maplacke I have watched this movie many times and it always makes me cry. Coming from a working class family, I can sympathize with all of the characters. I discussed this movie with a young person in their 20s and they were aghast at how the father and mother acted and how it ended with the mother giving in at the end to make her husband happy. Times and the culture have changed so much since the fifties. When you watch this movie, you must watch it with the understanding of the times. One of my favorites. On a lighter note, what was with Leo the lion in the opening MGM title? His mane looked funny, like he was wearing a toupee on top of his head between his ears.

ericbryce2 Bette Davis perhaps the best actress that Hollywood ever produced pared with one of the best and most under-appreciated actors of all time Ernest Borgnine are man and wife in the wonderful small story about a mother wanting to throw a big wedding for her only daughter that they really can't afford. Borgnine a cab driver who has saved for years to buy his own cab sees his life savings along with his dreams being sunk into the wedding. Debbie Reynolds as the daughter who never wanted a big wedding feels caught in the middle. This movie is a must see for any fans of the cast and of classic Hollywood. Davis, never afraid to play as she later put it "a frump" and is what sets her apart from other Hollywood female actors who once played glamorous parts early in their careers is particularly good in this roll. This paring with Borgnine is what makes this movie a classic.

mark.waltz This is definitely a film for adult eyes because when I first saw this many years ago, I did not appreciate the subject of the film's simple plot. Bette Davis, in a clipped Brooklyn accent, is the tired mother of pending bride to be (an understated and wonderful Debbie Reynolds) and Ernest Borgnine, in a poignant follow-up to "Marty", is the hard-working taxi driver father. The story surrounds the problems the bride's family has in deciding what kind of wedding the family will have. The bride and groom want a small wedding, while Davis has her eyes on a big wedding, especially after she has to break the news to her own brother (Barry Fitzgerald) that he isn't invited to the smaller one they initially planned. Borgnine, desperate to buy his own cab, hopes they'll agree to scale down the plans, but as the groom's family gets involved, it appears that this will never happen. This is a sweet story of the middle-aged couple's seeming lack of love, but like Golde and Tevye of "Fiddler on the Roof", the obvious frustrations of two totally different people doesn't reflect the feelings which really lie underneath. Davis and Reynolds have a poignant scene where Davis apologizes after exploding with her demands and frustrations, and it is one of those larger-than-it-seems moments that rarely happens in films, so wonderfully underwritten by Paddy Chayevsky, the same writer who had earlier written the teleplay. It is apparent that he really understands all of these characters, and each of them are more alive than they were aware they were.Davis also shines in a scene where, while shopping for groceries, she is bombarded by questions from nagging women acquaintances who make all sorts of insinuations. As for Fitzgerald as the somewhat boozy uncle (made to be gay in a recent sweet Broadway musical version), he gets a nice surprising moment of his own thanks to the presence of veteran stage actress Dorothy Stickney as his own lady friend. Like "Marty", this is a masterpiece of understatement and shows that in 1956, a big year for Cinemascope epics and musicals, that less could be more, and the big screen can be filled with big emotions on smaller scales.

Robert D. Ruplenas Why is this terrific movie so little known? It's a simply fabulous production on every level. What seems like a relatively mundane theme - the financial stresses that a marriage places on a lower class urban family - is turned by the masterful Paddy Chayevsky into an absolutely gripping domestic drama, and is a reminder to us of his rank as among the greatest of Hollywood screenwriters. The cast is superb. It's wonderful to see the indomitable Betty Davis shine in a role completely different from the patrician parts she usually played. The underrated Ernest Borgnine as great as the put-upon father, as is Debbie Reynolds as the bride-to-be. The legendary Barry Fitzgerald provides comic relief as Uncle Jack. Director Richard Brooks doesn't drop a beat and keeps the dramatic tension moving. By all means do not miss this fantastic flick!