Father of the Bride

Father of the Bride is a 1950 American comedy about Stanley Banks, a lawyer whose settled life is upended when his daughter Kay announces she intends to marry Buckley Dunstan. While his wife Ellie welcomes the news, Stanley greets it with alarm, and he soon finds himself swept up in engagement introductions, a future son-in-law he must size up, and the mounting expense of a wedding party. Much of the story unfolds as Stanley looks back over the months leading to the ceremony, from the first announcement to the last guest leaving the reception, mixing domestic comedy with the pang of losing a daughter to adulthood.

The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, the fifth of the fourteen features he directed in chronological order, following The Pirate and preceding An American in Paris. Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett wrote the screenplay, and Pandro S. Berman produced for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Spencer Tracy plays Stanley, with Joan Bennett as Ellie, Elizabeth Taylor as Kay, Don Taylor as Buckley, Billie Burke as Doris Dunstan and Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Massoula, among a credited cast of ninety-two. It runs 92 minutes.

Made and released in 1950, the film holds a 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb from around 13,000 votes and a 7 out of 10 on TMDB from some 244 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5 out of 10 from thirty reviews places it somewhat above the audience scores.