In July 1950, Ma Kettle [Marjorie Main] and Pa Kettle [Percy Kilbride] return from a lively trip to New York City, only to discover they are about to become grandparents as Tom Kettle [Richard Long] and his wife Kim Parker [Meg Randall] await their first child. A telegram from Jonathan Parker [Ray Collins] and Elizabeth Parker [Barbara Brown] announces that the Parkers will soon arrive at the Kettle home to meet the newborn, setting the stage for a clash of worlds that anchors the entire summer.
Ma tries to keep the peace as the Parkers pull into the ramshackle yard, and the contrast between the Parkers’ refined Boston upbringing and the Kettles’ rough-and-tumble hospitality becomes immediately evident. The luggage dispute at the doorway and the Parkers’ first impressions drive home how different these families are, and the Kettles eventually decide to retreat back to their beloved, weathered farmhouse so they can preserve their own brand of warmth and honesty.
Meanwhile, Pa [Percy Kilbride] teams with Geoduck [Oliver Blake] and Crowbar [Teddy Hart] to blast a new well in the yard. Their work uncovers evidence of ore in the soil, and Pa falls into the well, emerging with a surprising ability: he can generate electricity from the radioactive glow around him. Back at the house, Mr. Parker—an amiable retired mine owner who appreciates the Kettles’ hominess—begins to connect the dots. He surmises that Pa’s radioactive traits come from uranium-rich soil in the coveralls Pa wears, and he informs the Kettles that they might be about to strike it rich. With Billy Reed [Emory Parnell], a local salesman, and Geoduck and Crowbar in the mix, they discuss how to share the potential profits, touching on a plan that could change the family’s fortunes forever.
The mood shifts when Tom returns with troubling news: Mrs. Parker has convinced Kim to carry the baby back to Boston, away from the hospital where the infant is being treated for a cold. That evening, the trio—Billy Reed, Geoduck, and Crowbar—sneak into the hospital to retrieve the baby for Tom, but in a comic misstep they end up grabbing a girl baby instead. The sheriff arrives, and Ma and Pa must outwit him to return the correct infant without charges.
Soon after, the two shady men reveal they have bought the farm by paying back taxes, but a uranium expert hired by Parker quickly casts doubt on the plan, asserting the land is useless. The real twist comes when the expert reveals that the only radioactive element on the property is Pa’s coveralls—the clothing his nephew wore during overseas atomic bomb tests.
As the family comes together to celebrate the resolution of the tax issue, Mrs. Parker and Kim board a train bound for Boston, pursued by Tom and Parker. They manage to halt the train in the middle of a field using a railroad hand car, sparking a chase that ends with a renewed sense of family unity. When everyone finally returns to the farmhouse, Ma and Mrs. Parker have prepared a hearty dinner, signaling a warm, reconciled ending and a new chapter for the Kettle clan.
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