Father of the Bride
film by Minnelli [1950]
Father of the Bride, American comedy film, released in 1950, that is considered a classic of the genre, especially noted for Spencer Tracy’s performance. Tracy portrayed Stanley T. Banks, the exasperated father of a bride-to-be (played by Elizabeth Taylor). Told in flashback, the film chronicles Banks’s slow but steady descent into virtual madness by the day-to-day problems and expenses associated with the wedding. Tracy earned an Academy Award nomination for his subtle portrayal, and the supporting cast—including Joan Bennett, who played Banks’s wife, and Billie Burke as the mother of the groom—was also praised. The film, which was adeptly directed ...(100 of 125 words)