The Member of the Wedding (1952)

A film version of the Carson McCullers play. Frankie Addams, a very boyish articulate 12-year-old girl, is going through an unhappy stage of her life, having been spurned by the ... See full summary »

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Carson McCullers (play), Edna Anhalt,

Stars:

Ethel Waters, Julie Harris, Brandon De Wilde

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Ethel Waters	...	Berenice Sadie Brown
Julie Harris	...	Frances 'Frankie' Addams
Brandon De Wilde	...	John Henry
Arthur Franz	...	Jarvis Addams
Nancy Gates	...	Janice
William Hansen	...	Mr. Addams
James Edwards	...	Honey Camden Brown
Harry Bolden	...	T.T. Williams
Dickie Moore	...	Soldier (as Dick Moore)

Storyline

A film version of the Carson McCullers play. Frankie Addams, a very boyish articulate 12-year-old girl, is going through an unhappy stage of her life, having been spurned by the neighborhood girls. She spends most of her time in the kitchen talking to her black maid, Bernice, and the younger next door boy, John Henry. Her brother Jarvis is about to marry Janice, and Frankie imagines that she will leave town with them. However she eventually begins to grow up into a young woman.

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Plot Keywords:

wedding | tomboy | bar | loneliness | drunkenness | 

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Taglines:

She became a woman in the middle of a kiss!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1954 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Das Mädchen Frankie

Filming Locations:

Colusa, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original Broadway production of "The Member of the Wedding," by Carson McCullers opened on January 5, 1950 at the Empire Theater (New York) and ran for 501 performances.

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Quotes

Frances 'Frankie' Addams: We'll just walk up to people and know them right away. We'll be walking down a dark road, and see a lighted house and knock on the door, and strangers will rush to meet us and say, "Come in! Come in!" We'll know decorated aviators and New York people and movie stars. And we'll have thousands and thousands of friends. We'll belong to so many clubs that we can't even keep track of them all. We'll be members of the WHOLE WORLD!

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Connections

Version of The Member of the Wedding (1997)

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Soundtracks

"His Eye Is on the Sparrow"
Written by Charles H. Gabriel and Civilla Martin
Performed by Ethel Waters with Brandon De Wilde & Julie Harris

User Reviews

not many films are this fine

I cannot believe how good this film is

You will not see Ethel Waters nor Julie harris better recorded on film. Every moment is pure ecstacy.

A good reason to live

If they did not make films like this I would commit suicide

Ethel Waters sang Stormy Weather but her acting is even better

If you are a guy it is not so easy to watch a girl film like this, julie harris is a tomboy and Waters is a wise black mammy, and it is not very contemporory.

Nobody could do a film like this today