Book by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Directed by Stacy Koloski
In this classic comedy set in the 1920's, Father is an industrial efficiency expert who expects his household to run as efficiently as his factory does - with amusing and sometimes embarrassing results. This real-life story of the Gilbreth's shows the chaotic side of life in large families.
Approximate running time: 2 hours, including intermission.
Director's Notes The Duggars. John and Kate. Octo-mom. We live in an age where big families are sideshow attractions for the media. Families with more than four or five children are fodder for reality shows or medical documentaries, and even low-profile big families may find themselves as modern-day curiosities – quasi-celebrities in their own towns and communities. What is so interesting about a big family? Maybe it’s the logistical operations required to run a large household – where does everyone sit at the dinner table? How many seats are in the family car? Where doeseveryone sleep? Or maybe it’sthe fascination with witnessing how the mundane dramas of regular family life play out when multiplied by six, ten – or more – children! The real-life Gilbreth Family was unique in more ways than just the size of their family. Frank Gilbreth, with only a high school education, became one of the earliest and most successful pioneers of scientific management. Lillian MollerGilbreth was rare in that she was an extremely well educated female industrial engineer with an amazing career in her own right, serving as an advisor to many major U.S. corporations and several U.S. Presidents. The Gilbreths truly weresuperstars in their fields of motion study and industrial psychology – but it’s the little, less exciting details of their lives that make this such an enduring show. What lessons can a 2010 family take from the Gilbreths? Cheaper By The Dozenshows that no matter how organized, how efficient, how successful we may (or may not) be – life continues to go on around us. In the mad rush to make carpools and meet deadlines, our chores and homework get done. Our fences are painted. Our children grow up. And we all face our mortality. So here’s to a New Year’s resolution of sorts – to stop and smell the roses in the madness of our complicated modern lives, to appreciate our families no matter what size they are, and have the joy of realizing those moments that are “the happiest times in the world.” Stacey Koloski, Director
