Product: Father of the Bride [VHS] (1950)
Rating: 4.0
Dearly Beloved.....
Another "classic" that I had not seen in years and I could only remember the inspired and hilarious dream sequence where Spencer Tracy tries desperately to get down a fun house of an aisle to get to the alter while his daughter the bride and attendees look on in horror. This one sequence brings the audience out of a rather normal and traditional looking world and right into the noir for a moment before bringing us gently back to suburbia again. I also love the "slice of life" (as filtered through Hollywood's eye) approach to the film. By this I mean that it's rather fun to see what a modern middle class suburban family and home was like in the late 1940s to the early 1950s (servants and all). I loved seeing lovely Elizabeth Taylor dressed in rolled up blue jeans and a flannel shirt and kerchief, (That woman could wear a potato sack and look elegant) and calling Tracy "Pop" in her genuinely affection tone. The entire cast of characters is great with seasoned professionals like Billie Burke and Leo G. Carroll to name just a couple. But Tracy alone is the anchor to this piece, bringing a rye wit and quiet sense of dignity and patience to the whole mess, even when surrounded by the aftermath of the wedding in what looks like a bombed out city complete with with crepe paper. The whole film has such a sweet, satisfying quality that I think, in the hands of a lesser man than director, might have fallen flat. But Minnelli pulls it off brilliantly, balancing charm, sentimentality, humor and even fantasy with just the right touch. And, as others have mentioned in other opinions posted here, it is difficult to compare the original here with later remakes. I do like Steve Martin very much, but there is really nothing to compare next to Spencer Tracy and the subtle expertise of the folks at MGM, circa 1950