors, Richard Easton (a/k/a Richard Easton Burke), who played one of the younger Kettles in at least one film in the series. Was he also in The Egg and I? (No - I just looked it up.) But Colbert and the Kettles - what a combo.

Say, how come Ma spoke Ozark and Pa spoke Down East?

Would you believe, the only time I've ever seen Ma and Pa Kettle was when they were in The Egg and I, but the little I saw of them made me want to see more and for some reason the opportunity has never come up. Is TCM going to play some of their movies?

Anne