Daddy Long Legs (1955)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Phoebe Ephron (screenplay) and
Henry Ephron (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 May 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Plot:

On a trip to France, millionaire Jervis Pendelton sees an 18 year old girl in an orphanage. Enchanted with her...

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Sponsor | College | France | Letter

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Jervis Pendleton III / John Smith
Leslie Caron	...	Julie Andre
Terry Moore	...	Linda Pendleton
Thelma Ritter	...	Alicia Pritchard
Fred Clark	...	Griggs
Charlotte Austin	...	Sally McBride
Larry Keating	...	Ambassador Alexander Williamson
Kathryn Givney	...	Gertrude Pendleton
Kelly Brown	...	Jimmy McBride
Ray Anthony	...	Himself (as Ray Anthony and his Orchestra)

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (magnetic prints) | Mono (Western Electric Recording) (optical prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #17247)

Filming Locations:

Andrew Carnegie Mansion - 2 East 91st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Mitzi Gaynor was the studio's first choice to play Julie, but Fred Astaire personally asked for Leslie Caron.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jervis is about to play the drums for Griggs, his brushes suddenly turn into sticks between shots.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fred Astaire: Change Partners and Dance (1980) (TV)

Soundtrack:

History of the Beat

Daddy Longlegs Is Wonderful ****

Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron were such marvelous dancing partners in 1955's Daddy Longlegs.

The story line is wonderful. Astaire "adopts" a young Parisian orphan and pays for her college tuition. Throughout the years, she writes in gratitude but he chooses to ignore the letters.

Fred Clark and Thelma Ritter, two veteran movie pros, gave terrific support as workers under Astaire. The sentimental Ritter, as Alice, is able to bring the two together and the film takes on a new meaning until Caron discovers that Astaire has been her benefactor. As romance blossoms, we're happy to see that Clark and Ritter have romantic designs on each other as well.

The dance sequences have never been better. Both Astaire and Carone show their gracefulness. Fred even knew how to put-over "Something's Got To Give."