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Excellent adaptation.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Blistering performances.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This family drama is a quiet little movie, so if you're looking for a lot of action or a complicated plot, it's probably not for you. What it does offer is fantastic acting, a nuanced story, and a study in characters. Bette Davis plays a middle-aged housewife married to her cabbie husband (Ernest Borgnine). One morning, their daughter (Debbie Reynolds) casually announces to them that she intends to get married (to Rod Taylor), and that the two of them are going to have a simple legal ceremony with only immediate family present. In part because Davis didn't get a wedding herself and in part because she's disillusioned with her own marriage, she begins lobbying Reynolds to have a bigger wedding. I won't say anything more about the plot. There are some outstanding scenes with supporting actors in the movie, including one with the groom-to-be's parents at a dinner party (Robert Simon and Madge Kennedy), and others with the bride- to-be's elderly uncle, a confirmed bachelor, and a woman he sees socially (Barry Fitzgerald and Dorothy Stickney). In fact, Fitzgerald and Stickney were probably my favorite part of the movie, but it's hard to deny the excellent performances Davis, Borgnine, and Reynolds all deliver. Director Richard Brooks was brave in giving them the limelight in a "less is more" approach, and it paid off. It's hard to fathom some of the "professional" critics' negative reviews, and even though these things are always a bit subjective, I think if you like 'small' movies, you'll like this one.

This is a superb chamber play, with just a handful of actors.Ernest Borgnine, Bette Davies, and the rest of the cast are just magnificent! Seldom I've watched such a 'Kammerspeile' that has me smiling so much as this one, although it is a pretty sad story!Each time I see this movie, it brings a smile to my face, although it is mostly a sad tale about the realities of life!A hard to find DVD, by the way, my copy being Spanish; far from my native language!Nothing more to add!IMDb needs ten lines, hope this is enough!If not, I give up!

I can't think of many films off hand in which every member of the cast excels. But, "The Catered Affair" of 1956 is one such movie. Billed as a comedy, drama and romance, this film is a wonderful slice of life of a mid-20th century family living in the Bronx of New York City. Better Davis is superb as Mrs. Agnes Hurley, mother of three adult children, including a son who was killed in Korea. Ernest Borgnine is excellent as her husband, Tom Hurley, who drives a hack for a living. Indeed, the word for taxicab used in the film is indicative of the time and place. Davis plays a different role from her usual caustic, conniving and crass character. According to the trivia section of her bio on IMDb, her role in this film was her favorite part, because of its challenge. From Davis's acknowledgment of her being a difficult actress with whom to work, one wonders if the challenge in the part was showing signs of care and love, through a hardened character. Her IMDb bio has some of her quotes. In one she says, "Until you're known in my profession as a monster, you're not a star." That may reflect more her personal character than it does Hollywood or Broadway in general. There surely have been some tough cookies that casts and crews have had to endure, but the list of Hollywood stars include at least as many women of admirable traits and beloved character. Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr, Claudette Colbert, Audrey Hepburn, Loretta Young, Olivia de Havilland, and Irene Dunne are just a few who come immediately to mind. The rest of the cast are very good as well. Debbie Reynolds is the Hurley's daughter, Jane. Rod Taylor plays her fiancé, Ralph Halloran. Robert Simon is superb as Ralph's father, and Madge Kennedy is very good as his mother. Dorothy Stickney is wonderful as Mrs. Rafferty, and Barry Fitzgerald is excellent as Uncle Jack Conlon.

Let me limn in the situation in Paddy Chayevsky's story briefly. We're in a poor, Irish, working-class household in the 1950s Bronx. Hubby Ernest Borgnine is an exhausted cab driver who has managed to scrape together four thousand dollars to buy a medallion so he can own his own taxi. Wife Davis runs the household. There are two kids. (There used to be three but Terence was killed in Korea.) Reynolds announces at breakfast that she and boyfriend Taylor are going to be married -- a small wedding before they take off for their honeymoon out West. There's a younger son, too, but he's about to leave for basic training at Fort Dix. And then there is uncle Jack Conlon, Fitzgerald, who has lived in the apartment and contributed to it for twelve years.When Debbie Reynolds announces that she and Taylor just want a quick marriage so they can get away, conflict erupts. It becomes clear that Bette Davis is something of a tyrant. She insists on a big, expensive, catered affair that no one else wants, and she sets about preparing it. It's sort of a "Mother of the Bride" comedy at times.The pathetic Borgnine's eyes bulge out with each new addition to the cost of the catered affair. Soon, without even trying, not only are his life savings committed but he's getting up to his ears in debt. He balks. Debbie Reynolds balks. Rod Taylor balks. But it's no use. Davis is adamant.The real battle is not over the wedding. It's a question of who makes the rules around here. And it gradually emerges that the quietly sullen Borgnine has over the years accepted the tyranny of Davis. It also develops that Davis, in staging this enormous, unwanted ritual for her daughter, is making up for the kind of wedding she herself never had. We also come to sense the distance between the beaten Borgnine and the well-meaning virago his wife has become. There's some humor involved, especially revolving around Barry Fitzgerald, his buddies at the Green Grass Grille, his tippling, and his extremely practical approach to romance.It's the kind of story about the Little People that Chayevsky handled with aplomb, but it's weak for a couple of reasons. One is that the domineering wife is a stereotype -- a complex one, but still a stereotype. And the conflict -- big affair versus quiet marriage -- isn't very compelling. It's the kind of issue that is easily gotten out of, whereas Borgnine's finding a way around his unprepossessing appearance and lack of confidence in "Marty" was something that all of us could identify with, except perhaps Lady GaGa. His stockiness and flabby features were a prison.The film also suffers from being stage bound. There are only two or three second-unit shots of New York City. This cries out for location shooting. What the hell does the Green Grass Grille look like? Is it as cozy as McSorley's Old Ale House? It's also an example of really bad casting. Borgnine is okay, but Bette Davis has too much class. She does what she can to disguise it -- double negatives and dropped g's -- but her conception of New York speech is all wrong. Debbie Reynolds is extravagantly pretty, and sexy too, but even with the clumsy grammar she is not New York. (She's from Texas.) The likable Rod Taylor, an Australian, is no better. It isn't that you have to BE from New York to be convincing in these kinds of roles. Don Murry (b. Hollywood) was persuasive enough in "Hatful of Rain" and "Bachelor Party." Others from elsewhere -- Eg., E. G. Marshall -- are honorary New Yorkers. It may sound finicky here but it's important to the story that the characters seem authentic -- and most of them do not.There are some memorable lines in it though, and Paddy Chayevsky can hardly go wrong in dealing with material like this. Not among his best works but worth catching.