Cheaper by the Dozen
From the book by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Directed by Kara Wilkins
Suppose you’re an attractive high school girl who is a member of a large and unique family in which your father is one of the great pioneers of industrial efficiency. Imagine he decides, for no apparent reason, to apply his unorthodox methods to you and the rest of your big family. The results are terribly embarrassing, funny and—it must be admitted—extremely effective! To Anne, however, the chief effect seems to be that of making the family seem ridiculous to everyone else at school—especially to the boys! Dad pushes ahead with better organization for his family. He puts up a chart for the young people to initial after completing each household task, uses a rug as an imaginary bathtub to demonstrate how to take an efficient bath and appoints a utilities officer to levy fines on wasters of electricity. The children don’t understand Dad’s methods and Anne, rebels. Both Dad and Anne are miserable at the lack of understanding between them. While the situations are often uproarious, there’s a serious reason to Dad’s rules. He has a heart condition he’s keeping secret. He wishes to prepare the children to be self-efficient and helpful once he is gone. Everything comes to a head in a deft and moving scene in which Dad becomes aware of how much Anne has grown up and she realizes her father’s true intentions.
