The Tender Trap | |
---|---|
Directed by | Charles Walters |
Written by | Julius J. Epstein |
Based on | The Tender Trap 1954 play by Max Shulman Robert Paul Smith |
Produced by | Lawrence Weingarten |
Starring | Frank Sinatra Debbie Reynolds David Wayne Celeste Holm |
Cinematography | Paul Vogel |
Edited by | John D. Dunning |
Music by | Jeff Alexander |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,274,000 [1] |
Box office | $4,495,000 [1] [2] |
The Tender Trap is a 1955 American comedy film starring Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, and Celeste Holm. Directed by Charles Walters, the CinemaScope Eastman Color production was based on the 1954 play The Tender Trap by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith.
It marked Sinatra's return to MGM some six years after On the Town . A second film under a new contract with the studio, Guys and Dolls , was actually released ahead of The Tender Trap by one day on November 3, 1955.
The film earned an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original Song for "(Love Is) the Tender Trap" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn). The song proved a hit for Sinatra, one he would continue to sing throughout his career. It is performed in a pre-credits sequence by Sinatra, sung in the film by Reynolds in a lackluster version that Sinatra corrects, and yet again at the end of the film by Sinatra, Reynolds, Holm and Wayne.
Charlie Y. Reader is a 35-year-old theatrical agent in New York City, living a seemingly idyllic life as a swinging bachelor. Numerous attractive women – among them Poppy, Helen, and Jessica – come and go, cleaning, cooking for, and enjoying his charms.
Charlie's best friend since kindergarten, Joe McCall, comes from Indianapolis to stay with him, claiming that the excitement is gone from his 11-year marriage and he wants a divorce. Joe envies and is amazed by Charlie's parade of girlfriends, while Charlie professes admiration for Joe's married life and family.
At an audition, Charlie meets singer-actress Julie Gillis. She has her life planned to a tight schedule, determined to marry and retire from performing to a life of child-rearing by 22. Although at first she wards off Charlie's advances, she comes to see him as the ideal man for her plans. Julie demands that Charlie stop seeing other women. Charlie balks, but he begins to fall in love with her.
Joe starts keeping company with Sylvia Crewes, a sophisticated classical musician and a typically neglected lover of Charlie's. Sylvia is approaching 33 and desires marriage as much as the younger Julie does, but just does not show it the same way.
One day, annoyed by Julie and possibly jealous of Joe's attentions, Charlie blurts out a proposal of marriage to Sylvia. She is thrilled, only to discover the morning after their riotous engagement party that he has proposed to Julie as well.
Joe confesses his love to Sylvia and asks her to marry him. She turns him down, knowing that he loves his wife and children. Sylvia reminds Joe that girls turn into wives when they marry and she wants the same things Ethel does. On her way out, Sylvia runs into a charming stranger of both wealth and culture who is instantly taken with her.
Joe packs up and returns to his wife. Charlie, his other girlfriends also having moved on with their lives, leaves for Europe for a year.
Charlie returns just in time to see Sylvia marrying the new man in her life. She flips him the bridal bouquet. Julie is also at the wedding. Charlie tosses the flowers to her, then asks her to marry him. She agrees and they kiss.
The film was a substantial hit for MGM. With a budget of $1,274,000 [1] it returned a combined US and international gross of $4,495,000 [1] [3]
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer with her portrayal of Helen Kane in the 1950 film Three Little Words. Her breakout role was her first leading role, as Kathy Selden in Singin' in the Rain (1952). Her other successes include The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), Susan Slept Here (1954), Bundle of Joy, The Catered Affair, and Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), in which her performance of the song "Tammy" topped the Billboard music charts. In 1959, she starred in The Mating Game and released her first pop music album, titled Debbie.
James Van Heusen was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
Celeste Holm was an American stage, film and television actress.
Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer.
Maximilian Shulman was an American writer and humorist best known for his television and short story character Dobie Gillis, as well as for best-selling novels.
David Wayne was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Athena is a 1954 American romantic musical comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Jane Powell, Edmund Purdom, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Louis Calhern, Steve Reeves, and Evelyn Varden. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to That's Entertainment! (1974). Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.
Charles Powell Walters was an American Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Guys and Dolls is a 1955 American musical film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine. The picture was made by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the 1950 Broadway musical by composer and lyricist Frank Loesser, with a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, which, in turn, was loosely based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon. Dances were choreographed by Michael Kidd, who had staged the dances for the Broadway production.
High Society is a 1956 soundtrack album, featuring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Grace Kelly. This was Crosby's fifth LP album, and his first recorded for Capitol Records. It was the soundtrack for the MGM feature film High Society, also released in 1956. Initially issued on vinyl either in mono or stereo format, the album has been issued on CD by Capitol in Japan in 1991 and by Capitol in the UK in 1995. The album was also included in a 3-CD box set called "Original Soundtrack Recordings" issued by the EMI Music Group Australasia
It Started with a Kiss is a 1959 American romantic comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds and Eva Gabor. It was shot in Metrocolor and CinemaScope.
The Tender Trap may refer to:
"(Love Is) The Tender Trap" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn.
Susan Slept Here is a 1954 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds. Shot in Technicolor, the film is based on the play of the same name by Steve Fisher and Alex Gottlieb. Tashlin later revised the film's plotline and reused it in 1962 for the production Bachelor Flat. Comedian Red Skelton has a minor role.
Goodbye Charlie is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds and Pat Boone. The film is about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's 1959 play Goodbye, Charlie. The play provided the basis for the 1991 film Switch, with Ellen Barkin and Jimmy Smits.
Frank Sinatra had many close relationships throughout his life. He was married four times and had at least six other notable relationships in between. He had three verified children, as well as more than one of questionable paternity.
Hit the Deck is a 1955 American musical film directed by Roy Rowland and starring Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Walter Pidgeon, Vic Damone, Gene Raymond, Ann Miller, and Russ Tamblyn. It is based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name – which was itself based on the hit 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne – and was shot in CinemaScope. Although the film featured some songs from the stage musical, the plot was different. Standards featured in the film include "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Know that You Know", and "Hallelujah".
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis is a 1953 American comedy musical film directed by Don Weis. The film is based on the short stories by Max Shulman collected as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Bobby Van played Gillis in this musical version, co-starring with Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse.
The Tender Trap is a 1954 play by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith. It is a three-act farce, with a small cast, one setting, and moderate pacing. The story concerns a bachelor with a trio of professional women and a recent college grad as girl friends, who tries to avoid their suggestions of marriage.