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Father of the Bride (1950)
Sparkling direction by Vincente Minnelli and a terrific performance from Spencer Tracy in the title role make the 1950 version of Father of the Bride appointment viewing, even after all these years.
Tracy plays Stanley T. Banks, a partner in a law firm who is complete denial about the fact that his daughter, Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) has gotten engaged to a guy who "makes things" named Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor, no relation to Elizabeth) and now Stanley and his devoted wife, Ellie (Joan Bennett) now finds themselves up to their necks and emptying their bank accounts in order to give their little girl the wedding of their dreams, if not necessarily hers.
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett have constructed a witty and engaging story that on the surface is an episodic look at a father going crazy trying to put together the perfect wedding for his daughter. But what is really going on here is a father trying to deal with the fact that his little girl is not a little girl anymore and that he is no longer going to be the only man in her life.
And it is watching this bewildered dad who feels like he's been reduced to nothing but a walking checkbook that makes this movie such a pleasure. Whether he's trying to get out of the kitchen to make a speech at the engagement party, dealing with the snooty caterer's demand that all his furniture has to be moved out of the house , or trying to navigate through the crowd at the reception to say goodbye to his daughter, we feel for Stanley and understand that all of this is still about losing his little girl.
Spencer Tracy gives a master class in comic acting here that actually earned him his fourth Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. It's the little moments that Tracy really nails...watch him during the scene where he and Kay can't sleep the night before the wedding or when he sees wife, Ellie coming downstairs the day of the wedding, which brings me to another thing that I liked that Minnelli and company did here...it crossed my mind that after making several successful films together, why wasn't Katharine Hepburn cast as Ellie, but then I remembered what the name of the movie was and thought that Hepburn might have taken too much focus off Tracy's character, who is really the central character here. I also loved a very funny nightmare sequence where Stanley thinks he has missed the wedding. And I can't think of a more underrated piece of physical comedy than when Stanley is trying to fit into his old tuxedo.
Don't get me wrong...Joan Bennett is enchanting as Ellie and never fades into the wallpaper here. And has there ever been a more beautiful movie bride than Elizabeth Taylor? Taylor actually gives a performance of substance here and she works beautifully with Tracy. Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen were fun as Buckley's parents and Leo G. Carroll had me on the floor as the prissy caterer, Carleton Carpenter can also be gimpsed in a bit as an ex of Kay's and as one of Buckley's groomsmen. And yes, that is a very young Russ Tamblyn playing Kay's kid brother. A warm and winning family comedy that inspired a sequel the following year called Father's Little Dividend and was remade in 1991 with Steve Martin.
Sparkling direction by Vincente Minnelli and a terrific performance from Spencer Tracy in the title role make the 1950 version of Father of the Bride appointment viewing, even after all these years.
Tracy plays Stanley T. Banks, a partner in a law firm who is complete denial about the fact that his daughter, Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) has gotten engaged to a guy who "makes things" named Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor, no relation to Elizabeth) and now Stanley and his devoted wife, Ellie (Joan Bennett) now finds themselves up to their necks and emptying their bank accounts in order to give their little girl the wedding of their dreams, if not necessarily hers.
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett have constructed a witty and engaging story that on the surface is an episodic look at a father going crazy trying to put together the perfect wedding for his daughter. But what is really going on here is a father trying to deal with the fact that his little girl is not a little girl anymore and that he is no longer going to be the only man in her life.
And it is watching this bewildered dad who feels like he's been reduced to nothing but a walking checkbook that makes this movie such a pleasure. Whether he's trying to get out of the kitchen to make a speech at the engagement party, dealing with the snooty caterer's demand that all his furniture has to be moved out of the house , or trying to navigate through the crowd at the reception to say goodbye to his daughter, we feel for Stanley and understand that all of this is still about losing his little girl.
Spencer Tracy gives a master class in comic acting here that actually earned him his fourth Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. It's the little moments that Tracy really nails...watch him during the scene where he and Kay can't sleep the night before the wedding or when he sees wife, Ellie coming downstairs the day of the wedding, which brings me to another thing that I liked that Minnelli and company did here...it crossed my mind that after making several successful films together, why wasn't Katharine Hepburn cast as Ellie, but then I remembered what the name of the movie was and thought that Hepburn might have taken too much focus off Tracy's character, who is really the central character here. I also loved a very funny nightmare sequence where Stanley thinks he has missed the wedding. And I can't think of a more underrated piece of physical comedy than when Stanley is trying to fit into his old tuxedo.
Don't get me wrong...Joan Bennett is enchanting as Ellie and never fades into the wallpaper here. And has there ever been a more beautiful movie bride than Elizabeth Taylor? Taylor actually gives a performance of substance here and she works beautifully with Tracy. Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen were fun as Buckley's parents and Leo G. Carroll had me on the floor as the prissy caterer, Carleton Carpenter can also be gimpsed in a bit as an ex of Kay's and as one of Buckley's groomsmen. And yes, that is a very young Russ Tamblyn playing Kay's kid brother. A warm and winning family comedy that inspired a sequel the following year called Father's Little Dividend and was remade in 1991 with Steve Martin.