The Higgins Family on AllMovie

With The Higgins Family, Republic Pictures launched its own economical variation on MGM's popular "Andy Hardy" series. The gimmick here was that three of the members of the Higgins clan-dad Joe, mom Lillian, grown son Sidney-were played by real-life husband and wife James and Lucile Gleason and their son Russell (daughter Marian was portrayed by Lynne Roberts, while crusty old Grandpop was essayed by Harry Davenport). In this initial entry, Joe Higgins' future at the advertising agency where he works is jeopardized by the radio popularity of wife Lillian. Pretty soon the Higgins kids are taking to the airwaves, leading inexorably to a serious conflict of interests and a divorce-court showdown. In the course of the hearing, Joe and Lillian tearfully admit that they're still in love with one another, and everybody lives happily ever after-until the next "Higgins Family" entry, that is. The film was produced by Sol C. Siegel, who went on to such loftier projects as The African Queen and Lawrence of Arabia.