MovieChat Forums > Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) Discussion > Minor plot hole

Minor plot hole

posted 20 years ago by klantry
19 replies | jump to latest

Helen was an experienced nurse. I don't think she would have been mistaken by Phillip's "fever", and was probably more than capable of taking a temperature, checking a throat, and checking for clear lungs - and wouldn't have been troubled by the doctor being delayed.

Also, they wouldn't be sweating out the adoptions - it would have been a priority to make Helen's children eligible for FRank's military benefits.

Had a laugh when I saw it the other night - four grocery carts totalling up to the "shocking" total of $126.

"Well, there it is."

[–] finessechic2001 19 years ago

I also think it is a little odd for her to have to hear from the doctor that she's pregnant, when she already had 8 kids (she should know what that feels like) plus she is a nurse, she had to have learned something on the subject.

[–] klantry 19 years ago

Menopause - an opportunity for confusion existed, if you know what I mean.

"Well, there it is."

[–] pepsi7399 19 years ago

Had a laugh when I saw it the other night - four grocery carts totalling up to the "shocking" total of $126.

This WAS a shocking total back in the 50's. Even when I got married in 1973 I could go to a case lot sale and stock up on so many groceries that it filled up the back of my mini station wagon with the middle seat down and it cost me $125.00 and it would last us for months! The two of us could eat for a month on less than $50. Try that today. So I'm sure that 15 years earlier $126.00 would have been an outrageous amout to spend for groceries. This isn't a plot hole.

[–] klantry 19 years ago

"Well, there it is."

[–] PinkBunnySlippers 19 years ago

Their real father was also Navy, and even though he had died, the kids, his dependents, would have still been eligible for medical/dental/hospital care through the military.

The adoption, like the movie said, meant that they would all have someone to take care of them legally, rather than have the state put them in foster care.

Also, something interesting about the used to be military -- a service members pay rate increased depending on the number of kids he had. So, in that case, once the adoption was finalized, Frank's paycheck would have gotten bigger.'

Needless to say, the military doesn't do that anymore, instead they do a cost of living pay raise, and they also may raise pay based on the economic conditions of the area around the military installation.

[–] XYZZY123 18 years ago

I was just watching this on TCM and I wondered the same thing about the doctor's visit. As a nurse (and mother of eight), Helen should have been able to diagnose Phillip. And there was also the oddness of seeing the doctor make a house call, and late at night at that.

As for the grocery store visit, will they show them in Costco in the new version? They're the sort of family that could use those giant packages of food.

[–] dfortier5 18 years ago

What's Costco?

The original movie is full of things that are not logical. Did you notice Helen has long, well manicured fingernails when she opens the letter? I could name many more, but I'll spare you. Don't get me wrong. YMO is my all-time favourite movie and I'm a huge fan. But any movie you watch is going to have things that don't make sense in them.

[–] caladon 18 years ago

Another plot hole I noticed was since the eldest son Mike was shown being drafted, he had to have been 18; which legally makes him an adult. Yet later he is shown being adopted along with the rest of the minors. I don't believe it's possible to adopt an adult.

[–] dfortier5 18 years ago

The REAL Mike Beardsley was 18 years old when he was adopted by Helen. Mike was born in August 1944 and the adoption took place in spring of 1963.

[–] caladon 18 years ago

It just strikes me as a bit strange that the court would sanction the adoption of a legal adult. Of course in 1963 you could be drafted at 18 but only vote when you turned 21 (This was later changed by the 26th ammendment; which changed the voting age to 18) so perhaps the courts at that time considered a person an adult at 21. Either that or it may have been a gesture on Mike's part as a show of family support. Thanks for the info dfortier5.

[–] dfortier5 18 years ago

You're welcome.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dippy_in_dc_1 18 years ago

You can adopt someone when they are any age. The reason being that you may also be wanting to grant them legacy rights in the event of your demise, which would clean up probate and all, and would cleanly overrule challenges to a will.

[–] MissyBaby 17 years ago

Ok, lets see if I can get this straight. My best friends mother's mother passed away years and years ago, not long after her father remarried....now my best friends mom is in her 50's (at least) and just got adopted by the woman she's called "Mom" for years.

Holy Ghost is USELESS, Dad, he's walking around with a SHEET over his head!-Jesus

[–] hillbrian2005 14 years ago

I think if he went to war he could be legally emancipated meaning considered an adult before the legal age, so I wouldn't think he could be adopted.

[–] MsGAPeach 14 years ago

He wanted the family to be one so he went through the adoption himself so he would not be the lone person out. As with Helen being a nurse, sometimes being a mother also can still make you panic whether you're a nurse or a Dr. Besides she had so many things going on at once I think she would panic with a toothache.

[–] amazon423 13 years ago

As to the doctor making a house call that was usual in those days even at that time of night. we lived out in the country and both family doctors made house calls especially when my dad had hepatitis and my grandmother was dying. It wasn't until the '70's that doctors stopped house calls. Now there are doctors doing it again.

[–] goldenagefilmstv (178) 2 years ago

Really? Where?

[–] jefgg 10 years ago

Don't military bases have commissary stores where service people and their dependents can buy food at very good prices?