Father of the Bride (1950)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Honors:
There is nothing quite like the experiences of the planning
and performance of a wedding. For the classic traditions of father of the bride
there is no more stressful part and quietly emotional role as a person that has
so little creative input into the occasion, yet such a large part in trying to
please as many people with the event. For this 1950 classic starring Spencer
Tracy the film brings together the humor of being in the middle of one of the
most hectic ceremonious times in a one’s life while delivering on the heart and
emotion that comes with the act of surrendering one’s little girl to another
man. With this delicate mix of genuine
zany yet relatable humor with sincere emotion surrounding an important part of life
this feature hits a home run, easily becoming a classic of comedies.
Father of the Bride is a comedy about the trials and
aggravations of a father in the preparation of his daughter’s wedding. Capturing
the whirlwind experience of discovering his daughter has fallen in love and engaged
to the experience of her “big day” this picture captures it all in 92 minutes.
Spencer Tracy portrays Stanley Banks, a doting father who discovers his
daughter, Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) is engaged and experiences all the trails that
come with planning and paying for a wedding. Despite the idea that father
always knows best we witness Stanley continually being sideswiped in
preparation of the wedding including becoming intoxicated during the first
meeting with groom’s parents, discovering he cannot fit into his old formal
wear, being rushed through and unable to enjoy social gatherings, realizing caterers
to far more pushy than expected, the sticker shock of everting, and how quickly
everything simply flies by. All of it leads to the big wedding itself where finally
he experiences a moment of introspection on his daughter’s special day,
realizing it as passing of his little girl into womanhood. The day goes by with
its hectic nature so quickly that Stanley is unable to say goodbye to his daughter,
but Kay makes sure to phone with love before catching her train to her
honeymoon, making all the mess, headache, and money worth it to the father pf
the bride.
For a comedy about the planning and experience of a wedding
this picture hits many of the marks surprisingly accurately, making its humor
hit home all the more. From the juggling of duty, pride, embarrassment, jealousy,
and protectiveness, to the surprise of the cost, the handling of venues,
guests, caterers, and the many other aspects of the events surrounding a
wedding it can be a manic mess that comes and goes all too quickly. With a whiz
it all of the events rounds out with the brief, yet memorable execution of the
wedding day itself. It’s a mess, but it a pleasurable mess, and the film nails
it down is fine fashion.
The film is simple and from the heart. For anyone who has
experienced the planning of a wedding you can relate making the picture all the
better. The humor hits home with is portrayal of the classic American wedding. Some
traditions are different depending on family or cultural history, even time has
changed many “traditional” practices, but its rather accurate to the general
experience for anyone’s big day. Though the picture focuses on the father the
film is touching for both parents watching their own children grow up and the
children that have married, making this one of the more emotional comedies many
can think of due to its poignancy in the journey of life.
From the very beginning of this Vincent Minnelli directed
feature Spencer Tracy was considered for the titular role of the picture. The
script and the role of Stanley were written to accentuate Tracy’s acting style
and no one else was considered for the part. Only a small communication flub
that invited Jack Benny for a read through confused studio personnel and Tracy leading
Tracy to initially decline the role due to the perceived competition only to
have him reassured the part was his, and his alone. Tracy’s ability of mix tenderness,
compassion, territoriality, sternness, and humor all come together in perfect
harmony in his routine. As the title character he carries the film all the way
to an Academy Award nominated performance. For Spencer Tracy Father of the
Bride marked his second consecutive comedic hit performance taking him in a
direction he found great success in. With the continued accomplishment of the
sequel film Tracy became one of the highest grossing stars of the time.
For the bride Elizabeth Taylor comes in as a former child
actress that has aged out of her juvenile roles and into the world of adult
character. You can this film is fittingly the transition point in her career.
Once the darling little girl of MGM, Taylor was coming into an age where she
was to soon become the studio’s leading young and attractive attraction,
eventually a sex symbol, and here as Kay we bridge that gap as she Kay depicts
that innocent girl that is married away into a new mature world that lies
beyond in her future. Her performance in particular is nothing special, but her
mere presence in the film was a sizable interest for the studio continuing to
cash in on her box office appeal. At the time of production Taylor was engaged
to hotel heir Conrad Hilton Jr. which MGM turned into publicity for the picture
by having her wedding less than two weeks before the premier of the picture.
MGM paid for Taylor’s wedding dress, designed by the same designer of the dress
within the feature. Of course, weddings would become quite common for Taylor as
she would marry seven more times in her life.
Not to go unnoticed is the mother of the bride Ellie, played
by Joan Bennett. At age 40 Bennett was past her days of being the young and
attractive level of Elizabeth Taylor, but she was still vibrant as she
transitioned to being a loving mother that attempts to keep both father and
bride together during a hectic time. Although Tracy was commonly seen starring
across from Kathrine Hepburn, his real life romantic interest, in many pairings
as of late it was wise of MGM to avoid bringing in Hepburn for the wife of
Tracy in Father of the Bride. Hepburn has a quality that tends to stand
out in movies and to have a performance such as Hepburn would have detracted
from the emotion of Tracy or the innocent grace of Taylor. Joan Bennett helps supply
the grace and balance the role needed. Her happy medium between the
performances of Tracy and Taylor supplies the loving, nurturing layer a
motherly figure needs in this picture, and she should be commended for it.
Swallowed up in the picture is the appearance of Don Taylor
as Buckley, Kay’s groom. With a name like Buckley and Stanley’s initial
disapproval of him supply all the general humor of a father who is meeting his
daughter’s fiancée for the first time. Don Taylor’s performance is not what I
would call memorable, in fact it is hard to even picture a scene or line where
he stands out, but he does supply just enough underrated charm to fill the role
that was never meant to stand out. Making a small appearance as Buckley’s
mother is Billie Burke, the longtime actress of stage and screen you may best
remember as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939). In a way
she is the doting mother of the groom, but with such a small role he performance
flies by rather swiftly.
Father of the Bride was an immediate hit from the
moment of its premier at Radio City Music Hall, possibly thanks to MGM
publicity department and Elizabeth Taylor’s recent wedding. Critics and
audiences alike loved the humor and heart as the film quickly became one of the
most successful pictures of the year, sixth highest grossing picture of the
year while also being nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. As
quickly as it became a hit MGM launched into a sequel, releasing Father’s
Little Dividend (1951) just 10 months later. Returning the cast from Father
of the Bride the sequel furthers the story with Kay having a child,
bringing in more strong numbers for MGM.
Father of the Bride saw a popular remake in 1991
starring Steve Martin as the titular character, it too becoming a well-received
classic in its own way for a new generation unaware of the 1950 original. It
too saw a sequel with a similar plot in 1995’s Father of the Bride 2. The
idea of comedies about wedding planning continues to be an idea that is rustles
around movie makers heads for future projects for its relatable nature and stress
inducing comedy, but the 1950 picture still receives credit as one of the
greatest comedies of all time as seen with being named on the AFI list of 100 greatest
American comedies in the year 2000. Father of the Bride continues to
entertain all these generation later as if it never missed a beat. Watch it
again, you will not regret it.
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