The Pleasure of His Company (1961)

Director:

George Seaton

Writers:

Cornelia Otis Skinner (play)
Samuel A. Taylor (play)

Release Date:

1 June 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

He came 8000 miles to attend his daughter's wedding-and then tried 8000 ways to break it up

Plot:

San Francisco debutante, Jessica Poole, is marrying Napa Valley cattle rancher, Roger Henderson, and hopes her peripatetic father...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Biddeford 'Pogo' Poole
Debbie Reynolds	...	Jessica Anne Poole
Lilli Palmer	...	Katharine 'Kate' Dougherty
Tab Hunter	...	Roger Berk Henderson
Gary Merrill	...	James 'Jim' Dougherty
Charles Ruggles	...	Mackenzie Savage
Harold Fong	...	Toy
Elvia Allman	...	Mrs. Mooney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pat Colby	...	Wedding Guest

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Grace Cathedral Episcopal Church - 1100 California Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Perlsea Company

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "The Pleasure of His Company" opened at the Longacre Theater in New York on October 22, 1958 and ran for 474 performances. Samuel A. Taylor wrote the stage play with Cornelia Otis Skinner and wrote the screenplay for the movie version. The play received four Tony Award nominations, winning one for acting.

Goofs:

Continuity: When asked by James, Mr. Sanford tells him that Popo's plane leaves at 6:30. However, when everyone arrives at the airport to see Pogo off, the sign at the departure gate clearly shows the departure time as 4:30.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Pleasure of His Company

the pleasure was brief

Not funny or witty. Fred is too old, Debby R is too old, and there is no real humor or tension... scenery of San Fran is the best feature.... the best joke that Fred has with the Oriental servant is repeated ad- nauseum and it wasn't even that funny the first time.... Astaire's character is not likable and is too easily forgiven by his too old daughter and his ex-wife.... the cattle baron thing was funny when it was done in some screwball comedies in the 30's and 40's, but it has perhaps never been written or played more flatly... the views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco of its day in Technicolor overkill were the best feature... Fred does dance and for his age he's quite graceful, but there is no attempt at choreography or anything unique... At many points he just flat out doesn't look well at all...