Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair

Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
July 11, 1952
Universal
Comedy
VHS
B-

As I mentioned earlier, I'm missing MaPK Go to Town (1950) and MaPK Back on the Farm ('51).  So I can't say exactly when the shift came away from the character comedy of the first and zeroeth entries to the cornier humor of this fourth movie in the series.  Whether it's a long-legged scarecrow fleeing for his life, or Geoduck and Crowbar making jokes about Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins, I have no trouble believing that director Charles Barton mostly found his niche in TV sitcoms.  (Amos 'n Andy, McHale's Navy, Petticoat Junction, Family Affair, etc.)  But I did chuckle a few times, and if you can get past the Native American stereotypes, it's pleasant, innocuous comedy.  In this entry, oldest daughter Rosie (who's dating James Best, later of Dukes of Hazzard) wants to go to college, so her parents hope to win some prize money.  The script manages to rip off both A Day at the Races and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, but you probably aren't expecting much originality anyway.

Other than Rosie, the Kettle kids don't do much in this entry, but here's a round-up (and no, I don't know if all the Jackson kids are related):

1. Tom (not mentioned, but by this point in the series I think he was not only a husband but a father)
2. Rosie is now played by blonde Lori Nelson (then 18), rather than brunette Gloria Moore.
3. Eugene Persson, then 18, who was an unnamed Kettle child in The Egg and I and Ted Kettle in Ma and Pa Kettle (then for some reason Willie Kettle in MaPK Go to Town), is Teddy here, his last appearance in the series.  
4. Donna Leary, then 16, returns as Sally.
5. Elana Schreiner, then 15, returns as Nancy.
6. Teddy Infuhr, then 15, returns as Benjamin.
7. Ronnie Rondell, Jr., also 15, becomes Dannie.  
8. Billy Gray, then 14, is a nameless Kettle child, but would play the only son on Father Knows Best.
9. Beverly Mook, then 11, is back as Eve.
10. George Arglen, then 11, skipped the previous two in the series but is back as Willie.
11. Sherry Jackson, then 10, became Susie in MaPK Go to Town
12. Jackie Jackson (age unknown) became Henry in the same movie, taking over the role from George McDonald.
13. Margaret Brown (age unknown) is back as Ruthie.
14. Gary Lee Jackson (age unknown) takes over the role of Billy from two earlier actors.
15. Billy Clark (age unknown) takes over as George from his predecessor.
16. Jenny Linder (age unknown) first appears as Sara here.

Yes, that comes to sixteen kids, rather than the fifteen in earlier entries, but even Ma and Pa are never sure of the exact number, or names, of their brood.  At one point in the movie, they say they've been married 24 years, but later it's 30.  And Ma is supposed to be 52, meaning she must've had at least one change-of-life baby.  (Main was 62, but as energetic as ever.)                                                                                                                                      Nolan Leary was in Ma and Pa Kettle.  Esther Dale returns as frenemy Birdie Hicks, although she has a different mother this time.  Emory Parnell is back as Billy Reed.  Oliver Blake claims the role of Indian Geoduck (played by two other actors previously), which he'll keep almost to the end.  Brick Sullivan was in It's a Wonderful Life and Singin' in the Rain.  Kenner G. Kemp was also in Singin' in the Rain.  James Conaty was in All About Eve.                                                                                                                     This time, Frank O'Connor is a jam judge.  Rex Lease returns as the sheriff and would be in Abbott & Costello Go to Mars, which would also feature Juanita Close, Harold DeGarro, Frank Marlowe, and Syd Saylor.  Helen Gibson would appear in MaPK at Home, Bob Donnelly in MaPK at Waikiki.