Who was expecting a happy ending? - Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) Discussion

[–] TooSlim 15 years ago

Unlike movies, real life is not always full of happy endings. The dad died and the mom took over, as she was an engineer also. Read the book, it is very entertaining, so many of the things that the father used to do that never made it into the movie. He practiced all his time saving/motion studies on the kids... how to soap up in the bath, the teaching tools that were on the bathroom walls so the kids would learn while they were otherwise occupied...all very interesting and funny.

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[–] Siriry 15 years ago

I read the book so no I didn't expect a happy ending.

Siri

Don't Make Me Have to Release the Flying Monkeys!

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[–] smooth_op_85 15 years ago

I really did expect this to have a happy ending because I never read the book

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[–] snescubes 15 years ago

I was. Didn't see it coming at all, and it depressed the hell out of me.

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[–] loveoldmovies22 14 years ago

I had read the books so no I wasn't expecting that. I also thought it was odd that they switched Bob and Jane's birth order in the first movie but corrected it for the sequel.

Do read the books if you have a chance as well as Lillian's autobio.--can't remember the name right now.

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[–] amazon423 14 years ago

The family name was Gilbreth. Something not mentioned in the movie was the loss of one daughter at age 11 from Scarlet Fever or maybe Diptheria. I can't remember which. However I knew from the second book that all would turn out well in spite of the loss of the father.

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[–] averagejoeman2013 10 years ago

Not I. I saw this long ago but it was after we had read it in class. So there were no surprises. Still, I distinctly remember some girls behind me tlaking and gabbing the whole time until the little boy was crying then they were uttterly silent.

"Freedom and morality do not go hand in hand. In fact, they are usually devoid of one another."

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[–] Bilwick1 9 years ago

When I was a kid, every once in a while the local American Legion would screen some movie in the Legion hall for the kids. This was one of the movies they screened. I remember not caring for it very much, probably because I didn't get the gentle humor and wanted something wilder, preferably with violence. I think I was actually bored. Then the dad dies and it really took me by surprise. I think a lot of us kids--being unfamiliar with the book and not knowing it was based on a real-life family--were taken aback by this unpleasant twist.

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[–] mdonln 9 years ago

Rayeurth says > I didnt expect to cry in this movie. dang it.

Whether or not a movie or a life story has a happy ending depends usually on when one stops telling the story. For instance, a lot of love stories end when the lovebirds get together and decide they will get married. Aw, how sweet. The presumption is from there they'll live happily ever after. The truth may be they only lasted a few tumultuous months together before deciding to go their separate ways.

In this movie I didn't really think it was an unhappy ending. Yes, the father dies but the family pulls together and decides they will move forward. The mother takes over the company and the lecture series in Europe. By the movie's end, things are looking up and the narration is upbeat about what came later. The father's death was hard and it happened when many of the kids were relatively young but he made such an impact on their lives when they grow up they write a perfectly lovely story about and in tribute of him.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

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