You gotta see this movie!
I'll talk at length about the one issue I had with this movie but you can just skip that if you like as I'll say right off the bat, I highly recommend The Marrying Kind!
For one, you get Judy Holliday! Really, that's enough to recommend anything. Second, you get her fourth outing with George Cukor (her second as the star). It also features a Garson Kanin screenplay. He didn't do too badly with Born Yesterday, did he? Plus you have a fun premiere role for Aldo Ray, a multi-faceted performance by Holliday and a superb slice-of-New-York-life in the early fifties.
Watch this movie!
Now this movie was a bit odd in its flow. The ads and trailers clearly touted a romantic comedy. The re-teaming of Holliday and Cukor furthered this. And the first half of the movie was as light and airy as one could hope for, though I always wish for more Holliday screen time. Then, at the picnic, the movie takes a decidedly heavier turn towards drama from which it never returns. This had to catch audiences in 1952 off guard.
I never mind a tempo change in a movie if it's done well. Hitchcock switched gears nicely with Psycho in 1960 by having the "star" killed halfway through and taking us from a crime drama to psychological horror. Miike pulled an incredible swerve in 1999 with Audition where, again at the midway point, we were jolted from a light romance into a film of violent horror.
There are others but you quickly run out of well-crafted examples and are left with lots of movies where the change is simply not executed well. It leaves audiences puzzled as to what they're watching. Movie-making is an art and, over the past century, the craftsmen have learned to condition us as to how to react and what to expect. When they betray this it must be in a skilled fashion that plays to the context of the story (such as the two examples above) or the audience feels annoyance.
The death of their son (and the heartbreaking moments that followed) felt really out of place with everything that had preceded it. As a viewer I prepared myself for the mental shift. If this is no longer Born Yesterday comedy then are we now going into serious melodrama? I waited for the payoff but it never came. The Marrying Kind continued along the same plot line, limping now as its comedic legs had taken out at the knees.
The death of their son was played like similar incidents in The Crowd (1928) and Gone With The Wind (1939). Both of these movies, however, were beautifully crafted dramas. Optimism shining through the lens of heartache and tragedy. Romantic comedies (and all light comedies) show optimism in the face of everyday troubles, usually brought about by situational misunderstandings and misdirection. Not necessarily mundane but certainly not life-altering.
For me, this shift didn't work well. It certainly doesn't alter my love for Holliday as my favorite all-time actress (along with Audrey Hepburn) nor my consideration of Cukor as one of my all-time favorite directors.
For her part Holliday remained sublime, delivering pitch-perfect comedy in the first half and gut-wrenching drama in the second. Though she was really only utilized in her short career as a comedienne (and there were none better to this viewer) she clearly could have been a superb dramatic actress.
Columbia made quite a deal out of "introducing Aldo Ray." While he didn't become the major star they were clearly hoping for he was nonetheless likable and engaging here. His masculine appeal and gruff voice was an interesting alternative to Holliday's usual romantic interests. Compare Ray's blue-collar Chet to the reserved and cultured Paul Verral of William Holden (Born Yesterday) or Richard Conte's polite and introverted Nick Rocco (Full of Life). Or, for Holliday's best on-screen chemistry see Jack Lemmon's quirky and neurotic beaus (It Should Happen To You and Phffft!).
So sit back, expect a sea-change in mood and enjoy the incomparable Judy Holliday as she once again works her screen magic. We love you Judy. We miss you.
I'll talk at length about the one issue I had with this movie but you can just skip that if you like as I'll say right off the bat, I highly recommend The Marrying Kind!
For one, you get Judy Holliday! Really, that's enough to recommend anything. Second, you get her fourth outing with George Cukor (her second as the star). It also features a Garson Kanin screenplay. He didn't do too badly with Born Yesterday, did he? Plus you have a fun premiere role for Aldo Ray, a multi-faceted performance by Holliday and a superb slice-of-New-York-life in the early fifties.
Watch this movie!
Now this movie was a bit odd in its flow. The ads and trailers clearly touted a romantic comedy. The re-teaming of Holliday and Cukor furthered this. And the first half of the movie was as light and airy as one could hope for, though I always wish for more Holliday screen time. Then, at the picnic, the movie takes a decidedly heavier turn towards drama from which it never returns. This had to catch audiences in 1952 off guard.
I never mind a tempo change in a movie if it's done well. Hitchcock switched gears nicely with Psycho in 1960 by having the "star" killed halfway through and taking us from a crime drama to psychological horror. Miike pulled an incredible swerve in 1999 with Audition where, again at the midway point, we were jolted from a light romance into a film of violent horror.
There are others but you quickly run out of well-crafted examples and are left with lots of movies where the change is simply not executed well. It leaves audiences puzzled as to what they're watching. Movie-making is an art and, over the past century, the craftsmen have learned to condition us as to how to react and what to expect. When they betray this it must be in a skilled fashion that plays to the context of the story (such as the two examples above) or the audience feels annoyance.
The death of their son (and the heartbreaking moments that followed) felt really out of place with everything that had preceded it. As a viewer I prepared myself for the mental shift. If this is no longer Born Yesterday comedy then are we now going into serious melodrama? I waited for the payoff but it never came. The Marrying Kind continued along the same plot line, limping now as its comedic legs had taken out at the knees.
The death of their son was played like similar incidents in The Crowd (1928) and Gone With The Wind (1939). Both of these movies, however, were beautifully crafted dramas. Optimism shining through the lens of heartache and tragedy. Romantic comedies (and all light comedies) show optimism in the face of everyday troubles, usually brought about by situational misunderstandings and misdirection. Not necessarily mundane but certainly not life-altering.
For me, this shift didn't work well. It certainly doesn't alter my love for Holliday as my favorite all-time actress (along with Audrey Hepburn) nor my consideration of Cukor as one of my all-time favorite directors.
For her part Holliday remained sublime, delivering pitch-perfect comedy in the first half and gut-wrenching drama in the second. Though she was really only utilized in her short career as a comedienne (and there were none better to this viewer) she clearly could have been a superb dramatic actress.
Columbia made quite a deal out of "introducing Aldo Ray." While he didn't become the major star they were clearly hoping for he was nonetheless likable and engaging here. His masculine appeal and gruff voice was an interesting alternative to Holliday's usual romantic interests. Compare Ray's blue-collar Chet to the reserved and cultured Paul Verral of William Holden (Born Yesterday) or Richard Conte's polite and introverted Nick Rocco (Full of Life). Or, for Holliday's best on-screen chemistry see Jack Lemmon's quirky and neurotic beaus (It Should Happen To You and Phffft!).
So sit back, expect a sea-change in mood and enjoy the incomparable Judy Holliday as she once again works her screen magic. We love you Judy. We miss you.