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18 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Actress' Swansong, 3 May 2004
Author: harry-76 from Cleveland, Ohio

Since the play, "Laurette," was never realized, the movie version of "Bells are Ringing" serves as Judy Holliday's "final" performance.

It's to her credit that she comes off as well as she does. The film is extremely stagey, and looks contrived and bloated, despite a most competent cast and director.

Yet Holliday is buoyant, full of fun, and energetic--all hallmarks of her theatrical persona.

I've read Holliday's complete bio, and am amazed she was able to overcome the tremendous obstacles she endured, from her sad childhood and family relationship through the communist "witch hunt" period--which left her saddled with protest pickets that followed her around--to failed marriages, lack of employment, and care giving responsibilities for her child and parent. All the while working wherever she could and keep smiling.

In many respects her career is quite similar to that of Montgomery Clift. Both apparently gave their best work on the stage, night after night before live audiences, rather than on film. Had both stayed in the theatre, their respective careers and lives might have remained more stable and healthy--and be alive today.

"Bells are Ringing" is a final tribute to a great talent, an Oscar-winning actress and comedienne who graced the stage and screen with a radiant presence and winning demeanor. Fortunately, as long as her films are shown, Judy Holliday will live and be rediscovered by future generations.

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15 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Answering service 1950s style., 15 March 2006
7/10
Author: jotix100 from New York

"Bells are Ringing" is a must for Judy Holliday's fans. The bubbly star of some of the best comedies of the fifties, is the main reason for watching this musical, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Betty Comden and Adolph Green were the creators of the book and lyrics with music by Jule Styne.

The film was an excuse for showcasing Ms. Holliday and Dean Martin, who took over Sydney Chaplin's role. The two stars show an easy chemistry in their scenes together, even though the transfer to the screen seems somehow clumsy coming from an experienced director of musicals like Mr. Minnelli.

"Bells are Ringing" is a nostalgic look at the New York of the 1950s. It was quite a status symbol to have an answering service in those days before the automatic devices of today. There is a hilarious second plot involving illegal gambling by linking classical music works to the different races in several horse race tracks that are channeled through Susanswerphone service, which makes the police Ella is involved in the scheme.

Judy Holliday gave a tremendous performance in the film as the kind, but somehow naive Ella. Dean Martin is fine also as the blocked writer. In supporting roles Eddie Foy Jr., Jean Stapleton, and Dean Clark, are seen among others.

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11 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A fine 60s musical, wish there were more like it, 9 May 2001
9/10
Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

In contrast to the guy who wrote the comment on the main page in this board, I saw this movie and I really enjoyed it. I had never seen a Judy Holliday movie before and I was totally taken in by her charm and good acting. Dean Martin (a favorite of mine) showed his usual suave personality and I thought he was perfect for the role. The songs and the choreography are excellent. I just love the mood of this movie and its message of healthy humanism, whether or not it's something I really believe in. I like the scene where Judy and Dean say hello and introduce themselves to the man on the street. Also of note is Minnelli's smart direction. One of the best musicals of the 60s, sadly one of the last.

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Plaza 0-4433, 12 October 2002
Author: petershelleyau from Sydney, Australia

Judy Holliday originated the role of Ella Petersen, the Susanwersphone switchboard operator, in Vincente Minnelli's adaptation of the Broadway musical, with music by Jules Styne and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Although filmed in 1960, this musical belongs to the conventions of the 1950's with a brassy orchestration, superfluous supporting cast for comic relief, and a Brando impersonator. That Holliday remains as the best thing about it, in spite of Minnelli's less flattering treatment of her than George Cukor, is a tribute to her gifts as an actress, in particular a Broadway performer with the subtlety to adapt for film acting.

Holliday's two solo numbers - It's a Perfect Relationship and I'm Going Back - are triumphs of personal charm, in spite of the director. Minnelli has trouble de-staging the switchboard environment and the film only comes to life after Holliday leaves it to meet Dean Martin, as her favourite client, in person. In the Better than a Dream number, where both Holliday and Martin sing oblivious to the other's reality, this is Minnelli finally presenting a musical sequence cinematically. This pattern continues with Martin's funny I Met a Girl, sung as he battles street crowds. Minnelli treats Holliday's plaintive ballad The Party's Over simply, if disappointedly in long and medium shot presumably since he thinks Holliday's voice doesn't deserve a closeup, in contrast to the botched Just in Time, the score's most lovely song, wretchedly staged. The Drop That Name number is probably more about Minnelli than Holliday, since he scores points off her, comparing her perceived frumpiness to the vacuous stereotypical 1950's society vamp.

Holliday and Martin play off each other well, overcoming the oddness of their union. Martin actually looks not at his best, which undermines the romantic appeal, and his solo reveals he shouldn't be given one. It's hard not to consider his character's fear of success without his partner and not have thoughts of Jerry Lewis, though believing Martin as a playwright is trouble enough. Thankfully there's Holliday. Far more likeable and individual than say a Doris Day, Minnelli's having her lower her head for pathos is the lowest appreciation of her potential. This wasn't considered a great musical to begin with, and the film is pretty hard to take whenever the supporting players take over, with excruciating bits featuring Eddie Foy and The Titanic record company, vice squad surveillance, and the mafia, however the songwriting dentist gave me a few chuckles.

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A treat for fans of the stars, 24 June 2003
7/10
Author: perfectbond

Fans of Dean Martino and Judy Holliday (né Tuvim) will enjoy this musical. I am a fan of both of them so I could overlook the awkward staging of the Susanswerphone set, the believeability of Maritn as a writer and the dead weight of the subplot involving the racketeers. Still there are some well-sung songs and good, if not great chemistry, between the stars. For non-fans: 6/10. For fans: 7/10.

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
It's a Simple, Little System..., 13 January 2006
10/10
Author: theowinthrop from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Judy Holliday gained Broadway stardom and entry into Hollywood with her performance as Billie Dawn in BORN YESTERDAY. She also would score on Broadway for the last time in the musical THE BELLS ARE RINGING. I find it amazing, given the paucity of her film career, that these two stage performances were preserved, while so many great stage performances (of Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Ethel Waters) failed to get preserved in the Hollywood system. Obviously the saleability of Holliday in 1960 was higher than that of Merman (even after ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), most likely due to her Oscar. One can only be grateful to providence or whatever for coming to Holliday's aid here - one wishes it could have stepped up for the others more often.

THE BELLS ARE RINGING was directed by Vincent Minelli, and has some great musical numbers in it: Eddie Foy's "It's a Simple Little System" where his record sales mask a bookie operation, culminating in a mock song spiel of serious music lovers singing the names of race courses to the "Hallelujah" Chorus; the "Drop that Name" number at Fred Clark's party, wherein the only name of a celebrity Judy can recall is Rin Tin Tin; the "Just in Time" song and dance by Dean Martin and Judy Holliday in a mini-park, and it's follow-up of "The Party's Over", probably Judy's best sung tune in her career. Not all the show's tunes are in the movie. Eddie Foy sings a song to Jean Stapleton (Sue of Sue's Answer Phone) to romance her with his mock European elegance - the song is called "Salzberg by the Sea" which shows how phony he really is (Salzberg is in the center of landlocked Austria!).

The film is well set in it's period, in two odd ways. One is a gag in the story: Frank Gorshin as method actor Blake Barton, who is an obvious spoof of Marlon Brando. The other is the appearance of Dean Martin as Jeffrey Moss, the troubled composer hero of the musical who romances Ella Peterson (Judy). In the Broadway production it was Hal Linden who played opposite Judy (he appears in this film, in his first film role, singing the song "The Midas Touch" at a nightclub). But Martin was a nationally known singer, and movie star. But he was, in real life, facing a situation exactly like Jeffrey Moss. Moss (before the story of the show begins) has been in a successful theater team, like Gilbert and Sullivan or Rodgers and Hammerstein...or like Martin and Lewis. In fact, Moss's partner just broke up the partnership (and is doing well on his own - like Lewis did at first). Moss's funk is what the public in 1960 thought Martin had faced a few years earlier when Lewis split with him.

The movie showcases Judy's comic talents, as she stimulates Martin, Gorshin, Bernie West (the musically inclined Dr. Kitchell), confronts Dort Clarke (the ambitious Inspector Barnes), and aids a desperate Otto when threatened by hoods. She handles the situations well, reminding us of how talented a lady she was. It was a fitting conclusion to her career - but a sad reminder that that career deserved to be far longer than it was.

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7 out of 9 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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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Ring-A-Ding-Ding: "Bells" Alive and Kickin' On DVD, 15 June 2005
7/10
Author: Nick Zegarac (movieman-200) from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Vincente Minnelli's "Bells Are Ringing" (1960) generally gets a bad wrap from reviewers and critics alike. While it is true that the film came at the tail end of MGM's reign of supremacy in musical motion picture entertainment – and it is equally true that the film falls short by direct comparison to, say, Minnelli's "Meet Me In St. Louis (an unfair but often used example), all the pistons are firing on this occasion with this delightful story of a phone operator who falls in love with one of her clients.

The story concerns lonely Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday in her final performance). Working out of a basement apartment for Susan's-a-phone (a personal message service), Ella longs for the good life and the right fella to fill her needs. However, that doesn't prevent her plucky personality from offering equal portions of good advice and smart talk to her roster of happy clients. Ella's fraternization doesn't particularly sit well with her employer, Sue (Jean Stapleton) who is all dollars and cents, or police detective, Barnes (Dort Clark) who advises Ella that it's illegal to provide unsolicited information in the capacity of a business acquaintance. But Ella is all set to throw caution to the wind when she falls in love with Plaza 0-double four, double nine. That extension belongs to Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), a once successful playwright who fears that his days of popularity are numbered and has since turned to shallow women and hollow relationships for solace.

Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green transform their Broadway original into a sublime cinematic treat. Minnelli directs adroitly and – given the limited budget he had to work with – delivers a film that appears to be on a much grander scale than it actually is. Particularly in his execution of the "Drop that Name" sequence – in which Ella lampoons her association with the hoi polloi, Minnelli's brisk camera work and staging is flawless. The same is true during Eddy Foy Jr.'s charming romp in "Oh, What A System". Delivered with comedic panache and laconic savvy a la the darling Holliday and charming Martin, the rest of the score, including such standards as "Just in Time" and "Drop That Name" is brilliant and bouncy.

Thanks to Warner's stunning new transfer, "Bells are Ringing" arrives 'just in time' on DVD. The anamorphically enhanced Cinemascope image is outstanding. Colors are nicely balanced. Image quality is a marked improvement over anything this film has looked like before on home video. Blacks are rich, deep and solid. Whites are crisp, but never blooming. There is a hint of film grain and the occasional shimmer of fine detail but nothing that will distract you from wallowing in the riotous splendor of this musical classic. The audio has been impeccably remastered in 5.1 and delivers an unexpectedly powerful kick during the songs. The one disappointment for admirers of this film is that the featurette on the film "Just in Time" is way too short to be considered a valid supplement. Others include two outtake musical sequences made available previously, and the film's theatrical trailer. Regardless of these shortcomings, "Bells Are Ringing" comes highly recommended as great good time fun.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Delightful surprise of a movie, 24 July 1999
Author: bianca-13 from Pine Bluff, Ark.

I found Bells Are Ringing accidentally when I was researching another film project and it has become a favorite. While Holliday is sparkling in her role, it is Martin's low-key reactions (which are, of course, what made him such a great straight man) that send me back to watch the film again and again. It's a "don't-miss" for fans of Holliday, Martin and the musical comedy - heavy on the comedy - genre.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A warm and witty film that is nearly a classic., 20 July 1999
8/10
Author: Welly-2 from England

Judy Holiday is enough to justify watching any film, and she is as splendid as ever here. Dean Martin is either wonderful or awful and manages the former quite comfortably. Sadly the plot and the score let these two stars down. The chemistry between Martin and Holiday is wonderful and gives the film a warmth and an innocence that is exceedingly appealing forty years on, the fact that this was Ms Holiday's last film adding to the pathos.

You'll enjoy watching and it will raise several smiles so it has to be a good film.....it is just sad that the plot and score stop a good film becoming the classic which its cast deserved.

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