IMDb > Bells Are Ringing (1960)

Bells Are Ringing (1960) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   1,009 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Betty Comden (play)
Betty Comden (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Bells Are Ringing on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 June 1960 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Ella Peterson is a Brooklyn telephone answering service operator who tries to improve the lives of her... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
User Comments:
Happy Holliday more (24 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Judy Holliday ... Ella Peterson

Dean Martin ... Jeffrey Moss
Fred Clark ... Larry Hastings
Eddie Foy Jr. ... J. Otto Prantz

Jean Stapleton ... Sue
Ruth Storey ... Gwynne

Dort Clark ... Inspector Barnes

Frank Gorshin ... Blake Barton

Ralph Roberts ... Francis
Valerie Allen ... Olga
Bernard West ... Dr. Joe Kitchell, DDS (as Bernie West)
Steve Peck ... Gangster (as Steven Peck)
Gerry Mulligan ... Ella's blind date
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Additional Details

Runtime:
127 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli's last musical for MGM. more
Goofs:
Continuity: After she talks on the phone to Jeffrey Moss, Ella stands up from the switchboard and walks around the room singing. When she returns the switchboard has changed place. more
Quotes:
Ella: I'm going back where I can be me, at the Bonjour Tristese Brassiere Company! more
Movie Connections:
Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V) more
Soundtrack:
The Party's Over more

FAQ

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
Happy Holliday, 26 October 2000
Author: marcslope

Made late in the cycle of great MGM musicals, with the reliable producer-director combo of Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli, this is a fairly clunky adaptation of a Broadway hit. Despite some location filming, it looks stagebound, and the stylized playing and jerrybuilt musical-comedy plot look false as hell. Some excellent musical numbers from the original are badly truncated or left out entirely, and what's left is grotesquely over-orchestrated. One senses that Minnelli, in particular, didn't trust the material--look at how quickly he dispenses with the "Mu-Cha-Cha" number, seemingly embarrassed by its musical-comedy silliness--and the supporting cast seems to be playing to the second balcony.

That's the bad news; now we get, thank heaven, to Judy Holliday. Having played this part on Broadway for two years and toured with it longer, she looks amazingly spontaneous. Given her health problems at the time, she looks happy and healthy. And while we can't expect to experience her legendary warmth and charisma as stage audiences did, it's an incomparable performance. Every reaction, every inflection, every seemingly improvised movement rings true and lends depth and poignancy to a paper-thin character traipsing around in a contrived plot. What a lesson for any young actor in transforming everyday material into something memorable. My favorite moment comes early, when she's reclining on a sofa and looks up dreamily and starts singing, a capella and with perfect naturalism, "I'm in love..." I'm in love, too, Judy. We miss you.

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Does anyone else like "Bells are Ringing"? babybear0ers
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The tall guy iwith sunglasses in the crowded street-crossing scene. lazur-2
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