The Catered Affair (1956)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Paddy Chayefsky (play)
Gore Vidal (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

When you're in love, nothing else matters

Plot:

At breakfast, Jane announces that she and Ralph are getting married the next week. All Jane and Ralph...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Poor | Personal Finance | Based On TV Movie | Father Daughter Relationship

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Mrs. Agnes Hurley
Ernest Borgnine	...	Tom Hurley
Debbie Reynolds	...	Jane Hurley
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Uncle Jack Conlon
Rod Taylor	...	Ralph Halloran
Robert F. Simon	...	Mr. Halloran (as Robert Simon)
Madge Kennedy	...	Mrs. Halloran
Dorothy Stickney	...	Mrs. Rafferty
Carol Veazie	...	Mrs. Casey
Joan Camden	...	Alice Scanlon
Ray Stricklyn	...	Eddie Hurley
Jay Adler	...	Sam Leiter
Dan Tobin	...	Hotel Caterer
Paul Denton	...	Bill
Augusta Merighi	...	Mrs. Musso

Also Known As:

Wedding Breakfast (UK)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #17915)

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Factual errors: Real-life radio soap opera "The Romance of Helen Trent" is heard on radio while members of Hurley family are waking up, eating breakfast and preparing to go off to work; in reality, radio soaps weren't broadcast until late mornings/ afternoons and/or evenings.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bridge Attendant: Boy, Tom how's the taxi business?
Tom Hurley: How's the bridge business?
Bridge Attendant: One more day like this, I'll own the bridge.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Intense Drama Skillfully Acted

This delightful production is full of life; a vignette which cuts deep to reveal the quiet despair, sullen defeat, and ultimate triumph of a marriage which had always looked back at its shameful beginning, but finally is freed to discover itself anew.

Davis' mastery of the Brooklyn tone and colloquialisms is uncanny. Her "Aggie" is real, and sympathetic, if not admirable. Her pain from the awakening knowledge of having only lived with, but not shared life with her daughter and husband touches us where it hurts. The fix of manipulating a "big" (but unaffordable) wedding for her daughter falls flat, forcing Aggie to grapple with the real issues of her life.

Her bachelor brother "Uncle Jack" (Barry Fitzgerald) is Aggie's counterpoint, full of Blarney, enjoying every moment to its fullest, as when he playfully informs delightful Mrs. Rafferty (his future bride) of her debt in their running game of Cannasta: $24,700.

Debbie Reynolds is lovely, earnest, in character and hard-hitting as Aggie's daughter Jane, sacrificing her own wishes, and torn between the conflicting needs of her mother and father.

Borgnine is the under-appreciated, self-sacrificing husband, giving up his long held dream of owning a taxicab if it would satisfy his wife, finally pleading his own case, and finding joy in his marriage.

A compelling story with excellent acting and staging.