100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #95: Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

Directed by Walter Lang. Starring Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy and Jeanne Crain.

Name a Hollywood film that openly mocks Planned Parenthood. I’ll wait. How about a movie featuring a strict and protective father who is adored and beloved by his teenage daughters? In what other movie, besides this one, does a father chaperone his teenage daughter to her school dance and her peers remark positively on his presence? And of course, the biggest differentiator, are there any other secular produced movies featuring a happy family with twelve children? Or for that matter, more than 3?? No, there are no other movies quite like the one-of-a-kind Cheaper by the Dozen.

Based on the real Gilbreth family, this movie and its characters are quirky, memorable, and utterly wholesome. Not only is it unique in its pro family, pro marriage, pro traditional values and thus Catholic themes, it is also the only movie you’ll ever see in which you receive a demonstration (fully clothed) on how to efficiently take a bath. (The lesson on bathing is one of several comical scenes which take place because of the nature of Frank Gilbreth’s career as an efficiency expert, as well as his eccentric personality.)

The most obvious reason this movie deserves to be on this list is due to its positive portrayal of having a big family. In the scene when Lillian gives birth to her twelfth child they discuss how they have now accomplished the dream they decided on when they were newly married. It is no accident that they ended up with a lot of babies, but rather the greatest desire of both of their hearts. They love their children, their children love each other, and the Gilbreths apparently even find that their children are more financially affordable the more that they have. While the Gilbreths never give an explanation for their humorous claim that greater quantities of children lead to less expenses, as a mother of two young children, I’ve noticed how with each child you are forced to get your life together a bit more, and develop life skills such as stretching each penny a little further, so I would wager a guess that's perhaps what they meant!

This phenomenon of loving children so much that one would want to have twelve of them is is hardly believable to the Planned Parenthood representative who pays a call to Mrs. Gilbreth. In the comical scene that follows, the representative unexpectedly calls on Lillian, mentioning that some of her friends suggested she might be the perfect person to give a lecture about birth control. As the realization dawns on the confused Lillian that her friends must have sent her as a prank, she decides to have a little fun and she calls all twelve of her children into the room to meet the Planned Parenthood rep. As children spring from all corners of the house, the rep’s face flashes from surprise and confusion to disbelief and disgust. She asks Lillian if she runs a school, and when Lillian and Frank inform her that all of the children are their own flesh and blood, she runs away in horror. The family all shares a laugh as she flees.

While the children were happy to have fun in this particular instance, there are certainly moments when they are less enthusiastic about being the spectacle that their old-fashioned family inevitably becomes wherever they go.The two teenage daughters struggle with this in particular. They complain to their mother about their out-dated swimsuits that cover as much skin as possible, and even hide away their hair in a shower cap apparatus. They vent to each other about not being allowed to bob their hair or wear makeup, and though the particulars of their complaints are unique to their time period, every teenage girl whose parents are not completely permissive has had similar struggles at one point or another.

Portraying the dynamics of rebellious teenagers on screen is not particularly uncommon, yet the way that this is shown in Cheaper by the Dozen is so refreshingly sweet. Throughout the course of the movie the clashing members of the family, eldest daughter Anne and the father Frank in particular, actually work through their struggles. What a novel idea! In an era dominated by self-help and therapy culture, where holding onto every wound and labeling every childhood hurt as trauma is common, and in a time when face-to-face communication—particularly the ability to navigate healthy conflict—is diminishing, the depiction of Anne and Frank is a breath of fresh air. In Frank we see a stern and strict father. He is wary of newfangled fashions and boys who want to take his daughters out, but he is goodhearted and loving, and his concerns clearly come from a place of protectiveness and a desire to care for his girls and to ensure that they demand respect. As their conversation goes in the scene on the beach…

“Freaks or not, you're not going around with bare knees...for all the boys to ogle...not while I'm alive!” “Boys don't ogle when everybody dresses that way.” “Don't tell me what boys ogle. I was young once myself. And I'd hate to tell you what would have happened in my day...if girls had dressed like some of these girls do today.”

Later, when Anne is asked by a boy to be taken to the school dance on her first real date, her father insists on going with her as her chaperone. Initially protesting, the mortified Anne eventually gives in. At the dance her father mingles with her peers and ends up having a wonderful time dancing and conversing with the students. Meanwhile Anne is told by a handsome student that he is impressed by her father wanting to escort her, and echoes what her parents have said about the importance of girls demanding respect in the way they dress and carry themselves:

“Oh, a fella likes to run around with 'em, maybe...just for a good time before he gets married, but...when it comes to settling down, none of these flappers for me. I want a girl I can respect.”

“Why, that's funny. That's what my mother says.

“Believe me, baby, she's right. I've been around, and I know.”

“Well, of course it does make a girl feel awfully good… to know that her parents care what she does.”

By the end of the dance Anne has more respect and appreciation for her father and he has more trust in her and the people she’s choosing to associate with.It’s clear that they will have less conflict moving forward. Have you ever seen another movie portray such healthy conflict resolution between a teenage daughter and her father?

There is another relationship portrayal in this film which I love and which is also quite rare, though perhaps less so, and that is the relationship between husband and wife. As I already mentioned, they are clearly united in their dream of having a big family, and they are both equally involved in the upbringing of the children and the events of the home, despite having distinct roles as mother and father. Additionally however, and this is what makes it more rare, they are also partners in the professional world of business, sharing the same interests and similar capabilities in the field of engineering, and specifically the study of efficiency. Throughout most of the movie Lillian is not actively working in this field, as she is the primary caretaker of the children, however when their circumstances change at the end of the film (not to spoil anything!), she ends up taking over the business. In her closing narration, Ann says that her mother went on to become the foremost woman industrial engineer in the world, and in 1948 was named America’s “Woman of the Year”, further demonstrating the truth in the words that Frank speaks after the birth of their twelfth child, “I always knew that anything you and I teamed up on, Lillie, would be a success.”

I grew up watching this film, enjoyed introducing it to my husband, and can’t wait to show it to my children. If you’ve never seen it, I hope you will enjoy watching it with some loved ones as well!