Pa Kettle is My Hero

 

One of the usual sources for humor in the Ma and Pa Kettle movies released by Universal is that Ma (Marjorie Main) does all the work around the house and caring for the kids, while Pa (Percy Kilbride) searches out ways to avoid work and laze about.

But we still like Pa, because he regularly demonstrates that, despite his faults, he loves his wife and is there for her when she really needs it. He is also, at heart, a downright decent and compassionate human beings.

We see evidence of that several times in Ma and Pa on Vacation (1953),  Friends invite them on a trip to Paris. Despite a quest to buy postcards featuring pictures of can-can dancers, Pa pays attention to Ma and makes a point of complementing her regularly. 

And when Pa's willingness to do a favor for a stranger gets all of them involved with spies and a quest for stolen secret plans---well, Ma ends up a prisoner of the spies. Pa knows where she is and wants to bring the cops along to help. But the cops don't speak English and Pa doesn't speak French. How does he get them to follow him? Pa comes up with a plan. He might be naturally lazy, but when the woman he loves is in trouble, he'll take direct action without a second thought. 

Observe the awesomeness of Pa Kettle in the clip below:

My Role Model for Being a Good Husband!

I'm getting married later this year. No kidding--there's a lady out there willing to be my wife and she's NOT make-believe. I don't care what everyone else assumes. She really does exist!

So that means I need to learn what it takes to be a good husband. I could use the excellent pre-marital counselling offered at my church or study Biblical instructions about the responsibility of a husband to be unfaillingly faithful, respectful, compassionate and self-sacrificing towards a wife.

But that hardly seems necessary when Pa Kettle provides such a good example for me.

Ma and Pa Kettle, perfectly played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride, started out as supporting characters in the 1945 novel The Egg and I, written by Betty MacDonald. The book was made into a movie in 1947 and the popularity of the Kettles with that film convinced Universal to feature the Kettles in a series of nine B-movies made between 1949 and 1955. Main played Ma in all nine films. Kilbride played Pa in the first seven.

The Kettles are a dirt-poor hillbilly family with 16 kids. Why are they dirt-poor? Well, it's likely because Pa Kettle has an aversion to hard work. His only real talent is avoiding work. But despite this, Ma manages to keep the kids fed. She's at least a tad more ambitious than Pa. She's also the one to do all the cooking. When she thinks their farm--which is in serious disrepair--is about to be condemned, she's the one who snatches up a shotgun and mobilizes her children to defend the homestead.

This is the situation at the beginning of the first of the Kettle solo films--Ma and Pa Kettle, released in 1949. The town council was, in fact, about to condemn the farm. But news that Pa Kettle has won a slogan contest and won an ultra-modern home for his family turns this into a happy occasion.

Well, happy for everyone but Pa, who is perpetually flummoxed by items such as doors operated by electric eyes and automatic sun lamps. Even when the only person in the family with a lick of brains--their oldest son Tom (played by future Big Valley resident Richard Long)--returns from college to help, Pa and technology simply can't be made to mix together smoothly.

Pa finally has enough and returns to the farm. But soon after, it is suggested that Pa (due to forgetfulness rather than dishonesty) might have plagerized the slogan he used. When Pa hears that his family might be evicted from the modern home, he is finally roused to take proactive action.

That this action involves a careless and definitely unwise use of dynamite doesn't make his intentions any less noble.

The movie is a fun, slapstick romp filled with characters we can't help but like. The success of the Kettle films have been credited with helping Universal Studios survive financially during this time, so Pa's inate laziness obviously has its benefits.

So there you have it. Pa Kettle lived a stress-free life as a husband and, when he wasn't being baffled by modern technology, seemed to be enjoying himself. I don't see why he shouldn't be a great role model for me to use after I'm married.

Of course, I suppose I should leave out the parts involving dynamite. And hopefully Angela won't end up chasing me with a two-by-four and murder gleaming in her eyes. But every relationship has its ups and downs.

Pa Kettle as a role model. I don't see how this can be anything but a great idea.