Cheaper by the Dozen

Clifton Webb stars in this lighthearted comedy as a patriarch who has more children than he can count on both hands. Along with his loving wife, played with dry humor by Myrna Loy, Frank Gilbreth must contend with the problems of five fathers. This includes a mass tonsillectomy and the eldest daughter's adolescent crises; her lack of a date to the school dance is solved skillfully by Dad, who takes her himself! Based on the true story of Frank and Lillian Gibreth's child rearing adventures as they were depicted in the book written by two of their children, Cheaper By The Dozen is directed with a refreshing post-war optimism by Walter Lang. Though the huge family must be run with a workmanlike, though comic, efficiency, it is Dad's charm and love for his offspring keeps the family together.