Mary, Mary (1963)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Richard L. Breen (writer)
Jean Kerr (play)

Release Date:

3 April 1964 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Nine months after they split up Bob and Mary meet at his New York apartmnent to sort out some tax matters...

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Beautiful Woman | Based On Play

Cast

Debbie Reynolds	...	Mary McKellaway
Barry Nelson	...	Bob McKellaway
Diane McBain	...	Tiffany Richards
Hiram Sherman	...	Oscar Nelson
Michael Rennie	...	Dirk Winston

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:A (original rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "Mary, Mary" by Jean Kerr opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on March 8, 1961 and ran for 1572 performances.

Debbie does Warner Brothers!

Jean Kerr, whose husband, Walter, was a preeminent New York theater critic, enjoyed quite a success on Broadway with the play on which Richard L. Breen's tidy little script is based. (Jean had previously had a big best-seller with her "Please Don't Eat the Daisies!", a highly fictionalized tale of her married life, filmed at M-G-M in 1960, starring Doris Day and, in my view, a miscast David Niven. M-G-M's coffers enjoyed a handsome refilling when that audience-pleaser rang boxoffice bells.) It was said that a negative word from Mr. Kerr sounded the death knell for a play that had made its way to the Great White Way, and a glowing review under his byline was jubilantly good news for a show's backers. He, no doubt, passed on reviewing "Mary, Mary" when it came to Broadway, but his wife's sophisticated, for its day, comedy-of-manners didn't need his praise.

When Warner Brothers gave Mervyn LeRoy the directorial reigns on their Burbank soundstages, Debbie Reynolds was awarded the title role, co-starring with Barry Nelson who had appeared in the stage version. It was always the way, when the studio system still held sway, that the obvious and only choice was a bonafide Hollywood movie star to headline a project such as this, and so the very appealing Barbara Bel Geddes, who had played Mary McKellaway on the stage to excellent notices, was not to repeat her role before the Technicolor cameras. Debbie, as she had in her previous M-G-M starring roles, didn't disappoint, however, and she was ably supported by Mr. Nelson, the gorgeous Diane McBain, and, in a witty turn (and a departure from the usually more serious roles assigned to him), Michael Rennie.

An acquaintance of mine worked in the sound editing department at Warner Brothers when this was being filmed and he confided to me that Ms. Reynolds played an anxious visit to a screening/editing room during filming, somewhat concerned that her performance wouldn't strike just the right comical note. I seem to recall that she was reassured by that technician and his coworkers and the reviewers and the film's audiences were eventually in agreement.