00:08Hi, I'm Ben Mankiewicz. Welcome to TCM where because it's Father's Day, we've got a double
00:13feature of movie dads. As a father, I can tell you all I want from my daughter Joni is to
00:20grow up
00:20happy and healthy. Joni's not right. Jessie, Jessie, I want her to grow up happy and Jessie's
00:28not it either. What is her name? It's definitely a J. Josie, boom, nailed it. So long as my daughter
00:36Josie grows up to be happy, whatever, because that's the greatest gift a father could get.
00:42One of the greatest, anyway. I need a new briefcase. That one would be great.
00:48We begin tonight's double feature with the story of a daughter who has the gall, the temerity,
00:53the chutzpah, to fall in love, get engaged, and plan a giant wedding that her father has to pay
01:00for and host. From MGM in 1950, Spencer Tracy leads a cast that includes Joan Bennett and Elizabeth
01:06Taylor in Father of the Bride. Tracy's the title character with Taylor as his daughter, his bride-to-be.
01:12The film is less about her romance than it is about Tracy dealing with the careening freight train that
01:18is planning a wedding for your little girl while simultaneously coming to terms with the notion
01:24that the little kid you were singing to sleep like six days earlier is suddenly starting a life of her
01:30own. Father of the Bride is based on a book by Edward Streeter, adapted for the screen by the husband
01:36and wife writing team of Albert Hackett and Francis Goodrich. Hackett and Goodrich had a reputation for
01:42exhibiting a deft touch. You can see it in movies like The Thin Man, It's a Wonderful Life,
01:47an Easter Parade. Initially, though, they struggled to craft the novel's anecdotal approach into a
01:53cohesive screenplay. MGM production chief Dory Sherry encouraged them through draft after draft
02:00until they had a story that would translate to the screen. Now, from the start, Hackett and Goodrich
02:05wrote it with Spencer Tracy in mind. Still, that didn't deter Jack Benny from campaigning to get the
02:11part. He even did a screen test for director Vincent Minnelli, one that didn't go very well.
02:17Like his writers, Minnelli also wanted Spencer Tracy for the role, but when Tracy learned about Jack
02:22Benny's screen test, his pride took a hit. Tracy turned the part down. Minnelli sprang into action
02:29doing what a number of producers and directors of the era needed to do to get Tracy to change his
02:34mind.
02:34They reached out to Katherine Hepburn. If she agreed to help, it became much easier to get Tracy on board
02:41with a project. Hepburn went to work, and Tracy changed his mind, delivering an exquisite performance
02:47that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. From MGM in 1950, also with Don Taylor and
02:54Russ Tamblyn, Father of the Bride.
02:56Russ Tamblyn, Father of the Bride.
03:04Russ Tamblyn, Father of the Bride.
03:06Russ Tamblyn, Father of the Bride.
03:06Russ Tamblyn, Father of the Bride.
03:07Russ Tamblyn, Father of the Bride.
