Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Benedito Dias Rodrigues When you see Clifton Webb go to new School of yous children and trying some advises with the professors is hilarious...the old days was almost like it according my grandfather told me,The Couple Webb and Myrna Loy are fantastic portrait of an generation which no longer exist...firstly by the high number of sons,second the way of education.....and finally by the court 's family to decide something leading by the father as judge...the final was a spoiler of this classic family comedy!!!

ELEANOR LAWSON 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.

MartinHafer Okay, by the title you can't guess that this ultimately will be an extremely depressing film. While that IS a spoiler, I thought it only right to point it out right away because some people might be turned off by this and should avoid the film. This is particularly true for people who are ALREADY depressed--this film will no doubt make it worse! Now this ISN'T to say that this is a bad film--it's actually very well made and quite enjoyable. But, since it's based on real people, the studio couldn't exactly give it a happy ending just to please the audience (though they HAVE done this a few times---almost always with disastrous results).Clifton Webb wonderfully plays an efficiency expert who is quite the character. While at times he seems a bit dictatorial and arrogant, he is also quite loving and charming. I have almost always loved seeing Webb in films and since he did so few movies, I made sure to see this one--his performance certainly didn't disappoint. In fact, Mr. Webb IS the film--as he strongly dominates the movie in a positive way. Interestingly enough, he plays the father of a brood of twelve kids, while in real life he was gay--an interesting fact, but not especially important to his performance.His wife is the ever-faithful and patient Myrna Loy. She is a much more down-to-earth person and the perfect counterpoint to Webb's somewhat bombastic performance. Together, they are the parents of 12 kids--kids that are much more normal and believable than the ones you'll see in the recent CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN--a film that bears no relationship with this 1950 version.All in all, this is very entertaining and well-made. And, if you liked this film, there is a follow-up entitled BELLES ON THEIR TOES.

evanston_dad If I were to be kidnapped by terrorists, making me watch this movie again would be more effective than any other brand of torture they could devise. If you want information out of me, just let me get a glimpse of Jeanne Crain's saccharine, dreadful performance here and I'll break faster than a ninety-year-old woman's hip.Ugh! This movie is obnoxious, probably loved by people who like that horrible home improvement show on T.V. hosted by that twerp who screams into a bullhorn for an hour. As everyone probably knows because of the remake, Clifton Webb plays the droll father of a big batch of precocious, freckled, gooey 50s children, and the laughs I guess are supposed to come from watching him run his home with the efficiency of a drill sergeant. Myrna Loy is on hand, which you'd think would make things more tolerable, but the director pretty much shoves her into a corner and throws a dust cover over her. There's nothing funny in this movie, nothing moving, nothing even interesting: it's entirely lacking in dramatic conflict, and what drama there is (a shameless attempt at tearjerking in the film's final moments) doesn't work because it's so phony.Yuck.Grade: D- (o.k. I'll refrain from giving it an F only because I like Myrna Loy)