On 12 Nov 1964, DV announced that actress Lucille Ball’s Desilu Productions planned to produce a feature motion picture titled The Beardsley Story, to be written by Leonard Spigelgass. The project was based on the real-life story of Helen North, a mother of eight, who married Frank Beardsley, a father of ten, in 1961. The couple went on to have two children of their own, and Helen Beardsley wrote a book about the experience, Who Gets the Drumstick?, published by Random House in 1965, as stated in a 28 Nov 1965 LAT brief. Ball was attached to star as “Helen North,” with Fred MacMurray set to co-star as “Frank Beardsley.”
       In early fall 1966, producer Robert F. Blumofe and his company, Walden Co., signed on to co-produce with Desilu, as reported in an 8 Sep 1966 DV news item. The film was set to be Blumofe’s first under a multi-picture deal with United Artists. An 8 Nov 1966 DV brief added that Richard Baer would write the script. Ultimately, director and co-writer Melville Shavelson received onscreen credit for the screenplay, along with Mort Lachman, while Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr., received story credit.
       Henry Fonda’s casting was announced in the 3 Apr 1967 NYT. Fonda and Ball previously co-starred in 1942’s The Big Street (see entry). A 14 Aug 1967 LAT article noted Robert F. Blumofe’s claims that the most difficult part of casting was the search for eighteen child actors. Blumofe stated, “We talked to literally thousands of kids, narrowed them down to hundreds, then put them through readings and auditions.” After an “exhaustive search of many candidates” for the role of eldest North daughter “Colleen,” Jennifer Leak was chosen partly due to her physical resemblance to Ball, as stated in the 28 Jul 1967 DV. Although the 30 Aug 1967 DV reported that actor-turned-director Sidney Miller would play the role of an obstetrician, Miller does not appear to have remained with the project. The “Doctor” character was ultimately played by Tom Bosley.
       In order to infuse the family film with “pathos as well as humor,” filmmakers strayed from the Beardsleys’ real-life story by inserting conflict between the step-siblings at the onset of their parents’ union. As stated in the 14 Aug 1967 LAT, “The actual Beardsley and North children were delighted when their parents got together.”
       Production was scheduled to begin in Jul 1967 at Desilu Gower Studios in Hollywood, CA, according to the 4 Apr 1967 LAT. However, as noted in an 8 Jun 1967 DV article, part of the film would have to be shot elsewhere due to lack of available space at Desilu Gower. Thus, negotiations were underway to secure space at Producers Studio, also in Hollywood.
       A production chart in the 26 May 1967 DV referred to the film by its new title, His, Hers and Theirs, and listed a production start date of 5 Jul 1967; however, the 14 Jul 1967 DV noted that principal photography began five days later, on 10 Jul 1967. In addition to studio filming in Los Angeles, CA, location shooting was set to take place in San Francisco, CA, according to the 7 Jun 1967 LAT.
       A final title change to Yours, Mine, and Ours was announced in the 27 Sep 1967 Var. A review in the 23 Apr 1968 DV listed the “final negative cost” as $2.5 million, and noted that Desilu and Ball were each entitled to twenty-five percent of the film’s net profits. Ball, who was said to have spent $125,000 on “property acquisition and development” in the project’s early stages, was reportedly paid a $250,000 salary, $150,000 of which was deferred. According to a 24 Apr 1968 Var brief, since Desilu had recently been acquired by Paramount’s parent company, Gulf & Western, Paramount was “indirectly” entitled to Desilu’s twenty-five-percent share of the film’s profits.
       The picture had a sneak preview in early Jan 1968 in Encino, CA, and another was scheduled to take place on 15 Jan 1968 in Lakewood, CA. As stated in the 10 Jan 1968 DV, Blumofe’s father-in-law, comedian Jack Benny, publicly praised the picture after attending the Encino screening.
       Prior to the 24 Apr 1968 theatrical release in New York City, Seventeen magazine announced that Yours, Mine, and Ours would be its “Picture of the Month” in the May 1968 issue, the 3 Apr 1968 DV reported. In Los Angeles, a benefit preview screening was scheduled on 3 May 1968, according to items in the 12 Apr 1968 DV and 28 Apr 1968 LAT, which noted that proceeds would go toward the Maud Booth Family Center in North Hollywood. A screening was also held at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theater on 4 May 1968, as noted in the 6 May 1968 DV, with an after-party featuring the teenage musical group, The Town Criers. An item in the 30 Apr 1968 LAT listed the Los Angeles opening date as 8 May 1968, at the Fox Wilshire Theatre. On 17 Jul 1968, the release was set to expand to multiple theaters around Los Angeles, as noted by the 15 Jul 1968 LAT.
       Despite poor reviews in New York City publications, including the 25 Apr 1968 NYT, the film was lauded by critics in the 23 Apr 1968 DV and 9 May 1968 LAT, and went on to become a commercial success. The 24 Jul 1968 Var stated that, perhaps due to a “backlash from films of violence,” Yours, Mine, and Ours was poised to become “one of the top-grossing films of 1968.” On 12 Dec 1968, DV cited a cumulative domestic gross of over $11 million.
       A soundtrack, and possibly a single of the film’s theme song, was set to be released in Apr 1968 by United Artists Records, according to a 9 Feb 1968 DV item. Around the same time, an edition of Helen Beardsley’s book, Who Gets the Drumstick?, was published by Bantam Books in tandem with the national theatrical release, according to an 8 May 1968 Var brief.
       A remake, titled Yours, Mine & Ours, was released in 2005 (see entry). In its 23 Nov 2005 review, LAT recalled the 1968 original as “surprisingly sophisticated” and “expertly directed,” and deemed the 2005 version “a clinker that doesn’t bear comparison.”