Does anyone else prefer the original version of Cheaper By the Dozen w/Clifton Webb and Jeanne Crain to?

Question

the remake w/Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt?

Answer 1

I liked both. But I really think the remake was overdone with
all of the slapstick and kids that were just horrible at times.
I enjoyed the original concept more, and the Victorian way of
looking at child rearing.
I believe that was the movie where the father (Clifton) gives
an example of his idea of saving time bathing in the wooden
bucket. Going up one side and over and down the other to
the two ladies who came to visit one day. They were a bit
ruffled due to their modesty.
I enjoyed Clifton in the Mr Belvedere series. Especially the
first one, where he's introduced. And the breakfast scene
where the baby in the highchair throwing mush into his face
with his spoon. And later in the movie, he upturns a bowl
over the babies head I believe. I have seen those scenes a
few times, and they always make me laugh.
Clifton started out as a professional dancer in New York, and got involved in theatre, becoming quite popular and in demand by the public. Because he integrated dance routines into his rolls, rumor went around that he was merely a hoofer. Meaning he was basically only a dancer. So wanting a
career as a serious actor, and not a dancer, he hung up his dancing shoes, and got under contract to Fox Studios. Where
he had a long career.
He lived with his mother all of his life, until she died
and he followed her several years later after a few years of sickness.
There was only one Clifton Webb and he was the same in most of his movies. But the public loved that character.
Just a look, or a raise of an eyebrow, got his intentions
or thoughts across to a child or other character. He was in
short, simply great!

Answer 2

There's no comparison! The old one is such a classic story and the new one, though funny, just does not not have the main story of the efficiency expert parents raising 12 kids by their clever methods. It makes a big difference to have the family in the 1920s when so many new and free influences were happening. Clifton Webb was so proper and stuffy. I loved the scene where he took his daughter to the dance and all the teenage girls gushed over him!

Answer 3

Much as I love Steve Martin-I prefer the one with Clifton Webb.

Answer 4

I haven't seen the remake, but I prefer the original versions of all of those old movies.

Tonight I taped three versions of A Christmas Carol; 1928, 1984 and 1999. I watched the first two, and I still like the black and white original. I haven't seen the 1999 yet. Can't beat those black and whites.

Answer 5

The original is almost always the best. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt didn't have any chemistry.

Answer 6

Oh yes, it's a classic. Steve Martin is a fine actor when he's playing it straight, but otherwise he is just to silly for me. Clifton Webb was one of a kind.

Answer 7

Weren't the children in the original movie so lifelike and REAL? The way they unquestioningly obeyed their parents at all times, and followed regimentation with a smile and a "Yes, Father" was truly inspiring!

In fact, it was due to this movie that I decided to have at least six children of my own....

And then reality set in. Which is why I ended up having only two kids. The remake WAS much truer to life as it is lived nowadays, wasn't it?

Answer 8

I like them both equally. It was a very funny story to begin with and the remake kept pretty much to the original so they did not ruin it like some remakes do.

Answer 9

Clifton Webb/Myna Loy, Jean Crain. You can't touch this.

Answer 10

I've read the original books (including Rings on My FIngers) dozens of times! I loved the efficiency efforts they put forth and actually applied a lot of it in my own home as a single parent. And Lillian Gilbreath was a pioneer in her own right, taking over her husband business (what we would call ergonomics now).