Placide et Zoé à New York

I'm in agreement with the other reviewer who said it's best seeing this film after seeing the previous Ma and Pa Kettle films. The one immediately before has Percy Kilbride winning another jingle contest, this time a trip to New York is the prize.

But only for the adult Kettles, not for the 14 kids still at home. But that problem is solved when they leave the kids in charge of fleeing bank robber Charles McGraw who says he's a poet to Kilbride. I would have thought Marjorie Main had better sense. All they have to do is deliver a black bag from McGraw to one of his friends in New York. A bag that contains the stolen loot from his last job.

I found it hard to believe these people could be such rubes. When rural folks complain about their treatment on the big screen, it's films like Ma And Pa Kettle Go To Town they have in mind. Even Marjorie Main comes off stupid here. One wonders where their adult son Richard Long came from. Either it was the milkman or somebody was left on the Kettle door step.

It's all a comedy of errors about the black bag and of course all ends well. But the writers went overboard making the Kettles out to be so dumb.

Ma and Pa Kettle take New York City by storm when they visit their son and daughter-in-law and get mixed up. Ma and Pa Kettle were a popular film series. Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride are ideal as Ma and Pa Kettle. They have fun in the big city from the their small Washington State farm. It's a family, fun and light-hearted film.

Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town seamlessly picks up where The Further Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle leaves off. This is good and bad.

For someone familiar with the first two movie appearances of the Kettles the continuity is perfect. There are just enough recycled gags to reestablish the unique house the Kettles won in the prior film, but the majority of laughs come from the new situation of Ma and Pa unknowingly smuggling $100,000 in stolen money to New York. There is more development in the subplot of Tom Kettle and his efforts to develop a new incubator for chicken farmers, but it really takes a back burner in this movie.

I expected Jim Backus to be more comedic, but he played one of the crooks fairly straight. The situation was meant to be more funny than the actors.

There is still a fresh feeling to the Ma and Pa Kettle series in Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town. Had I not seen the previous movie I may not have been able to understand why Ma and Pa Kettle lived in their futuristic house or why the kids were such devils. Go To Town was obviously meant for the audiences that had seen Further Adventures. As much as I liked this movie I would not suggest it as the first movie to see in the Ma and Pa Kettle series.

Happily ensconced in their luxurious push-button home of the future, Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride (as Ma and Pa Kettle) receive further good fortune. Mr. Kilbride has won an all-expenses paid trip to New York City, courtesy of the "Bubble-Ola" soda pop company. Hoping to turn the trip into a "second honeymoon," the Kettles leave their fourteen youngest "childrun" in the care of crooked Charles McGraw (as Mike "Shotgun" Munger), mistaking him for a kindly stranger.

The Kettles promise to deliver Mr. McGraw's black bag to his Gotham City brother, unaware it contains $100,000 in stolen cash. In the big city, Pa lose the bag, but find eldest son Richard Long (as Tom) trying to finance his incubator.

"Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town" is not only one of the best of the series, but also a funny film on its own. Making pancake popcorn, and eagerly accepting her invitation to the "Beauty Saloon," Ms. Main is in her element. Milking the cow to music, and testing the height of an Empire State Building, Mr. Kilbride shows perfect timing. Credit must be shared with Martin Ragaway and Leonard Stern, who contribute a consistently funny and finely fashioned script.

******** Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (4/1/50) Charles Lamont ~ Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Charles McGraw, Richard Long

I purchased the DVD which contained "Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town" on deep discount. I have very fond memories of seeing the "Ma and Pa Kettle" movies on Television when I was a child. Of course, the things which make a seven year old laugh and the things which make a 37 year old laugh are often very different. When I watched this movie, though, I was surprised to see that I still found it quite enjoyable. In particular, I was quite impressed at Percy Kilbride's comic skills as Pa Kettle. He had a wonderful deadpan delivery. Marjorie Main gives the same robust performance which she brought to almost all her roles as a character actress, and, as always, it is fun.

In general, don't look at this film for great plot, or production values, but its got wonderful comic acting, and some genuine laughs.