Father’s Little Dividend 1951

     This film is a sequel to Father of the Bride 1950.  Stanley Banks learns his daughter Kay is going to have a baby.  He’s not very happy because she has just graduated and he wanted to her wait to get married.  Stanley’s wife Ellie is so happy and she has to tell everyone she knows right away.  The parents of son-in-law Buckley are very happy too.  Stanley is also worried how Buckley is going to afford a baby?  There is competition between Kay’s parents and Buckley’s parents over redecorating their new home.  Ellie is worried that they will be pushed aside by Buckley’s parents?

     There is a lot of back and forth action in this film.  Pressing for position by the parents.  There is also the anxiety and the fearfulness of having a child.  Plus, there is the newness of marriage thrown into the mix.   Sometimes everything is just too much for the grandparents and the parents.  Names for the baby are a big consideration.  Is the doctor good enough for Kay?  Are new methods better?  So many questions!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

 

82 min, Comedy directed by Vincente Minnelli with Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, Moroni Olsen, Richard Rober, Marietta Canty, Russ Tamblyn, Tom Irish, Hayden Rorke.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 100% audience 61% critic, Three Movie Buffs average 3* out of 4*, Amazon 4 1/2* out of 5* with 99 reviews, Letterboxd average 3.1* out of 5*, TVGuide 3* out of 5*, weegiemidget.wordpress.com weeper 3*/10 handsqueeze rating 3*/10.

Special Note:  Filmed in MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  Elizabeth Taylor was suffering greatly because of her physically abusive marriage to Conrad Hilton Jr.  Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, he beat her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach.  This provoked a miscarriage.  The plot of this film proved to be difficult because of the subject of having a baby.  Shooting was completed in 22 days.  Minnelli was in pre-production for An American in Paris 1951.  He shot this film while the sets were being built.  The baby’s nursery is decorated with characters from The Wizard of Oz 1939.  Billie Burke played Glinda the Good Witch.  This film was a big hit at the box office for MGM, earning a profit of $2,025,000 ($19M in 2017).