The Catered Affair

Released May 30, 1956

1 hr. 33 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

17%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

When Jane (Debbie Reynolds) tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran (Rod Taylor), her mother, Agnes (Bette Davis), starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it. Another complication is that Jane's father, Tom (Ernest Borgnine), is a cabdriver and cannot afford an expensive catered wedding. As Agnes starts inviting more guests and the arrangements become more complicated, it creates tension with both her daughter and her husband.

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Steve D

Sort of a non event but you really feel for these people.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/08/24

Full Review

john e

I really enjoyed this one, even though it was a sad journey into the drab and unfulfilled lives of the parents of a young woman about to enter into marriage. The acting is top notch and the story truly touching, but I couldn't help feel for some reason that despite how good she was, that Bette Davis was miscast. A solid B on this one from me!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this ensemble movie. I found it engrossing, tender, compelling, sad and sweet. Every character played his/her part with sincerity, skill, artistry and dedication. I especially loved the happy ending. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I thought the performances were good. I think that its difficult to watch the family stress and delusional mother. Its what brings the film down . But it snaps back when the realization that the 'white satin book' is not what will bring love and happiness to the marriage. Its just plain love of family.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

While it lacks the zing and verve of Davis classics like "All About Eve" it is a great performance by Davis in a middling film. Any Davis fan owes it to themselves to see it. Both Davis and Reynolds work against type and succeed, it's up to the audience to decide whether they're willing to let them.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

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Richard Brooks

Director

Bette Davis

Mrs. Agnes Hurley

Ernest Borgnine

Tom Hurley

Debbie Reynolds

Jane Hurley

Barry Fitzgerald

Uncle Jack Conlon

Rod Taylor

Ralph Halloran

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Variety Staff

Variety

Overall, the performances are good and there are occasionally amusing and touching momemts in the otherwise talky, mostly drab, affair under Richard Brooks' direction.

Apr 8, 2008

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Richard Brooks directed in a sort of free-wheeling way that carries the action jumpily from poignancy to farce and from moments of frowsy frustration to scenes of vulgar squawling en famille.

Mar 25, 2006

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

The tragedy got lost somewhere in Richard Brooks's crushingly blunt direction.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

TV Guide

This eminently watchable misfire divides amateur and professional critics alike.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 8, 2008

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Kitchen Sink Realism Paddy Chayefsky style and Bette Davis as a frumpy Bronx housewife sounds like contradiction in terms, and it is.

Rated: C+

Mar 25, 2008

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Plays like Marty but without the same winsome appeal.

Rated: C

Nov 26, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

When Jane (Debbie Reynolds) tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran (Rod Taylor), her mother, Agnes (Bette Davis), starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it. Another complication is that Jane's father, Tom (Ernest Borgnine), is a cabdriver and cannot afford an expensive catered wedding. As Agnes starts inviting more guests and the arrangements become more complicated, it creates tension with both her daughter and her husband.

Director: Richard Brooks
Screenwriter: Gore Vidal
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 1956, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017

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