Paddy Chayevsky is noticeable here but Gore Vidal's screenplay is the star of this beautiful movie. The cast is an odd lot: Imagine that Bette Davis and Barry Fitzgerald are related by blood, that Davis and Ernest Borgnine are married, and that Debbie Reynolds is their daughter! Toss in Dorothy Stickney as Fitzgerald's blue collar, card-playing ladyfriend. Amazingly, it all works.
Bette is Bette. She works very, very well with the ensemble but she unmistakably Bette Davis, and later Bette Davis at that. Yet, this relatively small movie is one of her best: I'd say her best in the years that followed "All About Eve." Debbie Reynolds is a revelation. She has had a career in musicals and comedy but she is very poignant as the daughter of this unhappily married working class daughter, who really does not want a big wedding.
Rod Taylor is rather odd casting as her fiancé. He was Australian and hardily the bespectacled schoolteacher he plays. Glasses are off far more than they're on. But he too is good.
The major surprise is Richard Brooks. He directed a few good movies in the early 1950s. But the ones for which he is famous -- most especially the unwatchable "Elmer Gantry" -- are all size and not only no substance but are generally grotesque. Here, his direction is subdued and on the money.
the John Alton cinematography is excellent. And the music by Andre Previn is lovely. It adds immeasurably to the mood and is, in my opinion, at least as good as the Copland movie scores that are now viewed as classical music.
Ernest Borgnine's "Marty" is far better known and was heralded in its day. It is extremely dated. This movie is as fresh as the new fallen snow and is infinitely superior to "Marty." It is a lovely little classic.
Bette is Bette. She works very, very well with the ensemble but she unmistakably Bette Davis, and later Bette Davis at that. Yet, this relatively small movie is one of her best: I'd say her best in the years that followed "All About Eve." Debbie Reynolds is a revelation. She has had a career in musicals and comedy but she is very poignant as the daughter of this unhappily married working class daughter, who really does not want a big wedding.
Rod Taylor is rather odd casting as her fiancé. He was Australian and hardily the bespectacled schoolteacher he plays. Glasses are off far more than they're on. But he too is good.
The major surprise is Richard Brooks. He directed a few good movies in the early 1950s. But the ones for which he is famous -- most especially the unwatchable "Elmer Gantry" -- are all size and not only no substance but are generally grotesque. Here, his direction is subdued and on the money.
the John Alton cinematography is excellent. And the music by Andre Previn is lovely. It adds immeasurably to the mood and is, in my opinion, at least as good as the Copland movie scores that are now viewed as classical music.
Ernest Borgnine's "Marty" is far better known and was heralded in its day. It is extremely dated. This movie is as fresh as the new fallen snow and is infinitely superior to "Marty." It is a lovely little classic.