Review of Yours, Mine and Ours

Headache-inducing comedy-drama, based on a true story (!), apparently has quite a faithful following. I remember seeing it on television in the prime-time hour years ago and it was a big ratings hit. Plot has widow Lucille Ball--and her eight children--marrying officer and widower Henry Fonda--and his 10 children. Kids seemed to get a kick out of the chaos and, indeed, Lucy works hard at being flexible and warm, but Fonda is such a cold fish, such a moody old cuss and strict disciplinarian (with a one-note voice that only seems to modulate between stern-and-steely and stern-and-loud), that I found the one main ingredient in "Yours, Mine and Ours" impossible to swallow: the romance. Ball and Fonda were previously paired much earlier in "The Big Street", which wasn't very convincing in the love-department either, but finding them matched up in this busy, bustling family affair is almost depressing; there's no connection. Some funny moments, and the picture looks handsome enough, but the plot predicaments get tiresome. Worse, all the character development is given to the adults and the kids don't even get a chance to shine. ** from ****