The father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain of her getting married, along with the financial and organizational trouble of arranging the wedding.The father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain of her getting married, along with the financial and organizational trouble of arranging the wedding.The father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain of her getting married, along with the financial and organizational trouble of arranging the wedding.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 1 win & 7 nominations total
- Tommy Banks
- (as Rusty Tamblyn)
- Moving Man with Screen
- (uncredited)
- Usher
- (uncredited)
- Man in Dream Sequence
- (uncredited)
- Miss Bellamy
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
This film's release date is 1950, which brings to mind (to me) that it was only five years removed from the war, tough times for everyone, but this goes unmentioned in the film. Perhaps audiences then did not care to be reminded too much of wounds so fresh.
So, while not at all an uproarious comedy, it carried a wry wit throughout. Pretty good film.
The plot is simple. Stanley Banks'(Tracy) daughter Kay (the beautiful teen-aged Elizabeth Taylor) announces her impending marriage to Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor). Mother (Joan Bennett) gets into the act and before you know it the bills are mounting and father is going greyer by the minute. There is the usual pre-marriage argument between the two lovers, the ever increasing guest list, a frantic rehearsal and finally the big day itself with father trying to maintain his sanity throughout.
The supporting cast is excellent. Leo G. Carroll is good as the befuddled caterer, Melville Cooper does a funny bit as the church deacon and the still beautiful Billie Burke along with Moroni Olsen appear as the parents of the Groom.
"Father of the Bride" under the able direction of Vincente Minnelli, is the kind of family comedy that we rarely see anymore.
All in all, the flick's a Tracy showcase. His brand of grouchy humor is perfect for the beseiged Dad; after all, will his patience give out before his wallet does. It's an 18-year old Taylor as the bouncy ingenue, some distance from her feisty, more mature roles, but awesomely pretty nonetheless. And get a load of that over-whelming crowd stampeding the wedding reception - will Dad survive. Good thing it's the stalwart Tracy. I guess my only reservation is that weird dream sequence that just drops into the middle part, too surreal and off-putting, to combine with the humorous flow. Good thing it soon passes.
Overall, I think the movie captures the spirit of the times when post-war prosperity was overtaking Depression era thrift as Dad struggles to adjust to expanding expectations. So catch up with it if you can. It's Tracy at his gruffly humorous best.
All this might seem mighty familiar to anyone who's seen a 1991 film which, oddly enough, bears the same title, but stars Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and (in a hilarious turn as the effete wedding coordinator) Martin Short instead. The film is, of course, a remake, retaining a great deal of the original 1950 film's dialogue and situations, while updating it for modern times and developing the relationship of the characters further. For example, the two Banks brothers are eliminated for a younger baby brother for Annie (no longer Kay), played by Kieran Culkin. As I recall, the relationship between father and daughter is also better fleshed-out in the remake, as is that between the patriarch and matriarch of the family.
However, even though the 1991 remake is one of the most credible remakes of a classic film ever (I would willingly watch the remake--not something I can say for several other similarly presumptuous films), there are still some areas in which it falls far short of the original. Almost all of these areas have to do with the fact that the remake is lacking its own Spencer Tracy--it is his grasp of the role that makes the original film worth seeing to begin with; otherwise one could just as easily watch the remake and not lose very much in the translation. While Steve Martin does a great job as the title character, Spencer Tracy does a *defining* job. Diane Keaton just about every other scene from Martin (as does Kieran Culkin); Spencer Tracy dominates all the scenes he's in. He plays his role perfectly, with just the right amount of frustration, genuine bemusement, and abiding adoration for his only daughter.
One scene early on in the film captures exactly what Tracy contributes to his role (as he does to all his others): Stanley lies restless in bed, unable to sleep for worrying over Kay's announcement of her intent to marry Buckley. When he wakes Ellie up and starts complaining, watch Tracy as he keeps listing the different things there are to be worried about--he keeps fidgeting on the bed, almost lying back and then snapping upright again when a new horrifying thought enters his mind. The entire scene just rings of truth and you realise just what a great actor Spencer Tracy is, even in slight fare like FATHER OF THE BRIDE.
In the end, although FATHER OF THE BRIDE has a clever script and a generally good supporting cast (Taylor appears beautiful but rather blank most of the time), it is held together by the commanding performance given by Spencer Tracy, and for that reason, becomes a film worth watching. It might also be worth your while to catch the remake, if you haven't already. Both films are sweet and utterly likeable, and a fun way to spend an evening. :)
The film was tremendously successful because of the casting of Elizabeth Taylor, in all her beauty. Ms. Taylor is an example why more fathers will go into the poor house when their daughters decide to marry, and must have an elaborate wedding.
Of course, those were other times, poor Stanley Banks didn't have to spend so much money to marry her daughter. Had it been today, it must have cost a small fortune to do a modest ceremony with a few hundred guests. The way they figured the cost of the affair was less than three dollars per person! Incredible!
In a way, this picture points out to the basic problems of having a social event of this magnitude when the parents are well connected, as is the case with the Banks. In fact, watching the reception, we realize most of the people attending the celebration are friends of the parents. We hardly see any young friends of the couple, with the exception of the ones in the wedding party. Imagine having to spend so much money knowing most marriages will end in divorce! Oh well.
Spencer Tracy makes a wonderful father of the bride. He was at the top of his career; he makes us believe he is the man losing his daughter and having to pay for it in the process. Joan Bennett makes a delightful Ellie, the mother of the marrying girl. Elizabeth Taylor not only was beautiful, but in this film, one can't keep the eyes away from her for a second.
The supporting cast was excellent. Mr. Minelli brings all these characters together in a comedy, that although a bit dated, will charm anyone because of the excellent cast in it.
Did you know
- TriviaSpencer Tracy wanted Katharine Hepburn for his screen wife, but it was felt that they were too romantic a team to play a happily domesticated couple with children, so Joan Bennett got the part.
- GoofsWhen the Banks are driving to meet Buckley's parents, Ellie says they are looking for the house numbered 394. When they get to the destination, the number on the house is 709.
- Quotes
Stanley T. Banks: Who giveth this woman? "This woman." But she's not a woman. She's still a child. And she's leaving us. What's it going to be like to come home and not find her? Not to hear her voice calling "Hi, Pops" as I come in? I suddenly realized what I was doing. I was giving up Kay. Something inside me began to hurt.
- ConnectionsEdited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
- How long is Father of the Bride?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $89
- Runtime
- 1h 32m(92 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1