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The Catered Affair

  • 19561956
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
The Catered Affair (1956)
At breakfast, Jane announces that she and Ralph are getting married the next week. All Jane and Ralph want is a small wedding with the immediate family and no reception, because Jane's parents are poor and Jane and Ralph can borrow a car for their honeymoon. But at dinner that night, all Ralph's parents talk about are the big weddings they gave their daughters, and everything escalates. Suddenly it's a big wedding breakfast with hundreds of guests. The problem is that for 12 years, Tom has been saving money to buy his own cab and license, but now that he can, all of that money is going towards a wedding that neither he nor Jane nor Ralph really want.
Play trailer2:26
1 Video
33 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Romance

When Jane tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran, her mother Agnes starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it.When Jane tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran, her mother Agnes starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it.When Jane tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran, her mother Agnes starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it.

IMDb RATING
7.4/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Richard Brooks
  • Writers
    • Gore Vidal(screenplay)
    • Paddy Chayefsky(play)
  • Stars
    • Bette Davis
    • Ernest Borgnine
    • Debbie Reynolds
Top credits
  • Director
    • Richard Brooks
  • Writers
    • Gore Vidal(screenplay)
    • Paddy Chayefsky(play)
  • Stars
    • Bette Davis
    • Ernest Borgnine
    • Debbie Reynolds
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 57User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:26
    Official Trailer

    Photos33

    Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, and Debbie Reynolds in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Bette Davis and Debbie Reynolds in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Debbie Reynolds in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Debbie Reynolds and Rod Taylor in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Debbie Reynolds in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Barry Fitzgerald in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Debbie Reynolds and Rod Taylor in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, and Barry Fitzgerald in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine in The Catered Affair (1956)
    Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, and Debbie Reynolds in The Catered Affair (1956)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bette Davis
    Bette Davis
    • Aggie Hurleyas Aggie Hurley
    Ernest Borgnine
    Ernest Borgnine
    • Tom Hurleyas Tom Hurley
    Debbie Reynolds
    Debbie Reynolds
    • Jane Hurleyas Jane Hurley
    Barry Fitzgerald
    Barry Fitzgerald
    • Uncle Jack Conlonas Uncle Jack Conlon
    Rod Taylor
    Rod Taylor
    • Ralph Halloranas Ralph Halloran
    Robert F. Simon
    Robert F. Simon
    • Mr. Joe Halloranas Mr. Joe Halloran
    • (as Robert Simon)
    Madge Kennedy
    Madge Kennedy
    • Mrs. Joe Halloranas Mrs. Joe Halloran
    Dorothy Stickney
    Dorothy Stickney
    • Mrs. Raffertyas Mrs. Rafferty
    Carol Veazie
    Carol Veazie
    • Mrs. Caseyas Mrs. Casey
    Joan Camden
    Joan Camden
    • Alice Scanlonas Alice Scanlon
    Ray Stricklyn
    Ray Stricklyn
    • Eddie Hurleyas Eddie Hurley
    Jay Adler
    Jay Adler
    • Sam Leiteras Sam Leiter
    Dan Tobin
    Dan Tobin
    • Hotel Catereras Hotel Caterer
    Paul Denton
    • Bill Scanlonas Bill Scanlon
    Augusta Merighi
    • Mrs. Mussoas Mrs. Musso
    Joan Bradshaw
    Joan Bradshaw
    • Girl on Phoneas Girl on Phone
    • (uncredited)
    Janice Carroll
    • Mrs. Casey's Daughter-in-lawas Mrs. Casey's Daughter-in-law
    • (uncredited)
    Mae Clarke
    Mae Clarke
    • Saleswomanas Saleswoman
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Richard Brooks
    • Writers
      • Gore Vidal(screenplay)
      • Paddy Chayefsky(play)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    At breakfast, Jane announces that she and Ralph are getting married the next week. All Jane and Ralph want is a small wedding with the immediate family and no reception, because Jane's parents are poor and Jane and Ralph can borrow a car for their honeymoon. But at dinner that night, all Ralph's parents talk about are the big weddings they gave their daughters, and everything escalates. Suddenly it's a big wedding breakfast with hundreds of guests. The problem is that for 12 years, Tom has been saving money to buy his own cab and license, but now that he can, all of that money is going towards a wedding that neither he nor Jane nor Ralph really want. —Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
    • wedding
    • new york city
    • based on tv movie
    • money
    • lingerie slip
    • 25 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • When you're in love, nothing else matters
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Certificate
      • Approved
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Craggy-faced Ernest Borgnine was 39 when this film came out, only 15 years older than his film daughter Debbie Reynolds, who was 24. His wife in the film, Bette Davis, was 48.
    • Goofs
      Real-life radio soap opera "The Romance of Helen Trent" is heard on the radio while Hurley family members are waking up, eating breakfast, and preparing to leave for work; in reality, radio soaps weren't broadcast until late mornings/afternoons and/or evenings.
    • Quotes

      Agnes Hurley: You're going to have a big wedding whether you like it or not! And if you don't like it, you don't have to come!

    • Alternate versions
      Also shown in a computer colorized version.
    • Connections
      Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Bette Davis (1977)
    • Soundtracks
      Cailín Deas Crúite na mBó (A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow)
      Traditional 18th-century Irish ballad

    User reviews57

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    To Live And Die And Get Married In The Bronx
    Paddy Chayefsky wrote this second ode to the Bronx to follow up what he had received in acclaim from Marty. Though The Catered Affair did not win all the awards that Marty did, it certainly is a well done film with a lot of merit on its own.

    The Jewish Chayefsky certainly was a good observer of the other cultures where he grew up. Marty was about an Italian butcher who starts to find romance late in his life. The Catered Affair is about a young Irish couple getting married and the effect a big wedding is having on the family finances and structure.

    Ernest Borgnine switches quite easily from working class Bronx Italian to working class Bronx Irish. He barely makes enough to support a wife, two surviving children and a brother-in-law, Barry Fitzgerald who lives with them. One son was killed during World War II.

    Bette Davis was at her most drab on the screen, but that's not to say she was not great. Richard Brooks put a tight rein on all her Betteisms and got a fabulous performance out of her as the Bronx housewife who wants to live vicariously through a big wedding for daughter Debbie Reynolds. It's been a hard life for her and the family and she wants a little glamor in it.

    Rod Taylor and Debbie Reynolds are an appealing young couple and Robert F. Simon and Madge Kennedy do fine as Taylor's parents. The best part of A Catered Affair is Barry Fitzgerald and Dorothy Stickney as the woman who woos him away from free loading on his sister. Davis and Borgnine certainly had a challenge just to keep the whole picture from being stolen by Barry Fitzgerald in what was really his last great part.

    A few people have compared The Catered Affair with Father of the Bride and the problems that upper middle class lawyer Spencer Tracy faces as compared to lower middle class cab driver Ernest Borgnine faces in giving their daughters an expensive wedding. It's that other Bronx family of the same era, the fabulous and illegally rich Corleones that beggars comparison. I look at that wedding scene that from The Godfather and the lavishness that was bestowed on Talia Shire's wedding and who wouldn't want a wedding like that. But I have a feeling that Reynolds and Taylor will make it last, a lot more than the much married Connie Corleone did.

    I did so like looking at the Bronx in the Fifties where at least some establishing shots were done. The first time I was in the Bronx was for my first Yankee game. It's changed a lot now, but a place like Morris Park for the Italians and Woodlawn for the Irish still has the flavor of the areas where the Hurleys and Hallorans of The Catered Affair and the Pilettis from Marty lived and worked.

    And if you like seeing the New York of your childhood, The Catered Affair is a film to enjoy.
    helpful•19
    2
    • bkoganbing
    • Apr 25, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 22, 1956 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Svadbeni ručak
    • Filming locations
      • Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,008,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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