Those who find the humor of The Beverly Hillbillies a bit too sophisticated will undoubtedly enjoy Ma and Pa Kettle, the first in the long-running series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride; most people, though, will want to steer clear of this entry (and of most of the others in the series). Ostensibly a comedy (and it really couldn't be anything else), there are precious few laughs in Kettle. The "jokes" that litter the screenplay are the same, tired country-bumpkin jokes that viewers have seen or heard countless times before, and which were not particularly amusing the first time around. The plot is trite and unimaginative, as are the "romance" that's created for Richard Long and Meg Randall and the manufactured conflicts that get tagged onto it. Charles Lamont's direction is uninspired and obvious; he rarely even attempts to improve upon the level of humor in the screenplay with imaginative or inventive visuals, comedic timing or variation of pacing. Stalwarts Main and Kilbride do what they can, and Long also manages to keep his head above water. But all in all, Kettle is an awfully dull picture.