- Dearly Beloved.....Another "classic" that I had not seen in years and I could only remember the inspired and hilarious dream sequence where Spencer Tracy tries desperately to get down a fun house of an aisle to get to the alter while his daughter the bride and attendees look on in horror. This one sequence brings the audience out of a rather normal and traditional looking world and right into the noir for a moment before bringing us gently back to suburbia again. I also love the "slice of life" (as filtered through Hollywood's eye) approach to the film. By this I mean that it's rather fun to see what a modern middle class suburban family and home was like in the late 1940s to the early 1950s (servants and all). I loved seeing lovely Elizabeth Taylor dressed in rolled up blue jeans and a flannel shirt and kerchief, (That woman could wear a potato sack and look elegant) and calling Tracy "Pop" in her genuinely affection tone. The entire cast of characters is great with seasoned professionals like Billie Burke and Leo G. Carroll to name just a couple. But Tracy alone is the anchor to this piece, bringing a rye wit and quiet sense of dignity and patience to the whole mess, even when surrounded by the aftermath of the wedding in what looks like a bombed out city complete with with crepe paper. The whole film has such a sweet, satisfying quality that I think, in the hands of a lesser man than director, might have fallen flat. But Minnelli pulls it off brilliantly, balancing charm, sentimentality, humor and even fantasy with just the right touch. And, as others have mentioned in other opinions posted here, it is difficult to compare the original here with later remakes. I do like Steve Martin very much, but there is really nothing to compare next to Spencer Tracy and the subtle expertise of the folks at MGM, circa 1950
Rating:
- One Wedding You Definitely Want to AttendUnlike some previous reviewers, I have to say that I think that the original "Father of the Bride" has stood the test of time and I found it to be just as enjoyable, if not more so, in some cases, as the Steve Martin remake.
Spencer Tracy stars as Stanley Banks, an attorney happily married to his wife Ellie (Joan Bennett), with three children and a lovely house. His only daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) drops a bombshell on Stanley and Ellie one evening by announcing that she is getting married to someone named Buckley (Don Taylor). From that moment on, the Banks family's life is turned topsy-turvy by the upcoming wedding.
I found Spencer Tracy's performance to be very genuine. I didn't see him as being so consumed by the cost of the wedding (although what father doesn't worry about the financial bottom line?) that who his daughter was marrying was secondary. I found his performance reflected the shock and sadness over losing his daughter to Mr. Right and the confusion over getting lost in the wedding shuffle, as most fathers of the bride do.
The engagement party, where Stanley is left to tend the kitchen, thereby missing the entirety of the party and the excitement showcases this fact perfectly. Again, Stanley is left out after the ceremony, when he wants to kiss the bride and cannot seem to get to her.
Joan Bennett is wonderfully cast as Ellie, rivaling Myrna Loy as the perfect cinematic mother.
Elizabeth Taylor is lovely as the bride to be and although her big fight with Buckley over where they will honeymoon is a bit farfetched (would they really break up over their vacation destination? - - and if they would, wouldn't that signal much larger problems?), her wide-eyed innocence and concern for her father during this time is touching.
Interestingly enough, Taylor wore her wedding dress in this film to her actual first wedding to Nicky Hilton, at the time this movie premiered (and was divorcing him by the time they began filming the sequel).
This film isn't necessarily Oscar material, but it's a wonderful cinematic collection of some Hollywood greats on film (Tracy, Bennett, Taylor, Billie Burke as the groom's mother) and a definite feel good film for the whole family.
RSVP to this one.
Rating:
- Listen! I don't care if you come or not!I am not afraid to stand on my little soapbox and say that typically I find that originals are enormously better than any remake could ever dream to be. When creating a remake, one can never seem to find that perfect balance that was found in the original. The characters, the unique situations, and the overall charm seem to be thrown out the window in luau of big box office names, CGI, and overdrawn clichés. We all complain about them when we leave the theater and snicker when we see it. Well, I am here to say that finally, I have been proved wrong. The 1950s version of Father of the Bride was a far inferior version to the recent Steve Martin remake. Yes, you have heard it here first, but the Spencer Tracy/Elizabeth Taylor version lacked the humor, wit, and realism of insanity that the remake had. Tracy seemed like a distant father, not caring much about his actual daughter, but more about the expense of the wedding. Joan Bennett was nothing more than an emotionless cardboard wife that seemed to be harboring a disturbing hatred towards her present life. Elizabeth Taylor was a rich snob that was used to draw in audiences by using the classic "eye candy" trick. The story, the characters, the actors, the "dated" sensation of this film only confused me further on how this version of Father of the Bride could ever be considered a "classic".
I do not want to use this forum to compare this version to the Steve Martin version, but there were obvious problems with this film from the beginning. The complete lack of excitement from either parent when Taylor announces that she is getting married (and did anyone find that scene entirely random?) shocked me. Even though we live in a completely different era, shouldn't there have been at least some reaction from Bennett and Tracy? Tracy tried hard to convey the idea that he was worried about loosing his "little girl", but what I witnessed instead was an issue of money. You could read in Steve Martin's eyes that he loved his little girl, and his focus was making sure that she wasn't marrying the wrong man. This older version of Father of the Bride has a central theme that revolves around money. Everything that happens in this film eventually leads back to Tracy complaining about how much money they are spending. I was surprised because I wanted to see Tracy react to who Taylor was marrying, not how much he had to spend to make her happy. It seemed to debunk the entire film and place this negative image on the entire marriage/event. The scene where Tracy asks Taylor to just run away and get married for $1200 was idiotic. This only solidified the randomness of the film and how Tracy had trouble grasping the true meaning of the picture.
When the centralized theme is completely destroyed, one can only guess that a domino effect will occur which will hurt other avenues of this film. That is why the acting was so atrocious. Tracy showed no emotion about his daughter getting married. From the moment she informs the family of her decision until the final anti-climax climax when he shuffles around to find her, he never really opens himself up to her. That is what I needed to see between Tracy and Taylor, one of those father/daughter-bonding moments. Director Minnelli tried with the "late night snack" scene later in the film, but by that point I had lost it with Tracy. The same can be said for Joan Bennett, who literally went through every scene without a smile or a hint of emotion. I felt as if Tracy and Bennett were the epitome of a waspy family whose main concern was money instead of emotion. Could we get some passion into anyone in this film? Hugging seemed to be the most valued way of demonstrating love, and while I realize that cinema was different then, did it have to be so unrealistic? I hated Tracy and Bennett's portrayal of husband and wife, which eventually turned me away from ever seeing them as an actual family, which only hurt this film further.
Finally, I would like to say that there was one scene that I did enjoy and if the entire film would have had the same creativity then perhaps it could have redeemed itself. I loved the dream sequence that Tracy had about walking down the isle. I though that it was reminiscent of director Tim Burton's early work. The black and white stripes gobbling up Tracy was perhaps a bit of an excited moment for me because it was something I was hoping for. Some evil floor devouring this mismatched actor. Alas, it was only a dream, but can't we all dream? There was more scenes like this needed to really demonstrate the fears (outside of monetary issues) of loosing a daughter and the insanity of a marriage. There wasn't, which again, hurt this film further.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this film as much as I was hoping. I had always heard that this was a better version than the remake with Steve Martin, but upon watching it I found out it was not. This was a very unemotional, unapologetic look at the financial side of getting married. Tracy cared more about the dollar amount that he was spending instead of the interest of his own daughter. It was pathetic. There were a total of two decent scenes in the entire film (Tracy getting eaten by the floor and when he gets plowed at the in-law's house), but outside of that it was nothing but shambles. It hurt to watch this film because you knew it could have been better. With physical comedy, better actors, and a stronger emphasis on the true themes of the film, Father of the Bride may have been a winner.
Grade: ** out of *****
Rating:
- Has not stood up well over timeViewers who have fond memories of America of the 1950s may find this film amusing. Others will find it dated and wonder how anyone could have ever enjoyed it.
The problem is one of values. Spencer Tracy plays a upper middle class lawyer, whose innocent daughter Elizabeth Taylor (somehow even a young Liz fails to cut it as as an ingénue) announces one day that she has decided to marry Buckley Somebody. (Here, as in life, the groom is a cipher. It is telling that a no-name actor plays Buckley).
At first Dad is concerned that Liz will be marrying a pauper, but not to worry, Buckley's family turns out to be rich -- in addition to having a larger house, they have a white maid, while Liz's family only has Delilah, a black maid! Good stuff.
The most interesting aspect of the film is its depiction of 1950s "sophistication": Mom and Dad sleeping in separate beds in pressed nightclothes that leave everything to the imagination, the heavy drinking of hard liquor (Tracy comes across as an alcoholic, but a "loveable" one), and a formal wedding meant to generate lots of presents and impress the business associates of the parents.
All in all, a thoroughly depressing film.
If you do decide to buy it, try to get the original black & white version, not the more recent "colorized" one which adds an unintended level of vulgarity to the film.
Rating:
- a great movieI picked this movie up a few months ago. When it first came out, a few years before, I waited because some of the reviews stated it wasn't rendered to dvd very well.I wish I hadn't waited, this is a great movie ! and may I add that it looks silky and smooth in black and white, a very clean transfer.Anyone whos been in a wedding can identify with this,its now my ten year old daughters favorite movie,and i'm glad she can see some real acting from the likes of Spencer Tracy and joan bennet...another great job Warner Bros!