Olive Films continues its DVD/Blu-Ray releases of '60s movies that are a staple of '70s Sunday afternoon UHF station schedules with the September 13, 2016 release of the original 1968 Henry Fonda/Lucille Ball comedy "Yours, Mine & Ours." This movie about recent widower Frank with 10 children marrying recent widow Helen with 8 children and that group somehow forming a family makes a great feature with the recent (Unreal TV reviewed) Olive Blu-ray release of the 1965 comedy "If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium."
The most recognizable co-stars of Fonda and Ball are then-Kurt Russell clone clean-cut teen actor Tim Matheson as the eldest son of the group and Tom Bosley of "Happy Days" as a doctor who gets in the spirit of being the physician of such a large family.
The following YouTube clip of the SPOILER-LADEN theatrical trailer for "Ours" does a good job of showing everything that makes the film '60stastic,
The spins that writers Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Davis of "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy Show" fame put on this pre-"Brady" "Brady Bunch" style tale of one large family blending with another extend beyond the truly comical number of children to having the film focus far more on the parents than the kids. Having Helen and Frank separately narrate much of the film is another indication that the kids properly take a backseat in this one.
Amusing early scenes have Helen and Frank experience a couple of very public coincidental encounters before going on out on a date in which a wardrobe malfunction is far from the only hilarity that ensues. Carroll and Davis further demonstrate their well-known ability to provide Ball a chance to shine regarding a hilarious scene in which she meets the kids at dinner at their house. Those little rascals openly showing their hostility and actually doing a variation of Cosbying her is great fun.
Other humor relates to high-ranking naval officer Frank trying to create order out of the chaos surrounding the first night of the recently blended family in their new home. He soon learns that assigning 18 children bedroom spaces is more difficult than thought and that Mother Nature has a cruel sense of humor.
On a more serious note, "Ours" has good related commentary on the value of adopting stepchildren and the unsympathetic rigid nature of nuns, Helen's young son Phillip runs afoul of the latter in scenes surrounding his logical conclusion that his mother marrying Frank automatically changes the last name of Phillip to that of his new step-father.
The bottom line is that Olive releasing "Ours" nearly 50 years after the theatrical release of the film shows that it withstands the test of times for reasons that include it still being relevant in 2016. This is especially so considering the almost infinite combinations that comprise modern families.
Anyone with any questions or comments regarding "Ours" is encouraged to email me. You can also connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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