Father of the Bride (1950)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Frances Goodrich (screenplay) and
Albert Hackett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 June 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

You're invited . . . to a hilarious wedding !

Plot:

A father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain of her getting married, and the financial and organizational pain of arranging her wedding.

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Marriage Engagement | Marriage | Chaos | Family Relationships

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Stanley T. Banks
Joan Bennett	...	Ellie Banks
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Katherine 'Kay' Banks
Don Taylor	...	Buckley Dunstan
Billie Burke	...	Doris Dunstan
Leo G. Carroll	...	Mr. Massoula
Moroni Olsen	...	Herbert Dunstan
Melville Cooper	...	Mr. Tringle
Taylor Holmes	...	Warner
Paul Harvey	...	Reverend A.I. Galsworthy
Frank Orth	...	Joe
Russ Tamblyn	...	Tommy Banks (as Rusty Tamblyn)
Tom Irish	...	Ben Banks
Marietta Canty	...	Delilah - the Maid

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Spain:13 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #14439) | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

All Saints' Episcopal Church - 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In the film, one of the gifts Kay gets as a present is a Venus de Milo statue with a clock in the stomach, which Spencer Tracy refers to as a "stinker". This same gift makes its' way into the 1991 re-make among the presents, and is still not received well.

Goofs:

Continuity: Early in the film in the scene where the Banks family are having a meal and talking about the forthcoming wedding the length of the candles on the table change from long, to short and back to long.

Quotes:

Stanley T. Banks: I would like to say a few words about weddings. I've just been through one. Not my own. My daughter's. Someday in the far future I may be able to remember it with tender indulgence, but not now. I always used to think that marriages were a simple affair...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Raging Bull (1980)

Tracy's Narration, Liz's Face Highlight This Better Version

For those who like a light comedy diversion, this was pretty good stuff. Spencer Tracy is excellent as a "father of the bride" and he gives us a good idea of what it's like to have a daughter married off. Of course, Hollywood exaggerates a bit, and not everyone's daughter looks like Elizabeth Taylor, but that's what made this fun and, I think, a hit movie.

It must have been a good story and pretty successful for a re-make to be made 40 years later, starring Steve Martin. I watched both versions and would select this one over the re- make. As in most cases, there were more values and family togetherness in the classic-era movies than what Hollywood usually shows today. Nothing against Martin, but it was too difficult trying to top Tracy's performance in here.

This version actually was honored quite a bit, up for a handful of Academy Awards including "Best Picture." I don't remember this movie being THAT good, but everyone's sense of humor is different. Also, not being a father it was hard for me to relate to the mom and dad's predicaments here. Tracy and Joan Bennett played the parents. However, married friends of mine who saw this movie all loved it.

Obviously, some of this is very dated and a little unrealistic. Any father who still sees his daughter as someone in pigtails and tomboyish when she looks like Taylor ain't paying attention! Then again, maybe all dads see their daughters as little girls, no matter what age.

We see something else employed in this film you don't see anymore: someone talking directly to the camera as Tracy does here. I kind of like that. Daffy Duck did that, with hilarious results. So did Groucho Mark. It made us, the audience, feel we were involved with wedding, too.

All in all, still a good film which holds up reasonably well if you can look at it as a farce, and a comment with weddings - something that will never change!