·' GOOD FOR A LOT OF LAUGHS'.

Un iversal Studios pro- bars happen to be the Kettles, substantial profits, Main's MGM salary remained the duced one Kettle movie a a poor fa mily witha dilapidated same. At firstshe resented that she was not sharing in year between 1949 and farm and thirteen children. the huge earnings, but she began to enjoy doing the 1957. The films were Main, as Ma Kettle, with her series, noting that Ma Kettle was her favorite charac­ inexpensive and earned raucous voice, bird's nest ter, "good for a lot of laughs, and I would rather make the studio million s. Main hairdo, and aggressive ways, is people laugh than anything else." starred in all nine Kettle as good-hearted as Pa Kettle Main continued to make other films, along with one films, but Kilbride sat out () is lazy. The yearly Ma and Pa Ke ttle film. (Universal believed that one the last two. movie became a big hit, gross- a year was all the market would bear.) She and Percy ing $5.5 million, and Main Kilbride had great respect for one another. "Ma1jorie's received an Academy Aw ard nomination-the only one too busy fo r temperament, her gusto and versatility are fa s­ she ever received-for best supporting actress. cinating," Kilbride said of his costar. Main responded in Main had just begun her second seven-year contract kind, noti11:g that Kilbride was "the best deadpan actor in with MGM when the studio lent her to Universal to the business, and a complete gen tleman." One film his­ make . Realizing the appeal of the Ma torian, however, noted that behind the scenes each actor and Pa Kettle characters, Universal decided to do a envied the other: "Marjorie was hurt that Kilbride's series. At fi rst Main balked at the idea, but MGM, her Universal contract gave him modest luxuries denied her; contract holder, insisted. The success of the Kettle and Kilbride wished he had not become so type-castand fi lms helped save Universal from bankruptcy. Each could get non-Kettle roles as Marjorie did," said Parish. film, shot in fewer than thirty days on Universal's back Kilbride grew tired of his role, and after the seventh lot, cost less than $500,000. The series earned fo r the fi lm in the series, at Wa ikiki ( 1955) , studio more than $35 million. Although the films made he retired. Not even an offer to star in a television ver-

Wi Hter 2000 37