Father's Little Dividend (1951)

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

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

Release Date:

27 April 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

In this sequel to Father of the Bride (1950), newly married Kay Dunstan announces that she and her husband are going to have a baby, leaving her father having to come to grips with the fact that he will soon be a granddad.

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Marriage | Male Female Relationship | Parenthood | Grandfather Grandson Relationship

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Stanley Banks
Joan Bennett	...	Ellie Banks
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Kay Dunstan
Don Taylor	...	Buckley Dunstan
Billie Burke	...	Doris Dunstan
Moroni Olsen	...	Herbert Dunstan
Richard Rober	...	Police sergeant
Marietta Canty	...	Delilah (Banks' maid)
Russ Tamblyn	...	Tommy Banks (as Rusty Tamblyn)
Tom Irish	...	Ben Banks
Hayden Rorke	...	Dr. Andrew Nordell
Paul Harvey	...	Rev. Galsworthy

Also Known As:

Laugh Track: Father's Little Dividend (USA) (video title (redubbed comic version))

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Canada:G (Ontario) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This is one of a handful of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions of the 1950-1951 period whose original copyrights were never renewed and are now apparently in Public Domain; for this reason this title is now offered, often in very inferior copies, at bargain prices, by numerous VHS and DVD distributors who do not normally handle copyrighted or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer material.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The baby is christened 'Stanley Banks' but should have been christened 'Stanley Dunstan' or 'Stanley Banks Dunstan'.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Father of the Bride Part II (1995)

charming family picture

A befuddled Spencer Tracy and a scatty Joan Bennett find out they are to become grandparents in this charming sequel to 'Father of the Bride'. Although the original film was better, this is a funny, warm, and worthy follow-up.

Elizabeth Taylor again appears as daughter Kay, looking beautiful and radiant. Husband Buckley (the slightly wooden Don Taylor) struggles to cope with his pregnant wife's mood swings, while the in-laws (Moroni Olsen as the pompous ex-Harvard father-in-law, Billie Burke as the twittery mother-in-law) almost come to blows before baby has even arrived.

The star performance in this film is, as ever, Tracy, as he comes to terms with his little girl growing away from him, with his life 'slipping away' with the arrival of the new baby, with his resentment of the rich in-laws. It's a winning performance, and his scenes with Bennett and with Taylor are pure gold.