That was an excellent one.

As Good As It Gets

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Fred MacMurray & Claudett Colbert star in a romantic comedy which is pretty well done. More important in the long term was the supporting cast which they had - especially Percy Kilbride & Marjorie Main. This film is actually a movie pilot.The Kettle family was created here and became a series of films after starting in 1949. This family became dear to a lot of the film publics heart because it is the depression type big old farm family. Granted not every family featured Richard Long as a child as this one would, but the mom & pa that Main & Kilbride created resonated with the public strongly.This movie was a little better than the series of films because it does concentrate more on Fred & Claudette's plot, but overall the film is just a good one. If you are a fan of the Kettles, this film is essential in showing you where the idea of the folks started. It is interesting that Main's character also got a start with Abbott & Costello in The Wisful Widow Of Wagon Gap, but in spite of that, it took the balance with Kilbride to really round out her Ma Kettle character.

"The Egg and I" features the first appearance of America'favorite country couple, Ma and Pa Kettle. Unfortunately, it does not star them, but puts them in the supporting cast. The film does center around Betty and Bob MacDonald (Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray), a couple that decides to move from the city out to a chicken farm in the country. The rest of the film follows their trials and tribulations as they try and adapt to their new surroundings. It also focuses on their marital problems, but not so much as to take away from the comedic factor of the film.The reason that this doesn't appeal to me the way the Ma and Pa Kettle films did is probably because Ma and Pa aren't the main players. Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride's wonderful chemistry were what made their films enjoyable, but "The Egg and I" doesn't pair them up enough to do the same. Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray are good enough as Betty and Bob, but they don't have the same charisma and comedic timing that Main and Kilbride do.The best part about "The Egg and I" is the fact that it did spawn off the "Ma and Pa Kettle" movies, which made Main and Kilbride famous. In fact, Main even garnered an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in this film. Her feistiness steals the show, and ever scene she's in is all the more hilarious. She really was a great comedic actress who deserved more praise than she got.I'd definitely recommend this to any Ma and Pa Kettle fans, just for the few scenes they appear in. The story itself never has much of a real storyline, but is mostly a bunch of sitcomish events strewn together. The film and cast makes this work, to an extent, but some parts are a bit too dull. This is still a must-see for fans of down home country comedy, and innocent fun.

I stumbled upon 'The Egg and I' while trying to find some of the old 'Ma & Pa Kettle' movies. It was great to find out that 'The Egg and I' was the first movie that used Ma and Pa Kettle as characters. Of coarse the Kettles were excellent in this movie. They were such a hit with audiences viewing 'The Egg and I' that it hatched the Ma and Pa Kettle film series. Although the Kettles are an integral part of the movie, don't be misled and watch this with the intentions of watching a Ma and Pa Kettle movie. This is a romantic comedy with Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray playing a young couple from the city that buy a run down farm. The entire movie revolves around this couple and their experiences. Most likely the 'Green Acres' TV series predecessor. Around this couple come a very interesting cast of characters of which the Kettles are a part. This movie is a simple, good old fashioned, clean cut, comedy. Sit back and enjoy the great acting and cast of characters. You'll be glad you did.

As others have said, Claudette Colbert is great, the "Kettles" are great, Fred MacMuray is Fred MacMurray, there are some laughs, BUT....My son and I were ready to take the MacMurray character out back and have a "talk" with him. (SPOILER WARNING: in three, two, one....)So, for starters, he quits his job, and doesn't tell his wife until the next day. Then he announces he's decided they'll move and do something totally different in which they have no experience. She goes along with it with a great attitude; good for her, what a terrifically good sport (to put the nicest face on it).But it gets WAY worse.So this guy keeps associating with this clearly adultery-minded woman, over his wife's objections, blithely and arrogantly. Then he spends all hours at her house. Meanwhile, his wife faints at the fair and learns she's pregnant. She goes home, makes a wonderful dinner, and waits for him until after 11pm, if I read the clock right. She gets a note saying he's not coming home (no "love," no apology, nothing).She leaves him. (The precipitiveness of this can be argued, but....)So for NINE MONTHS, all he does is send her some letters, and otherwise nothing. What, the roads don't run in two directions in their state? No one tells him his wife fainted at the fair? He doesn't notice the burnt dinner and nice setup she made for him?In the meanwhile, she goes through her entire pregnancy and has the baby, and he doesn't bother to come by.And then, against all reason, and still (in her mind) suspecting he'd behaved immorally with this hussy, she goes back to him, telling the baby what a swell guy he is.And rather than grovel in apologies, he gets mad at her and clearly feels very self-righteous about it.That's only one thing about this, but it was SO unsettling that, in spite of the other genuine charms and laughs, it left a bad taste in our mouths.