I am not afraid to stand on my little soapbox and say that typically I find that originals are enormously better than any remake could ever dream to be. When creating a remake, one can never seem to find that perfect balance that was found in the original. The characters, the unique situations, and the overall charm seem to be thrown out the window in luau of big box office names, CGI, and overdrawn clichés. We all complain about them when we leave the theater and snicker when we see it. Well, I am here to say that finally, I have been proved wrong. The 1950s version of Father of the Bride was a far inferior version to the recent Steve Martin remake. Yes, you have heard it here first, but the Spencer Tracy/Elizabeth Taylor version lacked the humor, wit, and realism of insanity that the remake had. Tracy seemed like a distant father, not caring much about his actual daughter, but more about the expense of the wedding. Joan Bennett was nothing more than an emotionless cardboard wife that seemed to be harboring a disturbing hatred towards her present life. Elizabeth Taylor was a rich snob that was used to draw in audiences by using the classic "eye candy" trick. The story, the characters, the actors, the "dated" sensation of this film only confused me further on how this version of Father of the Bride could ever be considered a "classic".
I do not want to use this forum to compare this version to the Steve Martin version, but there were obvious problems with this film from the beginning. The complete lack of excitement from either parent when Taylor announces that she is getting married (and did anyone find that scene entirely random?) shocked me. Even though we live in a completely different era, shouldn't there have been at least some reaction from Bennett and Tracy? Tracy tried hard to convey the idea that he was worried about loosing his "little girl", but what I witnessed instead was an issue of money. You could read in Steve Martin's eyes that he loved his little girl, and his focus was making sure that she wasn't marrying the wrong man. This older version of Father of the Bride has a central theme that revolves around money. Everything that happens in this film eventually leads back to Tracy complaining about how much money they are spending. I was surprised because I wanted to see Tracy react to who Taylor was marrying, not how much he had to spend to make her happy. It seemed to debunk the entire film and place this negative image on the entire marriage/event. The scene where Tracy asks Taylor to just run away and get married for $1200 was idiotic. This only solidified the randomness of the film and how Tracy had trouble grasping the true meaning of the picture.
When the centralized theme is completely destroyed, one can only guess that a domino effect will occur which will hurt other avenues of this film. That is why the acting was so atrocious. Tracy showed no emotion about his daughter getting married. From the moment she informs the family of her decision until the final anti-climax climax when he shuffles around to find her, he never really opens himself up to her. That is what I needed to see between Tracy and Taylor, one of those father/daughter-bonding moments. Director Minnelli tried with the "late night snack" scene later in the film, but by that point I had lost it with Tracy. The same can be said for Joan Bennett, who literally went through every scene without a smile or a hint of emotion. I felt as if Tracy and Bennett were the epitome of a waspy family whose main concern was money instead of emotion. Could we get some passion into anyone in this film? Hugging seemed to be the most valued way of demonstrating love, and while I realize that cinema was different then, did it have to be so unrealistic? I hated Tracy and Bennett's portrayal of husband and wife, which eventually turned me away from ever seeing them as an actual family, which only hurt this film further.
Finally, I would like to say that there was one scene that I did enjoy and if the entire film would have had the same creativity then perhaps it could have redeemed itself. I loved the dream sequence that Tracy had about walking down the isle. I though that it was reminiscent of director Tim Burton's early work. The black and white stripes gobbling up Tracy was perhaps a bit of an excited moment for me because it was something I was hoping for. Some evil floor devouring this mismatched actor. Alas, it was only a dream, but can't we all dream? There was more scenes like this needed to really demonstrate the fears (outside of monetary issues) of loosing a daughter and the insanity of a marriage. There wasn't, which again, hurt this film further.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this film as much as I was hoping. I had always heard that this was a better version than the remake with Steve Martin, but upon watching it I found out it was not. This was a very unemotional, unapologetic look at the financial side of getting married. Tracy cared more about the dollar amount that he was spending instead of the interest of his own daughter. It was pathetic. There were a total of two decent scenes in the entire film (Tracy getting eaten by the floor and when he gets plowed at the in-law's house), but outside of that it was nothing but shambles. It hurt to watch this film because you knew it could have been better. With physical comedy, better actors, and a stronger emphasis on the true themes of the film, Father of the Bride may have been a winner.
Grade: ** out of *****
I do not want to use this forum to compare this version to the Steve Martin version, but there were obvious problems with this film from the beginning. The complete lack of excitement from either parent when Taylor announces that she is getting married (and did anyone find that scene entirely random?) shocked me. Even though we live in a completely different era, shouldn't there have been at least some reaction from Bennett and Tracy? Tracy tried hard to convey the idea that he was worried about loosing his "little girl", but what I witnessed instead was an issue of money. You could read in Steve Martin's eyes that he loved his little girl, and his focus was making sure that she wasn't marrying the wrong man. This older version of Father of the Bride has a central theme that revolves around money. Everything that happens in this film eventually leads back to Tracy complaining about how much money they are spending. I was surprised because I wanted to see Tracy react to who Taylor was marrying, not how much he had to spend to make her happy. It seemed to debunk the entire film and place this negative image on the entire marriage/event. The scene where Tracy asks Taylor to just run away and get married for $1200 was idiotic. This only solidified the randomness of the film and how Tracy had trouble grasping the true meaning of the picture.
When the centralized theme is completely destroyed, one can only guess that a domino effect will occur which will hurt other avenues of this film. That is why the acting was so atrocious. Tracy showed no emotion about his daughter getting married. From the moment she informs the family of her decision until the final anti-climax climax when he shuffles around to find her, he never really opens himself up to her. That is what I needed to see between Tracy and Taylor, one of those father/daughter-bonding moments. Director Minnelli tried with the "late night snack" scene later in the film, but by that point I had lost it with Tracy. The same can be said for Joan Bennett, who literally went through every scene without a smile or a hint of emotion. I felt as if Tracy and Bennett were the epitome of a waspy family whose main concern was money instead of emotion. Could we get some passion into anyone in this film? Hugging seemed to be the most valued way of demonstrating love, and while I realize that cinema was different then, did it have to be so unrealistic? I hated Tracy and Bennett's portrayal of husband and wife, which eventually turned me away from ever seeing them as an actual family, which only hurt this film further.
Finally, I would like to say that there was one scene that I did enjoy and if the entire film would have had the same creativity then perhaps it could have redeemed itself. I loved the dream sequence that Tracy had about walking down the isle. I though that it was reminiscent of director Tim Burton's early work. The black and white stripes gobbling up Tracy was perhaps a bit of an excited moment for me because it was something I was hoping for. Some evil floor devouring this mismatched actor. Alas, it was only a dream, but can't we all dream? There was more scenes like this needed to really demonstrate the fears (outside of monetary issues) of loosing a daughter and the insanity of a marriage. There wasn't, which again, hurt this film further.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this film as much as I was hoping. I had always heard that this was a better version than the remake with Steve Martin, but upon watching it I found out it was not. This was a very unemotional, unapologetic look at the financial side of getting married. Tracy cared more about the dollar amount that he was spending instead of the interest of his own daughter. It was pathetic. There were a total of two decent scenes in the entire film (Tracy getting eaten by the floor and when he gets plowed at the in-law's house), but outside of that it was nothing but shambles. It hurt to watch this film because you knew it could have been better. With physical comedy, better actors, and a stronger emphasis on the true themes of the film, Father of the Bride may have been a winner.
Grade: ** out of *****