Guess Who Mrs. Delafield Brought Home to Dinner and Wants to Marry
"Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry" was the first of a series of made for television movies that Katharine Hepburn made at the end of her acting career when she was in her 80s. Hepburn had won her fourth Oscar for "On Golden Pond" in 1981 and then did nothing for three years until she made "The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley" in 1984. Then in 1986 she made this particular movie for the small screen in which Hepburn plays Margaret Delafield, a wealthy widow from Ashmore who is brought back from death's door by Dr. Marvin Elias (Harold Gould). Her gratitude turns into love and the good doctor responds in kind. The problem is that her children absolutely put their collective feet down to their mother marrying Elias, and they object as much to him being an outsider as they do to him being Jewish. His children are equally outraged, not just because Margaret is a Christian but also because she is from a different clash. Basically, you have the two sets of children trying to out do the others in terms of which is being more prejudiced (I vote for his children, since they want to blame Margaret for the Holocaust and since WASP protecting their family money is so stereotypical with regards to anybody marrying into their money that it is old hat).
It is hard for a fan of Hepburn's to watch this movie and not think of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?", since both have to do with a marriage and the question of prejudice. I assume that topic is one of the reasons that Hepburn was persuaded to do this script. The supporting cast consists of Bibi Besch, Denholm Elliot, Brenda Forbes, Charles Frank, Suzanne Lederer and John Pleshette, but they all have the thankless task of being bigots pretty much from start to finish. However, they do their jobs so well, especially Besch, that you would not be surprised if they succeeded in keeping Margaret and Marvin apart. There is a noticeable age difference between Hepburn and Gould that is slightly problematic; the film suggests it is on the order of five years but you can tack on another decade in the real world. But when Hepburn talks about how Gould's character has reawakened the 14-year-old girl buried deep inside her, you buy her feelings for him. When he take a photograph of her saying he takes shots of all of his patients that he saves, she asks, "Don't you save all of your patients?" "No," he assures her with a gleam in his eye, "I'm very selective." So you have to root for him. Besides, Harold Gould is one of the most beloved character actors of our time, from playing Rhoda's father to the grandpa in the "Freaky Friday" remake, so seeing him doing kissing scenes with Katharine Hepburn is a treat.
But questions of age are not even secondary given the religious and class distinctions that threaten the happiness of Mrs. Delafield and Dr. Elias. There is something to be said for Margaret's rejoinder to the question of "religious differences," even though the simplicity of that position will probably be considered offensive by some. For that matter, her solution to the concern of her children for the family money is eminently practical and rather obvious as well. Then again, it is not like bigots are the most rational people on the face of the earth. If there is a fault with this television movie it is that the come back to the onslaught of prejudice seems less in comparison, but that is because it is. The bigotry here is laid on so thick that you feel sorry for these characters that they do not hear the filth that comes spewing out of their mouths. The happy note on which it ends does try to make the best of the situation, and while it might not work in the real world, the sentiments it represents are certainly to be appreciated.
All things considered I think "Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry" is the best of these latter television movies by Hepburn. She followed this effort with "Laura Lansing Slept Here" in 1988, which was also written by James Prideaux, who would do "The Man Upstairs" for Hepburn as well in 1992. All three of these movies were directed by George Schaefer, so Hepburn must have had a high degree of comfort with the pair to keep working with them at this point in her life. In 1994 Hepburn ended her distinguished acting career by doing "This Can't Be Love" with Anthony Quinn and "One Christmas" with Henry Winkler, which her last theatrical film, "Love Affair," done in between. That is the one I remember best because of the way she upstaged not only Warren Beatty but a luminous Annette Benning. Besides, with the release of "Mrs. Delafield" and "Laura Lansing" on DVD this month, I now have everything Katharine Hepburn did on either video or DVD.
Delightful and Charming
I saw this movie when it first aired and fell in love! If you are looking for a hard hitting movie, this is not it! If you are looking for entertainment with a some light hearted comedy and romance, then I definitely recommend this! Ms. Hepburn is still in top form and beautiful as ever!
Katherine Hepburn Rules!!!!!!!!!!
The wonderful Katherine Hepburn rules in this heartwarming romance for the elders.It's a must see!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This 1950s classic is based on the N. Richard Nash play of the same name (and not to be confused with the John Grisham novel and subsequent film). It's drought time in the Southwest; things are so bad that when a con man (Burt Lancaster) comes to town promising he can make rain, a rancher takes him up on it. But the rancher's spinster daughter (Katharine Hepburn) is skeptical--until Lancaster makes lightning strike her heart, with the unexpected consequence of the rainmaker falling in love with her. Lancaster is charismatic and funny and finds his match in Hepburn (with Earl Holliman providing comic relief as her impulsive younger brother). Think Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian on a farm, minus the music (though Rainmaker later was made into the Broadway musical 110 in the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Burt Lancaster - Katharine Hepburn Director(s): Joseph Anthony (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 12 July 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This one's all about the ladies. In this absolutely terrific 1937 gem, a Manhattan boardinghouse for aspiring actresses houses an amazing roster of golden-era performers--some of whom, like their characters, were just breaking in. It's hard to say who's in best form here: Katharine Hepburn in blueblood mode, Ginger Rogers streetwise, Andrea Leeds suffering, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller impossibly young, and Eve Arden being, well, splendidly Eve Ardenish. The sassy comedy and sober life lessons are wonderfully mixed by the underrated director Gregory La Cava (My Man Godfrey), who captures the brashness of '30s female chatter in a much pleasanter way than the more famous The Women. Hepburn's sublime attempts to wrestle with the line about calla lilies being in bloom will make... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Katharine Hepburn - Ginger Rogers Director(s): Gregory La Cava DVD Release Date: Released the 01 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Recreating the role she originated in Philip Barry's wickedly witty Broadway play, Katharine Hepburn stars as the spoiled and snobby socialite Tracy Lord in this sparkling 1940 screen adaptation of The Philadelphia Story, one of the great romantic comedies from the golden age of MGM studios. Applying her impossibly high ideals to everyone but herself, Tracy is about to marry a stuffy executive when her congenial ex-husband (Cary Grant), arrives to protect his former father-in-law from a potentially scandalous tabloid exposé. In an Oscar-winning role, James Stewart is the scandal reporter who falls for Tracy as her wedding day arrives, throwing her into a dizzying state of premarital jitters. Who will join Tracy at the altar? Snappy dialogue flows like sparkling wine under... More Info about this DVD Director(s): George Cukor DVD Release Date: Released the 02 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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