''Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town'' is a 1950 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Charles Lamont Charles Lamont (May 5, 1895 – September 11, 1993) was a prolific filmmaker, directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed several Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films. Biography A Calif ...

. It is the second installment of

Universal-International Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

's ''

Ma and Pa Kettle Ma and Pa Kettle are comic film characters of the successful film series of the same name, produced by Universal Studios, in the late 1940s and 1950s. The hillbilly duo had their hands full with a ramshackle farm and a brood of rambunctious child ...

'' series starring

Marjorie Main Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and ...

and

Percy Kilbride Percy William Kilbride (July 16, 1888 – December 11, 1964) was an American character actor. He made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as Pa Kettle in the ''Ma and Pa Kettle'' series of feature films. Early life Kilbride was ...

Plot

At the conclusion of ''

'', Pa receives a telegram stating that he has won another jingle-writing

contest Contest may refer to: * Competition * Will contest * Contesting, amateur radio contesting (radiosport) Film and television * ''Contest'' (2013 film), an American film * Contest (1932 film), a German sports film * "The Contest", a 1992 season 4 e ...

, this one from the Bubble-Ola Company. The prize is an all-expenses paid trip to New York City. Ma tells Pa that they can't go because they have no one to look out for the kids. Meanwhile, fleeing bank robber Shotgun Munger has a flat tire and crashes into the old Kettle Farm. Pa comes along and after Munger convinces Pa that he is an eccentric poet "Mr. Jones", he agrees to stay and watch over the kids for the Kettles (he is trying to hide from the police) if they will deliver a bag to his "brother" Louie in New York. Ma and Pa Kettle go by train to New York City, where their son Tom and daughter-in-law Kim live while Tom is trying to finance his chicken incubator (from the first movie). The bag Pa agreed to bring to New York, containing $100,000 from the bank robbery, was not with their luggage when they checked into the

Waldorf Astoria Hotel Waldorf can have the following meanings: People * William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (1848–1919), financier and statesman * Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879–1952), businessman and politician * Pappy Waldorf (1902–1981), 1966 ...

, having been stolen while they were distracted at the busy station. He buys several new bags to give to Louie, but each time the empty new bag is stolen by one of Louie's confederates, who believe Pa is also a crook trying to keep part of the cash. Finally Pa agrees to meet Louie by the monkey cage at the

Central Park Zoo The Central Park Zoo is a zoo located at the southeast corner of Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In conjunction with the Central ...

with yet another bag. Pa is mistaken by the police for a maniac poisoning monkeys at the zoo and arrested. Tom convinces the police of Pa's innocence and helps them unravel the mystery of the bags and the identity of "Mr. Jones". The missing bag is found in the luggage of a rich investor who invites the Kettles to his home for a party, where the police are able to round up the entire gang with the bag of money as evidence. The investor makes a deal with Tom to finance his invention. The Kettles return home to discover that the harried "Jones" has been overwhelmed by the 14 wild Kettle children and hogtied in a game of "cops and robbers", then turned over to police rushing to the house to "protect" them.

Cast

as Ma Kettle *

as Pa Kettle * Richard Long as Tom Kettle *

Meg Randall Meg Randall (born Genevieve Roberts;''The Milwaukee Journal'', September 18, 1949, Jesse Daniels, Hollywood, "It Paid Her to Do Nothing", Milwaukee, WI, p. 5. August 1, 1926 – July 20, 2018) was an American film actress. She was active in moti ...

as Kim Parker Kettle *

Charles McGraw Charles McGraw (born Charles Crisp Butters; May 10, 1914 – July 29, 1980) was an American stage, film and television actor whose career spanned more than three decades. Early life McGraw was born to Beatrice (née Crisp) and Francis P. B ...

as Shotgun Mike Munger *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause ...

as Joseph 'Little Joe' Rogers * Elliott Lewis as Detective Sam Boxer *

Bert Freed Bert Freed (November 3, 1919 – August 2, 1994) was an American character actor, voice-over actor, and the first actor to portray Detective Columbo. Life and career Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Freed began acting while attending P ...

as Dutch, Third New York Henchman *

Hal March Hal March (born Harold Mendelson; April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian, actor, and television quiz show Master of ceremonies, emcee. Early career March entered show business as a straight man in the vaudeville act the ...

as Det. Mike Eskow

Production

The film was originally called ''Ma and Pa Kettle Go to New York''. Filming started 8 August 1949 in New York.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma And Pa Kettle Go To Town 1950 films 1950 comedy films Films directed by Charles Lamont American black-and-white films Universal Pictures films Ma and Pa Kettle American comedy films Films set in Washington (state) 1950s English-language films 1950s American films