Why so much hype?

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

"Cheaper By the Dozen", based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, follows them from Providence, Rhode Island, to Montclair, New Jersey, and details the amusing anecdotes found in large families.Although most people have heard of "Cheaper by the Dozen", these days (2014) they are probably more familiar with the Steve Martin incarnation. This is unfortunate, as the Gilbreth clan (as depicted here or in the book) are a very interesting slice of American life. While some of the measurements Frank makes seem silly, he did have some important contributions to society, such as the use of a surgeon's "caddy".The film is a bit more of a comedy, and tends to focus on Frank's struggle with his eldest daughter and the fight against modernity. This is a bit interesting itself in hindsight, as one could see the 1950s/1960s cultural divide, which was obviously not the intent for a film made in 1950 and taking place in 1923.

... half a dozen of the other, an apt description of a family boasting six girls and six boys. It's almost inevitable that after the first couple of reels you find yourself thinking of Life With Father and Meet Me In St Louis, both set in a similar period, featuring large families with colourful matriarchs and episodic rather than linear. I doubt that many feel-good family films of the fifties would have dared to end with the death - albeit off-screen - of the leading character so that's another brownie point to a well-made, sentimental movie. By today's - or even by those of the time - standards not a lot happens, instead we are treated to several vignettes of family life just as the twentieth century was gearing up to ride roughshod over the Edwardian era. Webb is excellent in the lead and though woefully underused Myrna Loy registers strongly as his patient and loving wife. A delightful diversion.

I have no clue why a remake with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt was made in 2003. They even say "based on the book by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey" and the characters and story have nothing to do with this book based on the true lives of kinetic engineer Frank B. Gilbreth, psychologist wife Lillian, and their huge happy family with 12 kids.The 1950 film is much much better and true to the book. Frank, assisted by Lillian in many experiments, was a time/motion specialist employed by many industrial companies in the 1920s. This film really isn't about those studies, however. It's a hilarious and touching memoir about the couple's decision to have "an even dozen" children, and is mostly a series of vignettes, if you will, about how it was to grow up under the roof of this spirited, somewhat old fashioned and strict, eccentric and even dare I say it overbearing at times, but always loving and lovable father. Clifton Webb is absolutely perfect as the patriarch of this huge, noisy clan. Myrna Loy is lovely as the mother. I also enjoyed the performance of Jeanne Crain as eldest daughter Anne, who clashes with Dad often about dating, decency and the latest fashions! My favorite stories are the tonsilectomies that didn't get filmed and the visit from the "birth control" lady. Hilarious! I haven't had a chance to see BELLES ON THEIR TOES, but this movie is a real life movie, with moments of heavy sadness and drama along with the comedy. Until they really make a "remake" that's about the real thing, this one is the one to stick with.

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)