Father of the Bride (1950)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Leo G. Carroll, Don Taylor, Melville Cooper, Billie Burke, Moroni Olsen, Russ Tamblyn, Paul Harvey, Marietta Canty.

Pity poor Tracy: he suffers endless exasperation while preparing for his only daughter’s wedding to a nice young man with a nice job and a nice family. What misfortune! Barely qualifies as a comedy of errors, since it focuses primarily on Tracy’s upper middle class woes and whining (why won’t anyone drink one of his martinis?). Maybe he was supposed to be a self-absorbed, semi-neurotic schmuck the audience can laugh at, but Minnelli doesn’t pitch it in that direction, and Tracy certainly doesn’t play it that way. Tracy bumbles through his frustrations, managing the occasional amusing quip or weary observation, but too often maintains his identifiably steadfast dignity to really be funny. The script navigates low-energy sitcom-level mishaps, but does manage a few humorous but predictable punchlines—you think that coat of his is going to rip? Bennett is the reasonable, supportive mother of the bride; Liz Taylor the soft and spoiled bride-to-be. Runs just over an hour-and-a-half but feels much longer.

48/100