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Post by topbilled on Oct 30, 2022 16:08:51 GMT
Coming up:
Hit film, hit sequel November 5
JESSE JAMES (1939)
November 12
THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (1940)
November 19
FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950)
November 26
FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND (1951)
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Post by yanceycravat on Oct 31, 2022 2:39:45 GMT
I have to say I think this kind of programming is fun!
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Post by dianedebuda on Oct 31, 2022 3:03:27 GMT
I have to say I think this kind of programming is fun! I like it too. Another is remakes in a row. As I mentioned elsewhere on the site, my favorite example is:
Shop Around the Corner In the Good Old Summertime (not so much) You've Got Mail She Loves Me (PBS recording of stage production)
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Post by yanceycravat on Oct 31, 2022 3:22:48 GMT
Actually She Loves Me should come third as that was originally a 1963 Broadway musical.
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Post by dianedebuda on Oct 31, 2022 12:16:14 GMT
Actually She Loves Me should come third as that was originally a 1963 Broadway musical. True that it's a 1963 musical, but the recording is of a 2017 revival.
For some strange reason, the original She Loves Me didn't do well and closed losing $. But the revivals have been very popular. I just love the music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick - same team that wrote Fiddler on the Roof. |
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Post by topbilled on Oct 31, 2022 14:24:27 GMT
I have to say I think this kind of programming is fun!
The format is usually my review, followed by his review...but sometimes we change it up where it's more Q&A style, with us asking each other 'what did you think about such and such...' and of course, we don't always agree! Readers are welcome to chime in and offer their point of view.
In December, there will be two themes and I will create a separate thread for December. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 5, 2022 18:43:49 GMT
Essential: JESSE JAMES (1939)TopBilled: The film has a credit at the beginning which acknowledges historical research. But as we know, much is fictionalized to present the idea that Jesse James (Tyrone Power) and his brother Frank James (Henry Fonda) are Robin Hoods at heart, battling the railroad. Farmers have been pushed off their land in unscrupulous ways, and these two are fighting back. Their poor ma is played by Jane Darwell. It’s interesting to see her and Fonda as mother and son in this film a year before they appeared in THE GRAPES OF WRATH. Darwell’s character dies early on, by a fire that’s caused by Brian Donlevy and his men who are working for Donald Meek’s expanding railway company. Things come to a head one summer day after Power angrily shoots at the men, nicking Donlevy in the shoulder. A sheriff’s posse is assembled to arrest the two boys, but they run off to avoid being railroaded, pun intended. One thing that always impresses me about the film is how tightly edited it is, and how so many memorable characters are introduced quickly in the beginning. In addition to the James family and their neighbors, we have the railroad men as well as a group of townsfolk led by a newspaper publisher (Henry Hull) and his daughter (Nancy Kelly). Miss Kelly functions as a love interest for Power. Also there’s a law officer (Randolph Scott) who gets involved with Kelly, whose job it is to capture Power and Fonda. This is all intricately connected by good writing, sharp performances and editing which keeps the action humming along. There are some spectacular stunts, like shots at dusk when we see the James boys hop on top of a train then proceed to rob it. Later, after Power has married Kelly, and is on the run with Fonda, we see a spectacular fall with a horse off the side of a cliff into a raging river below. This is an exciting film at every turn, and it’s no wonder it was such a hit. Re-released several times by 20th Century Fox, it always cleaned up at the box office…audiences couldn’t get enough. Though the two Jameses are initially depicted as sympathetic characters, we do watch how robbing and killing gets into their blood. They can’t seem to stop. Hull, Kelly and a colored man (Ernest Whitman) who worked on the James farm, know justice won’t be done. With increasing rewards put on their heads, someone will betray the James boys. The scenes near the end are bittersweet, where Power visits Kelly and their young son. There is no chance for him to settle down and be a normal family man. The Ford brothers (John Carradine & Charles Tannen) show up and we know what will happen. The film ends with our title character’s burial. But his brother is still out there somewhere. And of course, this sets up Fox’s hit sequel a year later with Fonda in THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (1940). ***Jlewis: Most Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are probably familiar with The Brady Bunch and, most importantly, that rather notorious episode broadcast on Groundhog’s Day 1973 titled “Bobby’s Hero,” which marked that generation’s key introduction to Jesse James. The youngest male in the family (Mike Lookinland, the actor who played Bobby Brady, will turn 62 this December) develops a curious fetish for the 19th century bandit and his always understanding parents try their best to deal with it.They allow him to stay up past his bedtime to watch the Late Late Late Show airing of JESSE JAMES ON THE VENGEANCE TRAIL (composed of vintage western stock footage in black and white) with the hope that it may correct some of his idolizing. Unexpectedly, the parents are quite surprised that the TV network had all of the gun violence censored! Of course, Bobby is still convinced Jesse was such a “great” guy.Then daddy Mike Brady decides on option #2: getting the author of a Jesse factual book (played by Burt Mustin who was too young for the role he played) to come talk to Bobby and explain the truth about real Jesse as “killer.” This finally does the trick. Bobby then proceeds to have a nightmare about his own family, Alice the housekeeper included, all riding an old train and getting the “bang bang” treatment from his “hero” (with Gordon De Vol hamming up his role with great ferocity). Poor Bobby pleads “Oh no! You shot my dad! Don’t! Please stop! Don’t! No! No! No!”Yes, it did traumatize us tykes back in the day. Yet I’ve often wondered, had Paramount (the studio behind Brady Bunch) been given out-of-studio access to 20th Century Fox’s glossy Technicolor version of JESSE JAMES…would Mike and Carol Brady have favored it over the make-shift JESSE JAMES ON THE VENGEANCE TRAIL My guess is…well, maybe sort of… but not really. This version is a by-product of the production code so the actual bloodshed is kept at a minimum, but there is plenty of gun shooting and bodies falling. Tyrone Power as the lead and Henry Fonda as brother Frank are both flawed characters created more by the circumstances of their lives than anything specifically “evil” in their blood, much like BONNIE & CLYDE, and they still must pay the penalty in the end since Crime Does Not Pay.The railroad tycoons are the real baddies at the start of our story with Barshee (Brian Donlevy) indirectly killing the brothers’ mother (Jane Darwell). (Historic boo-boo…the real mother merely lost an arm.) When the residents refuse to sell their homes to the railroad for meager prices, Barshee tends to rough them up. (This echoes another Fox film we have reviewed recently, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, but the banks closing down the local farmers at least show more sympathy and compassion.) All of this unfair treatment of the locals prompts the brothers to start up a renegade gang that fights in defiance of the trains, setting up for an elaborately shot robbery scene done at night with beautiful lit (in Technicolor) window scenes.Jesse tries his best to be an all-American wholesome family man by marrying Zerelda (Nancy Kelly), niece of the newspaper editor Rufus Cobb (Henry Hull) and eventually have an adorable boy whom mother dearest tries to protect from daddy’s outlaw reputation. Zerelda and Marshall Will Wright (Randolph Scott) try to get Jesse to come clean on behalf of RR tycoon McCoy (Donald Meek) but, in another case of The System not working out for these unfortunate souls, McCoy tricks him into getting stuck in jail.This, in turn, gets brother Frank more actively involved by rescuing Jesse, then making McCoy eat his lies on crumbled paper. Jesse is forced to stay away from wife and son for five years as he continues his job in organized crime. It is hard to pinpoint whether or not Jesse really is a cold blooded killer or just one who shoots in defense as Bobby Brady viewed him, like some 19th century Robin Hood fighting against unjust local government and business tycoons in Missouri.It should be noted that there is a positive racial relationship on display here with Pinky (Ernest Whitman) being treated as a devoted friend rather than merely an ex-slave or stereotyped servant. This, again, does not jive with historic facts but does showcase a view to movie viewers that the James family operated more by personal well-being towards others than by what their surroundings expected from them.Less pleasing is the onscreen treatment of horses in this picture, who are frequently being forced to trip on themselves and jump into rivers sideways. A detective George Runyan (J. Edward Bromberg) puts a ransom out on the gang and they are ratted out as they rob a Minnesota bank. Miraculously, Jesse manages to overcome his injuries and hide out with his family one last time with the hope of a changed life for the future in California. While adjusting a picture frame on the wall in domestic bliss, he is then unexpectedly shot by ex-gang member Bob Ford (John Carradine) and memorialized in death by the townspeople. The AFI site lists five names in connection with the cinematography but George Barnes and William Howard Greene are credited primarily. At the time filming began in August 1938, Greene had been making color films for 11 years and these not only included prominent features like BECKY SHARP, A STAR IS BORN and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD but also many short subjects stretching back to his initial involvement with the indy Colorart Pictures.This brings up an important tidbit often overlooked in movie history books: although feature films in color lasting over an hour were treated as the special events that they were, theater attendees were already quite used to seeing plenty of color in their overall programs due to the high number of animated cartoons, travelogues and 2-reel musicals and costume novelties as part of the “added attractions.” Here the cinematic rainbow adds to the overall beauty and nostalgia of Jesse the outlaw. A lot of outfits worn are navy blue, a tranquil shade that makes our central figures all the more comforting to us. Side note: some experts on distinguishing the studios by the Technicolor films they made in the thirties and forties have noted that Fox favored more night-time scenes and blue-ish costumes while Warner Bros. focused more on bright sunshine with a golden hue applied.Both studios swung a bit more towards outdoor filming than indoor, while MGM and Paramount, which were more flexible in their palette if emphasizing more red costumes that pop out at times, tended to be more back-lot oriented and studio-bound (occasional exceptions for those two include TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE and NORTHWEST PASSAGE).Speaking of Fox’s preference for the outdoors, I especially like the shots taken in small rural towns with then still standing houses that probably had been kept in the same condition for five decades or more, retaining a look of 1870s-80s mid-west scenery that makes this film feel rather timeless even today. You are observing a world in modern day color that was normally documented in old daguerreotypes and stereo-graphs (even though the movie is not done in 3-D). In the end, I have a feeling that Mike and Carol would still be scratching their heads over this one, but we are given an eloquent speech at the end, coming from the over the top newspaper editor Rufus:“There ain’t no question about it. Jesse was an outlaw, a bandit, a criminal. Even those that loved him ain’t got no answer to that. But we ain’t ashamed of him. I don’t know why, but I don’t think even America is ashamed of Jesse James. Maybe it’s because he was bold and lawless, like we all of us like to be sometimes. Maybe it’s because we understand a little that he wasn’t altogether to blame for what his times made him. Maybe it’s because for ten years he licked the tar out of five states. Or maybe it’s because he was so good at what he was doing. I don’t know. All I do know is he was one of the doggonest, gawdangest, dang-blamest buckaroos that ever rode across these United States of America!”
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Post by topbilled on Nov 12, 2022 18:38:01 GMT
Essential: THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (1940)TopBilled:
Realizing what a box office bonanza they had on their hands with 1939’s JESSE JAMES, the executives at 20th Century Fox decided to make a sequel. The result is this above-average follow-up that continues the James family narrative without Jesse. However, Tyrone Power’s character is seen briefly at the beginning in a flashback that shows how he was killed.
This wasn’t the first time an ‘A’ feature had a sequel, nor was it the first time that a flashback was used in this way. TOPPER TAKES A TRIP had employed the technique to explain the absence of Cary Grant’s character, while the story rolled on with Constance Bennett. It’s an effective way to recap the previous installment, provide continuity and carry things forward.
Since THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES was made so soon after the original, this production has several distinct advantages. First, Henry Fonda who reprises the title character hasn’t aged one iota, so we have a direct continuation of the action in the preceding film. Also, most of the supporting cast are back in the roles they had originated…even if there are a few conspicuous absentees like Randolph Scott and Nancy Kelly.
As Jesse’s widow Zerelda, I think Nancy Kelly should have been included, at least at the beginning, before the story is handed over entirely to Henry Fonda as the surviving brother. We also don’t see Jesse’s son again, which feels like a mistake. But these are minor quibbles. Another benefit of the studio’s decision to produce a sequel so quickly is that the high production values are maintained, including its use of Technicolor, with many behind-the-scenes crew resuming their old jobs.
As the solo lead this time out, Mr. Fonda sustains interest in a storyline that shows what happened to Frank James after Jesse’s assassination by Bob Ford (John Carradine). Of course, Frank is still a fugitive and sought by the law. We learn he dropped out of sight after the disastrous bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota; and now lives under a different name. Colored farmhand Pink (Ernest Whitman) is with him, as well as a young man (Jackie Cooper) who is the son of a deceased member of the gang. Cooper’s character is fictional, since the plot contains embellishments.
Other historical accuracies involve the fact that while Frank is intent on carrying out a plan of vengeance after learning about Jesse’s murder, he in fact was not directly involved in the killings of the Fords. What is true, however, is that the Fords did receive pardons by the governor, which is depicted in this film– something that no doubt did not sit well with Frank James or the people who sympathized with the plight of the James family. Of course, Frank would go to trial twice after he was forced out of hiding, and a jury of his peers exonerated him both times.
For the sake of an engaging on-screen drama, the scenarist has Frank leave the rural spread where he’s been living in Missouri and travel to Denver where the Fords are said to be. Cooper’s character, named Clem, accompanies him. To get the money for the trip, Frank again commits robbery, holding up a train station office. This part seems like a deliberate rehash of the original movie, to create a series of ‘adventures’ for Frank and Clem. Obviously, the male bonding between these two men is meant to evoke the bonding between Frank and Jesse.
Another death occurs, and a hefty reward is offered for Frank’s capture. However, Frank and Clem make it to Colorado, and in Denver, they meet a beautiful lady reporter (Gene Tierney in her debut). There are some interesting scenes that follow where Frank and Clem observe the Fords (John Carradine and Charles Tannen) performing in a stage play re-enactment of Jesse’s death. Amusingly this bit is very far-fetched, with Frank clearly disgusted by how the Fords have been capitalizing on his brother’s death. The sequence seems to be historically correct.
After the re-enactment, we have Frank follow Charlie Ford (Tannen) into the mountains for a showdown, while Bob Ford (Carradine) vanishes. The outdoor scenes, shot in Bishop California, are exciting to watch…culminating in Charlie’s death, slipping off a rocky cliff. It ends with Frank saying: ‘That’s one of them, Jesse.”
The film does a remarkable job of getting us to side with Frank, which is aided by Fonda’s sincere performance in the role. We are supposed to feel that he has been wronged all his life– he lost his family’s farm; he lost his mother; and he lost his brother. Everything Frank deals with is an exaggerated injustice.
When Pinky is sentenced to hang back in Missouri, Frank must go back to help… even if this means turning himself in and forgetting about going after Bob.
I think the reason Cooper’s character was added to the mix is fairly obvious. For he is the one who ends up killing Bob Ford, after Frank is acquitted. This plot device takes Bob’s murder out of Frank’s hands, so he can start life anew. At the same time Cooper is conveniently shot and dies for his trouble to satisfy production code requirements.
While not as exciting as the first hit film, this sequel still has a lot of energy and it did well with audiences. The real Frank James lived to age 72 and died in Missouri in 1915. He held jobs as a salesman, telegraph operator and a betting commissioner. Fittingly, he spent his last years back at the old James homestead, where he showed tourists around.
***
Jlewis:
THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES is not quite as good as JESSE JAMES but it is fascinating nonetheless. The legendary Fritz Lang is in the director’s chair and bringing his unique style, this time in full Technicolor (his first, but his second would be soon after: WESTERN UNION). Henry Fonda had little to do in the previous film apart from spitting tobacco and looking tough, but is now the star.
Gene Tierney makes her debut and several others repeat their roles from JESSE: Henry Hull, Donald Meek, J. Edward Bromberg, Ernest Whitman, Gene Chandler and Charles Tannen. Although not all are prominent in the two films, it isn’t often that all cast members are successfully retained in sequels.
We open with a repeat sequence of what happened to JESSE JAMES, the outlaw adjusting his picture frame on the wall and getting shot from the window. The newspaper is hardly subtle in its love affair with the outlaw, stating “Jesse James killed by Ford Brothers! Shot in the back by men he had befriended,” followed by “Good Bye, Jesse…traitor’s bullet puts an end to career of world’s most noted bandit.”
Meanwhile, brother Frank (Fonda) has disappeared and is “thought to be dead” but is merely laying low as a farmer with Pinky assisting.
Unfortunately, Ernest Whitman plays more of the black servant role in this film than he did in the previous one. It is discomforting seeing the usual liberal leaning Fonda on film scolding the other for forgetting his hiding-in-disguise name, even if done somewhat kind-heartedly.
Former child star Jackie Cooper, now almost 18, plays Clem who gives Frank news of brother Jesse’s death. These two have an interesting bro-buddy relationship that is open to interesting interpretations today, with the “daddy” being overly protective of the young buck and naturally disliking his joining him in his crime life for safety sake. We also learn that the Fords are actually charged for killing Jesse despite the bounty on his head but are later pardoned, as Frank reads in another newspaper account. Frank gets angry, leading us into a story of revenge.
Meanwhile we see the newspaper relation to Jesse, Major Rufus (Henry Hull), at odds with the Fords (primarily John Carradine and Charles Tannen are focused on here). His flowery appraisal of Jesse in death and call for the Fords to be punished in his viral printing press is not taken too kindly by the recently pardoned-by-the-governor brothers. Rufus is the first to see the still hiding Frank when he returns, telling him that RR tycoon McCoy (Donald Meek) set up the pardon.
Again, the color cinematography is excellent with George Barnes retained from the previous film. As typical of 20th Century-Fox color films, there are plenty of night-time scenes and it is obvious that the filter system is being employed here a.k.a. scenes that were shot in broad day light but altered with faces in shadow and making the viewer think every night on screen involves a full moon.
We get more blue outfits on display, as in JESSE JAMES, but with a slightly stronger emphasis on browns and pinks due to Fritz Lang having an influence in using color as a way of expressing psychology of the characters. The calmer, self-assured figures tend to be in blue while somebody more unhinged like McCoy (unusual for Donald Meek characters), who is eager to kill off Frank like Jesse, is presented in brighter tan sports-coats.
Of course, much of this story cannot be taken as a documentary biopic, being pure Hollywood hokum. So much is altered from the real facts, the most obvious being that the real Frank had surrendered much sooner than as depicted on screen. Also this is not a film that Mr. and Mrs. Brady (whom I referenced with JESSE JAMES) would approve of since the outlaw is presented a little TOO favorably and those on the law-abiding side are showcased as greedy and crooked. George Runyan is McCoy’s second in command and J. Edward Bromberg milks this role for all its worth with a sleazy slime.
Gene Tierney is our kinda-sorta love interest, Eleonor Stone, but great care is placed in not building up a relationship and showing her and Frank separating before his final move out west, perhaps since the real Frank’s widow was still alive at the time and could have pressed charges against the studio. Eleonor is a lady newspaper reporter, something that was unusual for the 1880s and Frank is mighty surprised himself.
This film is slightly ahead of its time with this feminist angle if also still concurrent to HIS GIRL FRIDAY, the Superman comics and others of the kind that made women in journalism more commonplace in popular culture. She is also a well-to-do society daughter whose family (Lloyd Corrigan plays big daddy Randolph) does not approve of a working lady with ambition.
Less forward is the presentation of black characters, but at least we get plenty of “representation” on screen. Besides Whitman, there are several bit roles of interest such as Lillian Yarbo, Hatie Noel and a teenage Stymie Beard who, like Jackie Cooper, was featured in the Hal Roach’s “Our Gang” series a full decade before.
As was typical in vintage 1940 movies, but also the 1880s settings well, they must all speak to their white superiors as “sir,” “yes ma’am” and “missy” but are addressed on a first name basis. However Pinky’s situation is an important part of the story: he is saved by Frank and Eleanor from an unjust hanging and this story point must have emotionally impacted actor Henry Fonda who witnessed one himself in reality as a youth.
The story goes into high gear when the Ford brothers appear in an unintentionally funny stage play that ramps up their role as killers-of-the-notorious-James-brothers. The elder Ford (Carradine) looks up from the stage to see…lo and behold…Frank watching him from the balcony seat. This results in more gun fights in Rocky Mountain terrain as we gradually move to Colorado, all looking mighty pretty with filming taking place in the springtime with snow still visible in the highlands of Mammoth Lakes, California.
When Frank eventually decides to return to Missouri to save the life of Pinky, we get the standard courtroom scenes with Major Rufus defending him and Russell Hicks as the prosecutor. He is judged “not guilty” and this prompts a final showdown with Bob Ford, entering the courtroom himself, that has a tragic consequence on Clem (hardly subtle in his death scene) and Bob finally getting his revenge death.
Although highly enjoyable, the acting is rather bloated with several actors (not Fonda or Tierney) hamming it up. This is especially true with the courtroom scenes that are dragged out longer than necessary. The former film had more of a you-are-there quality about it that seemed historically convincing even though it too took many liberties with the facts. I sense that Fox was forced to make a sequel since JESSE JAMES was a box office smash and wasn’t terribly enthusiastic this time around, but at least decided to use a master director, the legendary Lang, to great advantage and, to his credit, the results are far better than might have been expected.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 19, 2022 18:27:47 GMT
Essential: FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950)
TopBilled:
 This MGM film represents the beginning of Hollywood’s transitional phase to television. While benefitting from a major studio’s high-gloss treatment, FATHER OF THE BRIDE is nothing more than a dressed-up sitcom. The plot could just as easily be something featured on a weekly radio comedy, or a recent episode of a popular TV comedy.
Yes, the performances are nicely polished, and the whole look of the thing indicates it’s the product of a master craftsman– in this case, director Vincente Minnelli. But it is still rather pedestrian, hardly cinematic…except for that Dali-inspired nightmare sequence which curiously feels like it belongs in a European arthouse picture.
One doesn’t have to wonder which one of Metro’s top execs decided to green-light this project. For it does not seem like something pushed down the assembly line by Dore Schary. He was too busy making respectable think pieces like BATTLEGROUND, INTRUDER IN THE DUST and THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR… This is clearly Louis B. Mayer’s baby. Its stock in trade is a warm and fuzzy comedy-drama that clings to the values of hearth and home.
Not surprisingly, FATHER OF THE BRIDE and its hit sequel FATHER’S LITTLE DIVIDEND were quite popular when broadcast on television. In fact these two flicks have been favorites of conservative audiences, enjoyed decade after decade alongside one of MGM’s other glorified movie sitcoms, THE LONG LONG TRAILER (also directed by Mr. Minnelli).
The casting is worth noting. Instead of Spencer Tracy’s frequent screen partner Katharine Hepburn, Mother of the Bride is played by Joan Bennett. Supposedly this was at Mr. Tracy’s insistence. When they were Fox contract players in the early 1930s Tracy and Bennett made two films together.
One of them, ME AND MY GAL (1932) was a personal favorite of the actor. He was eager to work with Miss Bennett again.
He felt that although the names were different, the characters in FATHER OF THE BRIDE were basically the same characters he and Bennett had played 18 years earlier, only they were now dealing with domestic trifles a generation later. So in that regard, FATHER OF THE BRIDE is a pseudo-sequel to an earlier picture at a different studio.
Since this production did so well, MGM was quick to order another installment. Part of its success, of course, is due to Elizabeth Taylor’s winning presence as the daughter headed down the aisle. Miss Taylor had recently graduated from childhood parts to her first adult role in the espionage thriller CONSPIRATOR, which was not a hit. But this film made her a bonafide star.
***
Jlewis:
I’ve seen this a few times since my teen years, initially on television, but never considered it among my favorite Elizabeth Taylor flicks. It is enjoyable in many respects and quite important in regards to her filmography since, off screen, she married the wealthy heir Conrad Hilton Jr. on May 6, 1950 just prior to its release. Add to this the publicity of Helen Rose designing Liz’s wedding gowns both on and off screen and it is easy to understand why FATHER OF THE BRIDE was a huge hit at the box-office.
This resulted in MGM hastily putting into production a sequel, FATHER’S LITTLE DIVIDEND (which we will get to next week), that unfortunately wasn’t done hastily enough. That one reached theaters after Liz and Conrad divorced and failed to produce any “dividends” of their own. Liz would try seven more times, which makes the onscreen wedding between her Kay and Don Taylor’s Buckley Dunstan all the more curious to watch.
Then again, this story is not so much about them but about Spencer Tracy’s Stanley Banks, the title character, who narrates his saga much like Pete Smith and Robert Benchley did in their various one-reel MGM short subjects a decade earlier.
In fact, a few jokes and sly commentary feel suspiciously borrowed from one of Pete’s one-reelers, WEDDING BILLS (1940), despite MGM paying some $100,000 for the rights to Edward Streeter’s differing source material. Overall, this story could have been done in under twenty minutes rather than an hour and a half, not that it lacks entertainment appeal.
Enter director Vincente Minnelli. He choreographs this much like his classic Arthur Freed produced musicals (but done in black and white) and makes sure cameraman John Alton frames Liz in the same loving fashion as Judy Garland in previous Minnelli films. Also enter Cedric Gibbons and Leonid Vasian to spruce up the production design and…wallah! You have a mighty impressive production that is far better than the skimpy story-line would suggest.
Spencer Tracy ultimately pulls it all off and keeps you entertained throughout the running time with his engaging psychological examinations of himself and those around him. I love his verbal wordplay, especially in the scene when he tries to con his daughter into eloping in order to save him a lot of money and then, in a remarkable twist, pretending he never suggested such a thing in front of mother-of-the-bride Ellie (Joan Bennett) when Kay suggests it herself.
He also engages in a little more slapstick than he did in ADAM’S RIB, with such amusing moments as the Coca-Cola bottle explosions in the kitchen and the wonderful nightmare sequence involving his feet stuck under the tiles of the church, shocking all spectators at The Glorious Event.
Perhaps his most Robert Benchley-esque moment is when he tries to impress the groom’s parents, the Dudsons as played by the often daffy Billie Burke and the more tranquil Moroni Olsen, by dictating his entire history with his daughter over too many martinis and promptly collapsing the moment the others decide to discuss Buckley as a child. This echoes an earlier scene when he attempts to cross examine Buckley but spends too much time discussing himself and, as a result, his future son-in-law doesn’t have to talk at all.
Jack Benny initially wanted to play Stanley and he would have been especially good in such scenes that focus on Me-Me-Me, but I still feel Tracy was the best choice in the end regardless. If Tracy may lack the sarcastic wit of a Benny style comic, he makes up for it in the sincerity of his facial expressions. Even if the melodrama in the final reel about his not getting a goodbye kiss from his daughter may be much-to-do-about-nothing, we still relate to his happiness when that surprise phone call arrives from the train station because Tracy literally expresses his heart on his sleeve.
As much as I would rather compare and contrast this film to GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, with Tracy in another father-of-the-bride role (his final role completed just before his death and also made at the time the Loving v. Virginia case made interracial marriage legal across the country…wedding bills are NOT the major concern in that film), I guess any discussion of FATHER OF THE BRIDE must include a few comments on Steve Martin’s starring remake put out by Disney-Touchstone in 1991.
Even though the later film is not quite as good overall as the original and Martin is way too grumpy for my comfort, there is no denying that Martin Short’s hilariously flamboyant role as the wedding planner outpaces Leo G. Caroll (better in Hitchcock films) as Mr. Massoula in the 1950 version by an additional 60 miles an hour.
There are several familiar faces in the supporting cast, but special attention must go to one of the two sons in the Banks family. Tom Irish as Ben doesn’t do much on screen and may not be a household name today, but most average vintage movie fans will recognize an awkward and skinny looking Rusty “Russ” Tamblyn long before his PEYTON PLACE and WEST SIDE STORY stardom.
He is one of the primary cast members who is still with us at the time I am writing this review and was already a pretty busy actor at that time with small parts in previous hits like THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR, SAMSON AND DELILAH and GUN CRAZY.
Nostalgia for the time period helps the appeal of FATHER OF THE BRIDE for modern viewers, reflecting that post war period of American prosperity and optimism for happily ever after outcomes. Most average citizens back then could not afford a beautiful home like either the Banks’ or the Dunstans’ home, complete with housekeepers. Not that it matters anyway. MGM always provided escapism in its entertainment and moviegoers certainly needed it during those uneasy Cold War months leading up to the conflict overseas in Korea.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 19, 2022 20:33:00 GMT
⇧ That is an incredible write-up with a lot of cool background and insight. I wrote the below last year and humbly post it here, but encourage everyone to read Topbill's comments above if you are only going to read one.
Father of the Bride from 1950 with Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett and Leo G. Carroll
Father of the Bride is fluff that shamelessly plays to cliches and emotions, but if you're in the right mood, an A-list cast, fast-paced directing by Vincent Minnelli and a serviceable script moves it along seamlessly and entertainingly.
Spencer Tracy is the typical 1950s upper-middle-class father who's kinda clueless as to what's really going on with his kids. He is shocked into focus when daughter Elizabeth Taylor (the young, lithe version before hard living intervened in the next decade) casually announces she's engaged to a boy the family hardly knows.
From here, the script all but writes itself. After initial elation mixed with a little "what do we know about this boy" concern - mollified by meeting his family, who is exactly like Tracy's family - it's full speed ahead to the wedding planning.
Tracy assumes it will be a small, simple wedding. Hah! While daughter Taylor seems okay with this, mother Joan Bennett, who is still smarting a bit from her no-frills Justice-of-the-Peace elopement to Tracy twenty-plus years ago, is having none of this "small-wedding nonsense."
Now it's all Tracy worrying about the cost, Bennett ordering every wedding adornment under the sun, Taylor pinging back and forth between excitement and despair, upset either by her parents' bickering over the cost or some minor kerfuffle with her fiance.
Right on schedule, Tracy meets the snooty caterer/wedding planner, wonderfully played by Leo G. Carroll, who condescendingly explains why every cost save Tracy suggests is, yes, doable, if you want "that" kind of affair.
Shamelessly playing to all the over-priced wedding tropes, Tracy sees dollar signs next to every discussion or appearance of dresses, bridesmaid's gifts, champagne orders, guest lists, chauffeured cars, orchestras, invitations and on and on.
There's even the last-minute pre-wedding bride and groom fight with the heartwarming moment of Dad consoling his daughter (paraphrasing): "forget the cost, if you don't want to go through with this, Dad will make it all okay." But naturally, they do go through with it and, other than a few Hollywood-forced pratfalls, all goes well on wedding day.
Father of the Bride is one cliche after another, but it also works in a silly-movie way mostly because Tracy knows his role here - bluster a bit on the surface, but have a heart of gold underneath. If you do see it, look for the scene where he basically tries to pay his daughter off to elope and, then, shifts the blame for that idea to daughter Taylor when his wife catches wind of it. A husband's gotta do, what a husband's gotta do.
N.B. Father of the Bride is lighthearted fun about a family that can afford to waste money on a fancy wedding even if "Pops" doesn't want to. For a serious look at a family being, literally, torn apart over paying for a wedding it can't afford, see 1956's A Catered Affair. It's Father of the Bride's real-world working-class cognate, and a much better movie.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 19, 2022 21:03:33 GMT
Thank you Fading Fast for sharing your review. I was reminded of a big family that occurred when I was a teenager. My father is the oldest of nine...and his youngest sister (my aunt who is only seven years older than me) was getting married one summer, and it was a h-u-g-e production.
In our family, my grandmother was the one who controlled the finances. And she was struggling between going along with everything my aunt wanted, and how much it would put her into the poorhouse. At one point, they had a huge fight and my aunt and her fiance threatened to elope...which of course my grandmother didn't want, because she was a bigwig and all sorts of important people in the county were invited to the wedding and the reception. They had a big show to put on, and elopement was totally out of the question!
Getting back to movies, I agree that THE CATERED AFFAIR is actually a better examination of the subject with a stronger script.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 26, 2022 7:49:07 GMT
Essential: FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND (1951)TopBilled:
 FATHER OF THE BRIDE was released ten months before it paid a DIVIDEND. The sequel is supposed to take place a year later. Spencer Tracy’s character Stanley Banks tells the viewer that he had just gotten over paying for his daughter’s expensive. Life was getting back to normal, before the boom was lowered on him again.
Daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and her husband Buckley (Don Taylor) announce they are expecting a child. Of course Stanley realizes babies don’t come cheap, and he starts thinking about how much this will cost. Meanwhile, wife Ellie (Joan Bennett) is more preoccupied with giving their first grandchild everything it could possibly need.
One of the initial conflicts– the size of the newlyweds’ apartment and how they will need more room to raise a child. Buckley’s parents (Moroni Olsen & Billie Burke) plan to build an additional wing on to their home to accommodate the growing family, but the young couple just made a down payment on a new place of their own.
The new home is soon completed, and Kay and Buckley to move into it. Did every young couple back then have children immediately? Was the sole purpose of a wife to start playing homemaker and mother hen while she was still technically a bride..?
What I do like about this picture is how clearly defined the main characters are. Yes, Kay’s brothers have minimal screen time; and Buckley’s folks are clearly supporting the plot instead of driving it. But everyone’s motivations are firmly established. Plus we get to see Kay mature and bond with her parents in a new way this time around.
Issues are quickly exaggerated. They argue quite easily, which reflects how some families are…especially when one set of in-laws compete with the other set. That adds to the chaos and fun, since this is meant to depict comedic aspects of marriage and parenthood. I mentioned in my review of the original film that it plays like a TV sitcom, and interestingly, MGM did turn this property into a sitcom in the early 1960s, starring Leon Ames and Ruth Warrick.
FATHER’S LITTLE DIVIDEND (the word ‘dividend’ referencing the new offspring) is not an overly deep thesis or meditation on domestic calamities. But there are some moments of truth that come out in the dialogue.
The screenwriters have devised a series of miscommunications and add-on scenarios intended to get laughs. Not all of these comedy cliches work. For instance, I didn’t really find it funny when Ellie Banks drove like mad en route to the hospital, because they thought the baby was about to be born. I asked myself, why did the writers give this bit to Joan Bennett instead of Spencer Tracy to play? Then it dawned on me– it was done this way to emphasize the stereotype of crazy women drivers.
Speaking of gender distinctions, why did the baby have to be a boy? Why not a girl? I suppose the reason is because we need to see Grandpa Stanley bond with a grandson. Also, to ensure that patriarchal wisdom will be passed down from the oldest male to the youngest one within the same nuclear family. The writers wanted the infant named after Stanley, so the baptismal scene at the end had an extra layer of meaning.
Off screen Liz Taylor had just gone through her first divorce. She would soon marry actor Michael Wilding, and give birth to a son. Her role in FATHER’S LITTLE DIVIDEND was good preparation.
Here’s a photo of the actress with Michael Wilding Jr.
***
Jlewis:
Within four months after the release of FATHER OF THE BRIDE, the sequel was rushed into production and the rush is pretty obvious on screen. To be fair, it is likely comparable to the Steve Martin semi-remake FATHER OF THE BRIDE, PART II which took its own sweet time (four years) to follow its own preceding FATHER OF THE BRIDE (although that one has a plot twist of two “dividends” involved and the father-of-the-bride becoming both grandfather and a new father at the same time).
On the plus side, it sports all of the same stars as the former (Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett, Don Taylor & others) and even director Vincente Minneli, who took some time out from the lengthy shoot of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and got this in the can in a month and a half (I think).
Although the results were somewhat favorably reviewed by critics at the time (maybe less so by more modern film fanatics who have seen this kind of fluff too often before) and was okay box-office, there might have been some fall-out due to star Elizabeth Taylor divorcing her first husband, Conrad “Nicky” Hilton Junior, shortly before its premiere and, thus, disrupting the illusion on screen of marital bliss.
As mentioned, the “dividend” is a grandchild from the marriage we saw previously. The hijinks involving the little boy’s arrival is typical of most post-1950s sitcoms made for the small screen and pre-1950s 2-reel comedies made for the larger ones (cars not getting to the hospital fast enough, false alarms, daddies getting intoxicated, etc.).
Baby showers replace wedding parties as overblown affairs with too many guests involved. Both the Banks and Dunstans (Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen are back!) join together in providing the funds for better housing and, while both expecting parents Kay and Buckley certainly appreciate it all, Kay has her moments of pre-motherhood stress.
Much of the fun comes in the final reel when Stanley is playing babysitter since we are traditionally not used to seeing Spencer Tracy in such roles. There is also a nice cliffhanger when grandpa neglects junior in the park by playing ball with a bunch of youngsters and both winding up at police headquarters.
All is well in the end with the big baptism in a church (aimed more for the conservative, religious viewers but it was the common tradition of the time). I must admit that I was disappointed in not seeing more scenes with Tracy and junior together because, again, this showcases a side we don’t often see with this actor on screen.
Both this and the preceding film suggest (being particularly spelled out in the trailers for this one) that the Banks household is your “average” household.
Once again, I must respond with an “um…not quite.” Maybe by Beverly Hills standards. The mansion they live in must cost a bundle even at the dawn of the fifties and, of course, they have a housekeeper. Hollywood films are pure fantasy and must be judged accordingly, but many people around the world see these and often have a very distorted view of the “average” United States family as a result.
Joan Bennett’s performance is better here than in the previous film, giving her hubbie pep talks since she genuinely loves her somewhat restricted wifely role. After all, she also has Delilah helping to clean up the messes and do all of the cooking. (Poor gal only has one line in the film here.)
However, I might advise the Banks to seek a marriage counselor or, better yet, a sex therapist since Stanley clearly has urges not being satisfied and, despite being a gentleman and not forcing anything, Ellie is expressing far more affection towards the affairs of her daughter than to her own husband at times, even avoiding his kisses. Those separate beds are becoming quite the obstacle here, but that bigger bed Stanley uses in the guest room looks rather inviting despite all of the frills getting in his head.
One aspect I like in many older films reflecting the earlier generations is that there weren’t nearly as many qualms as today about children moving back in with their parents after marriage or at least until they can become financially independent. After all, the Great Depression and war years pretty much forced families to pull it through together whether they liked it or not.
Although it is not entirely true in reality, much of the TV and online entertainment of today utilizes the narrative of parents being required to push the nestlings out of the nest the moment they reach 18 and, after they themselves start to struggle in caring for themselves, then being shuffled off to nursing homes. In Europe and some Asian countries, the situation is a bit different with more families staying closer as units regardless of the ages.
As interesting as FATHER’S LITTLE DIVIDEND is as an artifact time-capsule and, given that MGM lost it to public domain, it is more frequently viewed than other titles, I do consider it a trifle dull as a comedy. Yet Tracy is still Tracy and remains the heart of the entertainment. That makes it worth a diverting view.
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