Father of the Bride

A comedy about the preparations for a wedding, told from the father's side. Stanley is a middle-class lawyer. One evening at dinner his daughter Kay says she is getting married. His first response is to question the groom; then the preparations begin and the matter becomes something else entirely: the guest list, the rehearsal dinner, the flowers, a budget that keeps growing and the order of the house turned upside down. The comedy comes not from exaggeration but from recognition. The father loses control at every stage and will not admit it; the narrative builds that patiently, scene by scene. The story proceeds through Stanley's narration, told in retrospect. Spencer Tracy plays the father and was Oscar-nominated; the film was also nominated for picture and screenplay. Elizabeth Taylor plays Kay. Vincente Minnelli directed. It did well commercially and a sequel followed the next year. A pleasant choice for anyone who likes classical Hollywood comedy and family films. For a viewer looking for a modern perspective, the film is entirely bound to the period's idea of family and gives the daughter's own point of view almost no room.