Father's Little Dividend

Not long after marrying off his daughter, Stanley Banks is hit with fresh news: Kay is pregnant. He barely survived one wedding; now he is going to be a grandfather and cannot digest the idea. Through the months before the birth he contends both with his own ageing and with his daughter now belonging to another household. Vincente Minnelli's film continues Father of the Bride, which he made the year before. The same cast returned: Spencer Tracy as the father, Joan Bennett as the mother, Elizabeth Taylor as the daughter. The telling again runs through Stanley's interior voice, and the comedy is built largely on panics that do not suit him. The usual problem with sequels applies: the setup rests on the first film's success and produces no new idea. Tracy's performance holds the tone together anyway. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1950s Hollywood family comedy, Spencer Tracy, and anyone who enjoyed the first film. Who it's not for: As a sequel it falls short of the original and the plot is slight. Its view of family roles is entirely of its period.