Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Yours, Mine and Ours Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 19, 2016

Melville Shavelson's "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The date

The main characters in this film are not fictional. In 1961, Frank Beardsley married Helen North and together they had eighteen kids from previous marriages. Later on, they had two more. For a while they were truly in love, as shown in the film, but then their relationship apparently became quite dark and intense. Many years later, after the film was released and praised by the critics, one of the twenty kids, Tom North, wrote an autobiographical novel and claimed that his real-life stepfather was actually a violent tyrant. However, the film is loosely based on Helen North Beardsley's own book Who Gets The Drumstick?

The middle-aged widower Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda) meets the middle-aged widow Helen North (Lucille Ball) and the two agree to go out on a date. But they have been out of the dating game for a while and the whole thing ends up being a major disappointment. Still, the two can feel that there is a real spark between them and decide to give each other another chance. This time they lay all of their cards on the table and discover that they have a lot of baggage -- Frank takes care of ten children while Helen has eight. This is the point where rational people would simply stop, have an honest conversation and agree that they can’t possibly have a future together, but these lovebirds actually decide to marry and start a family.

Initially the older kids assume that Frank and Helen are joking, but when they quickly pick a date for the wedding and then begin preparing for it they realize that they are in fact serious about resetting their lives.

Eventually, everyone moves to a ‘new’ house and the madness begins. Predictably, the children have a difficult time remembering the names of their ‘new’ brothers and sisters and a terrible time figuring out exactly where they are supposed to sleep and wash. Despite the chaos, however, Frank and Helen continue to insist that their future is bright. Then on Christmas Eve, a friendly doctor reveals that Helen is pregnant again.

I think that the first half of the film where Frank and Helen are trying to impress each other is a lot more effective. There are some awkward situations that are a bit overpolished, but the truth is that people like them do exist and they do embarrass themselves in similar ways. So it is easy to accept that plenty of the funny material can be authentic. The entire second half, however, is one big romantic soap opera with way too many carefully scripted exchanges. Some can be very funny, but there too many cute moments that are seriously overdone.

Something else that becomes painfully obvious as the film progresses is the fact that Fonda and Ball are true stars and on an entire different level. When the kids are not around them the two are a pleasure to behold. During the group scenes, however, they try to adjust and the quality of their acting suffers. But it is just how the film is, and they have to do what they are doing because there is no other way to have the madness continue if they don’t look at least a bit crazy.

Yours, Mine and Ours Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Melville Shavelson's Yours, Mine and Ours arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release is sourced from a pre-existing master, most likely the same master that MGM used a while ago to make possible various DVD releases in different regions. The film can look a bit soft at times and there are a few quite obvious drops in terms of density (see an example in screencapture #16). A few tiny scratches and specks can be spotted as well. Fortunately, no attempts have been made to digitally repolish the film. As it is always the case, this makes a big difference because despite various inherited source limitations there are certain organic qualities that have been retained. Obviously, grain can be better exposed, shadow definition should be a lot more convincing, and ideally depth and fluidity should be far more consisting and pleasing, but the film there are no seriously distracting anomalies to report. In other words, the film simply does not look as fresh and vibrant as it would if it was sourced from a new or recent 2K/4K master. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Yours, Mine and Ours Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Depth and clarity are good, but it feels like there is some room for some rebalancing work. My guess is that if the audio track is fully remastered fluidity and overall stability will be slightly better. The good news is that there are no audio dropouts, background hiss, or other age-related distracting anomalies to report.

Yours, Mine and Ours Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Yours, Mine and Ours. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

Yours, Mine and Ours Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Melville Shavelson's film Yours, Mine and Ours tells a story that apparently isn't entirely accurate. In the film Frank Beardsley and Helen North fall madly in love and then have a beautiful life together, but according to Tom North, one of the twenty children they raised, their relationship became quite dark and intense. Well, I can think of a couple of excellent reasons why this might have happened, but watch the film and you decide whether they could have been as happy as Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda make them look. RECOMMENDED.