MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN (1950)

After winning a brand new house in part 2, Pa Kettle now wins an all-expenses paid trip to New York City for him and Ma. Problem is they can’t find anybody to babysit their 15 hellspawn. Fortune raises its head though once again when Pa bumps into a fleeing bank robber (Charles McGraw) who agrees to babysit the children. The only thing the bank robber wants in exchange is for Pa to give an “empty” bag to his brother in NYC. The bag actually holds 50,000 clams, 49,997 cabbages and 3 duckets. All kinds of wacky things happen next.

MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN holds up surprisingly well for its age. It’s also surprising just how much is packed into its 79-minute runtime! I mean there is all kinds of non-stop stuff being added to the story and even more impressive is…all of it is funny. One gag that cracked me up was when Pa was at the top of a skyscraper and he pours a cup of water off the side to see how long it would take to get to the bottom. Later on, him and Ma are walking down the sidewalk when the water hits Pa in the head and he remarks that it took longer that he thought. Haha. What the fuck is that joke? Classic. I also got a kick at out of how psychotic the children were. They were like fucking Jigsaw to everybody. They tricked one guy into scrubbing his face with sandpaper. They kidnapped two cops then tied them up and tried to kill them in a bonfire and another dude they bound upside-down and were about to dunk his head into a pot of boiling water!

Super-fast pace, tons of great jokes, strong cast, awesome vintage NYC sights, fun story. MAPKGTT might not be the kind of movie you can watch over and over, but for the occasional visit, it's a lot of fun.  I also really enjoyed seeing the normally serious Charles McGraw in a comical role.

Part 1 - The Egg and I (1947)
Part 2 - Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)
Part 4 - Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951)
Part 5 - Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)
Part 6 - Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953)
Part 7 - Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (1954)
Part 8 - Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955)
Part 9 - The Kettles in the Ozarks (1956)
Part 10 - The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm (1957)

FRANCIS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE (1956)

Francis series regulars Donald O'Connor and Chill Wills and series director Arthur Lubin didn’t appear in this film. Why? I have no clue. I wish I did know, but I don’t.

The film opens with two men tumbling a boulder down a hill overlooking a secluded road. The boulder hits a passing car and kills the driver. The murder is witnessed by none other than our old buddy Francis the shit talking mule. Francis calls a dude (Mickey Rooney) who used to ride Francis when he was a kid and Francis lived on the boy’s uncle’s farm. What the fuck? Why does it have to be so complicated? Anyway, this dude, David Prescott, is nearly as bumbling as Peter Stirling was and within just a few hours of Francis telling him about the murder…David’s arrested for the murder himself! Fucking idiot. Eventually, David escapes from police custody with the help of Francis and they go creeping around the bowels of a local haunted castle looking to solve the murder themselves. That sounds more exciting than it actually was.

When I first heard the name FRANCIS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE I was like "Whoa, Francis versus a bunch of ghosts! That's awesome!" I was picturing all kinds of wacky Scooby-Doo hijinks with snippets of THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI and GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW added into the mix. Maybe even some damsels in need of saving. But nope, no ghosts or ghouls or bloodthirsty apes, hell, not even a lot of Francis. At least a not enough for me.

Weak story, uninspired script, okay acting, impressive supporting cast full of familiar faces including Richard Deacon, Timothy Carey, David Janssen (in his third Francis series appearance) and William Boyett (who you probably remember from 1987's THE HIDDEN), boring action scenes, zero substantial female roles. FRANCIS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE is an alright film. I wanted to like the movie more than I did, but the whole thing just left me wanting more and never getting it. Worth watching for completionists, but that's about it.

Part 1 - Francis (1950)
Part 2 - Francis Goes to the Races (1951)
Part 3 - Francis Goes to West Point (1952)
Part 4 - Francis Covers the Big Town (1953)
Part 5 - Francis Joins the WACS (1954)
Part 6 - Francis in the Navy (1955)