Amusing if slightly bland comedy in which Colbert and MacMurray uproot themselves from city living after MacMurray decides he can't stand the brokerage business. They buy a ramshackle farm, intending to raise chickens and live a leisurely rural existence. Instead, they face one problem
after another, watching their bank account dwindle as Kilbride, the most unhandy handyman on record, fritters away their hard-earned dollars on building and landscaping materials. Complications develop when MacMurray becomes fascinated with the mechanized farm owned by Allbritton, a wealthy widow
who tries to court him away from Colbert.
THE EGG AND I has many a laugh-filled scene--Colbert attempting to carry water in a bottomless bucket, MacMurray beaming with pride as he chops down a bothersome tree which crashes onto the roof of the henhouse--and was a success at the box office, bringing in $5.5 million. Colbert is suitably
arch as the cultured, city-bred lady trying to cope with rural life, and MacMurray deftly deadpans his way through one disaster after another. This was the first appearance of Kilbride and Main as Ma and Pa Kettle and they would continue playing these lovable hick roles through a very successful
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