Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 film)

Cheaper by the Dozen
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWalter Lang
Screenplay byLamar Trotti
Based onCheaper by the Dozen
1948 novel
by Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr.
Produced byLamar Trotti
StarringClifton Webb
Jeanne Crain
Myrna Loy
Betty Lynn
Edgar Buchanan
Barbara Bates
Mildred Natwick
Sara Allgood
Narrated byJeanne Crain
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byJames Watson Webb Jr.
Music byCyril J. Mockridge
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
20th Century Fox
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • March 31, 1950 (1950-03-31)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.7 million[1]
Box office$4.3-4.425 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)[2][3]

Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1950 American comedy film based upon the autobiographical book Cheaper by the Dozen (1948) by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The film and book describe growing up in a family with twelve children, in Montclair, New Jersey. The title comes from one of Gilbreth's favorite jokes, which played out in the film, that when he and his family were out driving and stopped at a red light, a pedestrian would ask: "Hey, mister! How come you got so many kids?" Gilbreth would pretend to ponder the question carefully, and then, just as the light turned green, would say: "Well, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know", and drive off.

The story of the Gilbreth family is continued in the book Belles on Their Toes, which was adapted as a film in 1952, with some of the original cast.

  1. ^ Lev, Peter (15 March 2013). Twentieth Century-Fox: The Zanuck-Skouras Years, 1935–1965. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292744493.
  2. ^ "All-Time Top Grossers". Variety. January 13, 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-06-08 – via Archive.org.
  3. ^ Solomon, Aubrey (2002). Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 223. ISBN 9780810842441. Retrieved 2022-06-08 – via Google Books.