Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Frances Chung
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Freeman
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
edwagreen
This film was an insult to anyone's intelligence.Fred MacMurray collects statistics regarding rural areas and comes up a bunch of hillbilly murderers who are seeking a fortune buried somewhere.Helen Walker comes along and pretends to be the head gal of the clan who just broke out of jail. Turns out that she isn't Bonnie and is only there to clear her father's name. Her father was working in the bank on the night of the robbery and was accused of being part of the robbery team.Marjorie Main is the common old hag with two idiotic sons and a granddaughter who sings constantly. Main walks around with a whip and shoots a gun a lot as well. She is vile as her character is the beginning of a kinder Ma Kettle 2 years later, in 1947, and later.Bad enough, the film gets even worse with chase scenes, the real Bonnie showing up, people getting hit over the head and choked. The barn scene finale at the end becomes annoying.
JLRMovieReviews
Fred MacMurray is a Trotter poll man. You know, they go out and question people about their living conditions and likes and dislikes. But he's on a different mission of a sort. There's a missing Trotter man out there, who never returned. He was last seen going to the Fleagle residence. But is Fred in for somethin'! What he doesn't know can hurt him. The Fleagles don't take kindly to strangers and are a mean and crazy bunch, headed by Marjorie Main ("Ma Kettle") and her third husband Porter Hall. There's a sweet innocent daughter who keeps singing a tune and a pair of twins that are dumber than dumb. Meanwhile another Fleagle on the other side, "we don't claim no kin," Bonnie Fleagle just escaped from prison and is on the way there. It seems they all know about and are looking for MONEY. Grandma (Marjorie's mother) has a clue and will only tell Fred MacMurray, due to the fact her time is drawing near. Is this getting spookier, creakier, and cantankerous enough fer ya? This really is a hoot and has to be one of the best of its kind. With its ingenious ways of keeping your attention with interesting characters, and I do mean characters, and its inventive devices and plot twists. One particular highlight is the ghost of Smedley, the missing Trotter man. Those who's seen the film know all about it. Yes! So don't be out of the loop. Catch this crazy and outrageous crowd-pleaser and laugh yourself silly.
davetree
Custom made for Fifties TV. Ma Kettle with a shotgun, but the gun doesn't make her any funnier--was she ever?--even for late 40's audiences, perhaps still around in Rick Perry territory, it dies on the vine.Predictable, silly, not really a lot of fun even as an historical piece.Most interesting thing was the clever filming of the same-actor twins.But really, a 1/2 hr episode of any "Lucy" show, built along the same nonsense, is funnier. Aside from "history" a waste of time.The hay bales wrapped around people at the end...all of them looked zonked. Was it really hay???! Ho ho Hah hah The ho's and ha's is about at the level of this
dlMACD
I absolutely fell in love with this movie when I saw it. This is a first rate work of entertainment and everyone involved deserves credit for it's craft and simple integrity. The casting is just brilliant, each member perfect for the part. The plot, the dialog, the gags, the pace and the setting together with this great cast makes this movie fun, a little spooky, with a great atmosphere of a ramshackle house way up in the woods. This is a perfect fall and Halloween movie for the whole family. I can't wait to get my own copy. I had a wonderful time watching with my own family and I became a Peter Whitney fanatic for life. I wish this movie was shown on TV more often. It is a sweet and funny piece, a little wistful, a little sly and it deserves an audience.
