THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956) B/W widescreen 93m dir: Richard Brooks

w/Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds, Rod Taylor, Barry Fitzgerald, Robert F. Simon, Madge Kennedy, Dorothy Stickney, Carol Veazie, Joan Camden

From The Movie Guide: "Interesting misfire but eminently watchable, this one has divided amateur and pro critics alike. The adaptation by [Gore] Vidal from [Paddy] Chayefsky's brilliant teleplay concerns a poor Bronx husband and wife wrangling over expenses for their beloved daughter's wedding. Following his triumph in another Chayefsky teleplay-to-screenplay effort, MARTY, the previous year, Borgnine acquits himself honorably as an Irish taxi driver. Davis indeed wrestles with the accent, but she's a mistress of tortured regret getting its own way; even stuck with the rattiest wiglet in showbiz history, when Davis cries on her bed, all our reservations melt away. Reynolds is very touching; it's quite nice to see her away from the sis-boom-bah roles, and a shame she didn't do it more often. But for Barry Fitzgerald, doing his tired old leprechaun bit ten years too late in this attempt at kitchen sink realism, we'd get out the horsewhip in a moment's notice, and we wouldn't spare the steed."