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DVD The Marrying Kind
From the dour vantage point of divorce court, Florence (Judy Holliday, Born Yesterday) and Chet Keefer (Aldo Ray) recount the tale of their rocky marriage. Despite its jaunty title, The Marrying Kind is a surprisingly realistic portrait of marriage, with all its expectations, disappointments, compromises, fights, and intimacies. Florence and Chet are tested by trouble and loss, but it's finally good fortune that threatens to pull them apart. The judge in their case, however, thinks they should give it another try. Holliday perfected a ditzy/sexy persona that other actresses have emulated but never quite equalled; The Marrying Kind gave her the opportunity to show her dramatic chops. Though she rises to the challenge, the movie is an awkward blend of humor and pathos. Fans of hoarse-voiced palooka Ray will enjoy his equally strong performance in this, his movie debut. --Bret Fetzer
I am a big fan of Judy Holliday's romantic comedies from the 1950's and own Born Yesterday, It Should Happen to You (with Jack Lemmon in his first movie appearance), The Solid Gold Cadillac, and Bells Are Ringing (with Dean Martin). I was expecting The Marrying Kind to also be a comedy, and I was disappointed to find out that it consists far more of pathos than comedy. It shows in flashbacks the decline of the 7-year marriage of a couple on the verge of divorce, and nowadays we might call this film a "dramedy." However, once I'd adjusted to the fact that I wasn't watching Judy in all-out comedy, I enjoyed the movie for what it is. Particularly that it centers almost completely around the relationship (and interactions) of the two main characters, Florence (Judy) and Chet Keefer (Aldo Ray). Because they are on stage alone together most of the movie, it really showcases their individual talents as actors, and they work extremely well together as a dramatic pairing.
Aside from the acting and the story, there are several other things that I found especially fascinating about the film: first, the use of real New York City locations from the early 50s--it is amazing how much the city has changed in 50 years! Second, the movie's portrayal of working-class, urban marriage feels extremely real and accurate for that era (other than their very roomy apartment), and because of that, it offers an intriguing window into that time period. Finally, I was very taken by the style of the dialogue. Not being either an expert on linguistics or the writing history of playwrights Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, I couldn't be sure if they were merely being stylistic, or if they intended to offer a very accurate portrayal of a specific New York dialect. Whichever it is, the protagonists speak in a very unique way, with certain words left out in their sentences and others repeated--which gives an entertaining regional flavor to the script.
This movie is not rated, but by today's standards it would be a G--no sex or bad language. However, I believe children would be bored by this movie as would, very likely, most men. This is pretty much a classic "chick flick," since its entire focus is on the courtship and marriage relationship between a man and a woman.
Beautiful
There's not much I can say about this neglected gem (on DVD BEFORE "Bells Are Ringing" and AFTER "Born Yesterday"!) that isn't already in these reviews. It's my favorite Judy Holliday flick, although I saw "Bells" first and first came to love Holliday through that movie. This movie is intimate, warm, realistic, gentle and it has humor (as much as Garson Kanin can muster, I guess, I really do think he, even when working with his wife, is grossly overrated). Holliday's climax to the park scene is certainly well done, but it is also identical to her getting hit in the face in "Born Yesterday." She did it good, she did it great, but she did it twice. And Aldo Ray is perfect as the loving, loveable, earnest, well-meaning husband. I thought he and Holliday were very good together. I loved this low-key little movie, and I think it will please (as it kindly attempts to do) anyone who likes this kind of thing.
Quiet Gem
George Cukor, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon were the best kind of fans for Judy Holliday; they made it possible for her to create great roles in wonderful pictures. From her carefully-sheparded movie debut in a supporting role in ADAM'S RIB (where Katherine Hepburn graciously yielded the screen to Judy's comic talents) to her Oscar-winning turn repeating her Broadway success in BORN YESTERDAY, Holliday gave us an unforgettable gallery of women, and her work was never finer than in THE MARRYING KIND. Matched with Cukor's protoge (ahem!), Aldo Ray, Judy is remarkable in this role, playing an ordinary housewife whose marriage is on the brink of dissolving. Her big scene in Central Park mid-picture is a perfect example of her unique ability to make you laugh and break your heart in quick succession. Lovely, lovely work from all concerned, and an extremely rewarding small movie that casts a big shadow.
I cannot stand Judy's voice, but I love this movie. It is entertaining and I have never seen another movie even remotely like it. I love it for its originality and ingenuity. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Holliday - John Williams (II) Director(s): Richard Quine DVD Release Date: Released the 28 October 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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All Gladys Glover wants is to make a name for herself in New York--which explains the giant billboard with her name plastered across it. Celebrity, of course, follows. It Should Happen to You proves that the concept of "being famous for being famous" did not arrive with Angelyne or Paris Hilton. This comedy was designed for the dumb-blonde talents of the expert Judy Holliday, re-uniting with Born Yesterday writer Garson Kanin and director George Cukor. She's in prime form, and some of her scenes with Jack Lemmon (his film debut) have a spritzy give-and-take. (Alas, his character, a documentary filmmaker, is a bit of a nag.) The media satire is a little dated, from a 21st-century perspective, and a subplot with soap magnate Peter Lawford doesn't wash. The pleasures are in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Holliday - Jack Lemmon Director(s): George Cukor DVD Release Date: Released the 13 January 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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George Cukor helped transform a moody Victorian stage melodrama (previously filmed in Britain in 1939) into a gothic Hollywood romantic thriller. Ingrid Bergman stars as a meek, uncertain heiress courted and married in a whirlwind romance by the debonair Charles Boyer, but when they move back into her childhood home she begins losing her grip on reality and becomes convinced that her husband is trying to drive her insane. Joseph Cotten, rather stiff and colorless next to the anguished Bergman and charming and lively Boyer, is the heroic Scotland Yard detective who becomes enamored of the skittish woman who is slowly succumbing to madness. The grand, glorious sets and elegant photography recall Hitchcock's Rebecca, another lush Hollywood gothic melodrama of a retiring young wife... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Charles Boyer - Ingrid Bergman - Joseph Cotten Director(s): George Cukor DVD Release Date: Released the 03 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A movie doesn't win seven Oscars for nothing. A glowing Greer Garson (Best Actress) commands the screen as Mrs. Miniver, a middle-class British housewife whose strength holds her family together as World War II literally hits their home. Walter Pidgeon as her architect husband seems to be the prototype for future TV dads in this affecting portrait of love--familial and romantic--during war. But the relationship between Mrs. Miniver's college-age son (Richard Ney) and the upper-crust Carol (Best Supporting Actress Teresa Wright) is filled with inherent drama--as the war speeds up their young love, it also has the potential to doom it. The 1942 film, which also won for Best Picture and Best Director, is filled with colorful characters, snappy dialogue, and sensational plot twists. Although... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Greer Garson - Walter Pidgeon - Teresa Wright Director(s): William Wyler DVD Release Date: Released the 03 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Yes, it's true: you can virtually see Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall falling for each other in this Howard Hawks variation on Casablanca but adapted from--as legend has it--Ernest Hemingway's self-declared "worst novel." (The story goes that Hawks told Hemingway he could make a movie of the author's least work, and Hemingway gave him the rights to this story.) The script by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman actually makes this one of Hawks's and Bogart's most interesting and often exciting films. Bogart plays a boat captain who reluctantly agrees to help the French Resistance while wooing chanteuse Bacall. Hoagy Carmichael, wry at the piano, adds a delicious accent to an already wonderful mood. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Humphrey Bogart - Lauren Bacall Director(s): Howard Hawks DVD Release Date: Released the 04 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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