Bonheur en location

This was a delightful surprise. I'd heard about the actresses who'd turned down the lead role and -- let's face it -- the title is pretty corny.

But it is a charming movie -- funny and touching by turns. The little boy in it gets fairly low billing but far too much screen time. He's icky and barely understandable in many scenes. Otherwise I'd rats the movie a full 10.

I am kind of a cynic when it comes to Americana but now and then, it really works; and this is one of those times.

The movie reminds me of "Meet Me In St. Louis," which it predates, in that it is about a strong, loving family that stays together and triumphs over odds.

Ruby Keeler is surprisingly good in the role turned down by Katharine Hepburn and others. Fay Bainter is at her most appealing. James Ellison is, as always, appealing, as are Anne Shirley and Walter Brennan. In a juicy role that came a year before the one that made her famous, Margaret Hamilton is the kind of villain moviegoers love to see get her comeuppance, which she and her hapless husband surely do, thanks to the ingenuity of the family and the two sisters' beaux.

Widowed Fay Bainter and her two sons and two daughters move into a house and turn it into a boarding house. When the house is sold from under them, what will they do?

Katherine Hepburn was originally considered for a role in this movie, which looks like a follow-up to Little Women. She turned down the role and bought out her contract. As the movie exists, with direction by Rowland Lee, it was a wise decision. Although filled with good incidents and some fine supporting players -- Walter Brennan, Margaret Hamilton, Alma Kruger, Ralph Morgan -- there is no clear sense of more to it than that. In tone it seems caught between a situation comedy and nostalgia for the simpler days of the Mauve Decade, with a strong taste of the necessity of having enough money to get by on. Daughters Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler are cute enough, and sons Jackie Moran and Donnie Dunagan charming enough. However, while good enough on its own terms, it's little more than that.

I agree with most of the other comments that this is an enjoyable but not very noteworthy film. Keeler was surprisingly dull here; she should have stuck to musicals. What I really enjoyed, though, were some scenes with the little boy. The director simply turned him loose with some very well-chosen props and let the camera roll. The results are a child being a child--curious, mischievous, determined--and a very charming and unusual addition to the film they prove to be! The wallpaper scene is priceless.

Family epic of the Carey family, as they go through good times and bad. They pack a lot of story into this one. At times, its so soapy sweet we want to hurl... those little kids say things way beyond their years. At other times, it swings back and forth between serious scenes and funny times. Keep an eye out for Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch, who plays a mean old cow here too!) Astute viewers will recognize Virginia Weidler as the goofy little girl next door. Weidler was only about ten when she made this, but she was probably better known for playing the daughter in "The Woman" one year later. Mom and Dad Carey are played by Fay Bainter and Ralph Morgan.... Morgan was Frank Morgan's brother... another Wizard of Oz connection! Thank goodness they let Walter Brennan have a large role as the kind neighbor, or this one would have been too cutesy to take. I was getting pretty sick of the little kids antics, but maybe this was aimed toward a younger audience ? The wallpaper hanger (Lew Kelly) has a couple lines in this one, but oddly, of the parts he played in over 200 films, most were uncredited roles. Story by Kate Wiggin, who had also written "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm". Pretty good story, but it does get soapy, sudsy cute now and then.

The story is about a family who loses the father early on in the film. But because they love each other so much and are so full of pluck and determination that they somehow live happy lives even though they are dirt poor. They live on love as well as the inexplicable deal that allow them to live in a beautiful mansion despite being so poor.

I like old fashioned films but, alas, I found "Mother Carey's Chickens" to be a bit too much--too cloying, too sentimental and, at times, a bit too miserable. I just think that there are better family dramas of the period than this one. I think if the film had a bit of humor and a bit less sentimentality (such as in "Life With Father" or "Meet Me in St. Louis"), it would have worked a bit better. It did have quite a bit of this humor near the ending but it could have used it throughout. Overall, it's just an okay but a tad syrupy time-passer.