Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Member of the Wedding

Play trailer Poster for The Member of the Wedding Released Dec 30, 1952 1h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
86% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Bookish tomboy Frankie Addams (Julie Harris) doesn't get along with the rest of the girls in her tiny southern town. Depressed, socially isolated and perched on the verge of adolescence, Frankie takes refuge with the family maid, Berenice (Ethel Waters), and pals around with her young cousin, John Henry (Brandon de Wilde), while secretly fantasizing about going away with her brother, Jarvis (Arthur Franz), and his new bride, Janice (Nancy Gates), on their honeymoon to Alaska.

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Bosley Crowther New York Times The story is pleasantly enacted and the scenery and skiing are superb. Rated: 3.5/5 Mar 25, 2006 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Dull and droopy -- a stage transplant that didn't take. Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Manny Farber The Nation Though the Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers's prize-winning play about the last days of childhood, betrays its stage origin on the screen, it has been made into a somewhat amusing, and moving, sometimes improbable picture. Nov 24, 2020 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Zinnemann manages to retain McCullers' narrative poetry in this sterling adaptation, and remains one of those aching, forlorn vintage classics worthy of greater renown. Rated: 4/5 Sep 30, 2020 Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine The camera's cruel literalness makes it all too obvious that talented Julie Harris is a mature actress, rather than the agonized southern adolescent she portrays. Despite the film's evident sincerity, it is too thin dramatically. Dec 3, 2019 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row The film often betrays its stage roots, with its single setting and long stretches of dialogue, but Zinnemann wisely steps back and allows the actors to carry it. Rated: 3.5/4 Jun 4, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (27) audience reviews
Linda H Not everyone will "identify" with this movie.....but it is a masterpiece of the kind of movie which transports one in time.....and also dramatizes a universal feeling of the young teen girl in a certain type of location and time. It will emotionally affect anyone with deep feelings and sympathy ....and yeah...this is not everyone's cup of tea. The deeper your feelings go, the more you will appreciate this movie. Linda Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/02/25 Full Review steve d It has not aged well. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member serious and obvious flaw in miscasting a mature Harris as the edge-of-puberty protagonist, which over-eggs the stereotype of how young girls can be fond of melodramatics. perhaps the producer and director (big names kramer and zinnemann) didn't care to push two child actors in the same production, though dewilde's work is remarkable for his very first film (granted, his initiation in the role had come in the stage production). his work redeems the film, with of course the remarkable ms. waters. zinnemann redeems the film with irony, and making ms.waters the focus of the ending, a subversive touch. 'john henry' starts the hymn 'his eye is on the sparrow', waters makes it magical, yet henry's prolonged, painful, and fatal illness (off camera in the manner of classic tragedy) makes him the sparrow no one watched. the ending's focus on bernice exposes how the love and care she devoted to john henry and frankie made her no less marginalized to the families she worked for. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member The actors make the most of a rather plodding story. It is surprising that this film received all the honours that it did. It was behind its time. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Some good acting by Ethel Waters in this slice of life and coming of age drama. The usually superior Julie Harris is shrill and annoying trying to be convincing as a 12 year old. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member harris' shreaking hysterics give me a headache Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Member of the Wedding

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
Cyrano de Bergerac 74% 81% Cyrano de Bergerac Watchlist A Child Is Waiting 92% 74% A Child Is Waiting Watchlist The Defiant Ones 90% 88% The Defiant Ones Watchlist Clash by Night 63% 69% Clash by Night Watchlist Back Street 80% % Back Street Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All The Member of the Wedding photos

The Member of the Wedding

The Member of the Wedding (1952) The Member of the Wedding (1952) The Member of the Wedding (1952) The Member of the Wedding (1952) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Bookish tomboy Frankie Addams (Julie Harris) doesn't get along with the rest of the girls in her tiny southern town. Depressed, socially isolated and perched on the verge of adolescence, Frankie takes refuge with the family maid, Berenice (Ethel Waters), and pals around with her young cousin, John Henry (Brandon de Wilde), while secretly fantasizing about going away with her brother, Jarvis (Arthur Franz), and his new bride, Janice (Nancy Gates), on their honeymoon to Alaska.
Director
Fred Zinnemann
Producer
Stanley Kramer
Screenwriter
Carson McCullers, Edna Anhalt, Edward Anhalt
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Stanley Kramer Company
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 30, 1952, Original
Runtime
1h 31m
Sound Mix
Mono, Stereo