The Tender Trap (1955) User Reviews

Not perfect, but what movie is?

[canadian_applepie · 7/10 · 15 August 2006]

The tender trap is a Sinatra film, a fifties time capsule. As such, it comes fully loaded with a swinger versus good girl mentality. The woman always wants the picket fence and the man always wants the ultimate bachelor lifestyle (in Sinatra's case, complete with sexy dog-walkers and cheese delivery). So with this sort of fluffy 50's movie, it's easy to scoff and call it outdated and campy, and neglect to consider the fact that perhaps there lingers in it the tragedy of the era. My apologies for melodrama. But in the character of Sylvie (the unforgettable Celeste Holmes) is there encompassed a certain element of poignance that is strange to find in such a film as this.

In the midst of the predictable plot and romantic mayhem sorted out so simply, perhaps by fate, perhaps by unimaginative writing. But in Celeste Holmes is there contained something deeper. A regret, hopelessness, I'll-settle-for-anything quality of the middle-aged (or thereabouts) successful career woman who didn't go for a family right away, and thus finds herself condemned to either "Married men. Drunks. Pretty boys looking for someone to support them. Lunatics looking for their fifth divorce!" or a Sinatra. To see her sitting at a table across from Debbie Reynolds, 21, with all her plan figured out beforehand, claiming that without such precautions a woman runs the risk of spinsterhood. You can't help but feel for the spinster herself as she gazes with quiet desperation at Sinatra. Her last hope.

Yes The Tender Trap had quite a few weaknesses, but in all, I can't help but find it strange and lovely to find such fluff encrusted poignance. Sinatra and Debbie were cute, but when it came down to it, Celeste Holmes was magnificent.

Bright, breezy but ultimately unsatisfying

[Bob-45 · 5/10 · 5 December 2000]

A great title tune, attractive cast, mostly sharp dialogue, can't miss, right? Wrong; this is one of the most disappointing misfires of the 1950s, due largely to the lack of chemistry between Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. The problem is largely due to the Reynold's character, which is so poorly written. Even the perky Reynolds can do nothing with this part. Fortunately she is off camera for most of the film. Unfortunately, that means there is no payoff for the film. If you must watch it, you will enjoy David Wayne and Celeste Holm. Otherwise, don't expect much.

Pleasantly bland

[YakovDavid · 5/10 · 1 March 2002]

With the wonderful cast that this movie boasts, I really hoped this could have been a better movie. Blame the screenplay. It's the tale of a an urbane, irresponsible and very single male (the perfectly cast Frank Sinatra) being roped into domesticity by a simple and sincere young girl (Debbie Reynolds, who is pretty stiff and unspontaneous here). The message of the movie is that people cannot avoid their biological destiny...that they are happily doomed to meet and mate. Fair enough. That's been the premise of many a great screwball comedy and many great movie romances. The problem here is that everything is so predictable! There are no pleasant surprises in the characters here. All of the performers seem willing and able, but the script and direction are uninspired. The character played by Debbie is meant to be as cute as a button but is only annoying, and Frank never appears genuinely smitten. Even Franks's rendition of the title tune seems careful and sedate. Our couple here seemed destined for a very dull life in the suburbs. (Of course, this may have been an image of love and marriage that American popular entertainment was trying to sell really hard in the fifties. Safe and yawn inducing.)

Deconstructing Frank

[Mac-148 · 8 November 2000]

The start of this film isn't promising. Another dated 1950s sex comedy with a lot of babes. And then it takes off at a tangent and gets serious, deconstructing the bachelor heel played by Frank. Debbie Reynolds is magnificent as the love interest who is frankly very strange. The scene where she falls for Frank as he plays the title song on the piano, and the scene in her apartment where she declares her love, are unique. Stick with this movie.

Will Frank Sinatra Settle Down with Debbie Reynolds?

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 8 November 2010]

It's a CinemaScope culture clash when swinging Manhattan playboy agent Frank Sinatra (as Charlie Reader) falls in love with sweet marriage-minded actress Debbie Reynolds (as Julie Gillis). Fond of lipstick and liquor, Mr. Sinatra finds it difficult to commit. The surprising thing about this semi-serious sixties comedy is the thoughtful and mature subplot acted out by David Wayne (as Joe McCall), who moves in with Sinatra while contemplating divorce, and one of his promiscuous pal's girlfriends, Celeste Holm (as Sylvia Crewes).

With the lead relationship between Sinatra and Ms. Reynolds proceeding in flat and predictable fashion, Mr. Wayne and Ms. Holm are the ones to watch. They were nominated for "Supporting Actor" and "Supporting Actress" awards by "Film Daily". Also receiving industry attention was the great title track "(Love Is) The Tender Trap" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, which received an "Academy Award" nomination. Sinatra's great Capitol Records version took an understandable and well-deserved trip to the US "Top Ten".

****** The Tender Trap (11/4/55) Charles Walters ~ Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, Celeste Holm

Cute battle-of-the-sexes comedy

[aromatic-2 · 6/10 · 13 April 2001]

This is the first of Frank's bachelor-on-the-make comedies of the 50's & 60's. He is excellent; Debbie Reynolds character seems off-balance and miscast. Audrey Hepburn would have been much better. The movie seems to be too self-consciously hip for its own good. Still, the supporting cast is wonderful, and there are far worse ways of killing an hour and a half. 6/10.

A romantic comedy in need of more tenderness and spice, but still one of many charms

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 7 February 2017]

'The Tender Trap' had a lot going for it, namely with the casting of Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds (my main reason in seeing the film in tribute to her), David Wayne and Celeste Holm. Charles Walters has also had his share of solid films.

And that is what 'The Tender Trap' is, a solid film. This said, it is not going to appeal to everybody and considering the high calibre of talent it could easily have been great. It's pleasant, it's charming, it's well-performed and it's well made, it just needed more spice and tenderness with it feeling a little bland in places.

It is lacking in the romantic department and is uneven in the comedy. There is a lack of chemistry between Sinatra and Reynolds, their chemistry is clinical and not particularly warm and one never gets the sense that they are in love, partly because of the character and writing that Reynolds has to work with but it was like she and Sinatra didn't get on.

Reynolds' role and material don't play to her strengths, an example of a normally adorable and very bubbly screen presence that captivates in charm made to look stiff and annoying. The script is uneven, it sparkles with the supporting cast (especially with Celeste Holm) but falls flat with Reynolds, the wittier moments not always being sharp enough.

However, Walters does do a competent job directing and 'The Tender Trap' is filmed with real elegance with the production values in general being sumptuous and charmingly 50s (for someone who really likes 50s production values the look of the film was in no way a flaw). One of 'The Tender Trap's' biggest pleasures is the timeless title song, beautifully and intimately staged and after hearing Sinatra sing it with such impeccable control and phrasing and his unmistakable timbre one cannot imagine the song sung by anybody else other than him. The music overall fits beautifully.

While the writing is uneven, there are parts that do sparkle in a witty way, there are a few poignant moments and while some of what it has to say does not hold up now and may not be in the best of taste for some for me those parts illuminated still. The story charms a good deal and doesn't bore.

Sinatra is perfectly cast and has endearing charisma. The supporting cast are even better, especially incandescently classy Celeste Holm and hilarious David Wayne (the morning-after scene is an absolute joy). A pre-Morticia Addams Carolyn Jones is also notable.

On the whole, charming and pleasant but could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Acceptable Sinatra in a sexy comedy!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 9 August 2018]

Sinatra always played himself as a selfish and ruthless about women, but this time he was an acceptable behavior wthout to be lewd with 497 girlsfriends in New York, when suddenly arrrives a best friend called Joe the great David Wayne, since then all things became upside down and all women starting leave him to accept serious and real engagements, indeed the quartet leading roles are amazing, Frank Sinatra, Wayne, Reynods and the gorgeous Celeste Holm, funny and a bit moralist sexy comedy, but easily watchable in new brand DVD with classic dubbed version, just as l like, amusing!!!

Resume: First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Delightful, breezy '50's comedy

[alfiefamily · 8/10 · 22 February 2005]

"The Tender Trap" is a snapshot of the '50's, where we've seen lots of cocktails, smoking, and light sexual repartee. It was based on the play "The Tender Trap", that had a short run during the 1954-55 Broadway season (It starred Kim Hunter, Ronnie Graham, Robert Preston and Joey Faye, repeating his role as Sol Schwartz). It was one of hundreds of light, fluff designed to appeal to the matinée and business man crowds, who just wanted some light-weight comedy.

In the film Frank Sinatra is ultra-smooth playing a character probably not too far removed from himself. Lots of beautiful dames, booze, and a good friend (played winningly by David Wayne) to keep him grounded. He seems to have the world on a string, moving throughout the day from one beauty to another.

Debbie Reynolds plays a singer/dancer who is reluctant to take a job in a Broadway show, because she plans to marry four months after the show has opened. Even though she has not met the man of her dreams yet.

Guess who it turns out to be. That's right, totally predictable. And the script is archaic in it's views about women and marriage, but who cares. It's all a lot of fun (especially Celeste Holm in a marvelous role).

Well worth the time for a viewing.

8 out of 10

I enjoyed this a lot--even if it treads an odd course between comedy and tragedy...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 May 2010]

"The Tender Trap" is a very odd film because it's almost like a couple different movies combined. The first is a light comedy where Frank Sinatra plays a lovable playboy. The second is a darker story where the hollowness of Sinatra's care-free life is exposed in all its ugliness and selfishness. The net effect, though quite good, probably served to confuse audiences and I could easily see how the film would have very skewed reactions among the viewers.

The film begins with David Wayne leaving his wife and kids and coming for a surprise visit with his lecherous old friend, Sinatra. It soon seems that all of Frank's time is spent chasing one woman after another and he has absolutely no interest in settling down and getting married. Wayne appears to envy this sort of existence--at least at first. However, as the film progresses, the humor vanishes as Wayne starts to see that Sinatra is hurting these women and that he is just a selfish jerk--and he tells him so. So much for being a comedy!!

Despite this being a somewhat uncomfortable mix of moods, I liked the film quite a bit. I guess that's because I am a very happily married man and I enjoyed the pro-marriage indoctrination (which the film really was). It just seems pretty funny that they chose Sinatra for such a part--as, in many ways, he was an awful lot like the character he played. As for the women in Frank's life, Celeste Holm had the best part and did a lot with it. Some have complained about Debbie Reynold's rather one-dimensional character, but I thought she was pretty good. But, like several reviewers pointed out, Wayne and Holm definitely were the standout performances

"Standard Operational Procedure"

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 28 August 2009]

Unsuccessful Broadway show from Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith becomes glossy, tepid M-G-M romantic comedy with one song. Frank Sinatra is certainly well-cast as a womanizing theatrical agent in New York City, and Debbie Reynolds is cute as a singer-dancer under her own personal deadline to get married, but this archaic set-up is no longer any fun. To the bachelor, available girls are just "tomatoes" (pronounced tuh-may-tahs); to the talented songbird, being a woman means nothing without having a husband to validate her. Premise comes directly from that antiseptic '50s aesthetic that women want marriage in order to start a family (just like their mothers), but men want marriage in order to get into the bedroom (because no self-respecting 'tomato' would go all the way without vows). Ladies-man Sinatra does a lot of sweetheart-talking and forehead kissing, yet his randy excursions (and drunken escapades) are merely chatted about, never seen. He's called a monster, a heel--which seems a tad severe for a guy who never seems to get any action because his phone is always ringing and his doorbell is always buzzing. Sinatra and Reynolds may have indeed proved to be a splendid screen-couple, but they are trapped by "The Tender Trap", which curdles from coyness. ** from ****

"You See A Pair of Laughing Eyes........"

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 4 May 2005]

When the eyes are Debbie Reynolds and the viewer is Frank Sinatra, you can expect a lot of fun and The Tender Trap delivers that fun.

Frank Sinatra stars in the movie version of a play which had a modest run on Broadway concerning an actor's agent who's got the life we only dream about. Since this was the kind of life Sinatra really had, it sure isn't an acting stretch for him. Still Sinatra plays this thing very well. Of course everyone has beauties like Celeste Holm, Lola Albright, Jarma Lewis, and Carolyn Jones around. They all got a piece of old Blue Eyes.

In steps new client Debbie Reynolds, the 1950s all time good girl and she's not tolerating Frank's wolfish ways. She's got marriage on the mind.

It's an interesting commentary on the times that back in the 1950s, the ultimate goal for a woman was the house with the white picket fence, husband, and three kids. Even for one as obviously talented as Debbie Reynolds.

Sinatra's also got a male guest in the house, childhood friend David Wayne who blew in from Indiana and has announced his intention of getting in on Sinatra's action. He's left his wife, home, and three kids and is having an early midlife crisis. I think you can figure the rest of the plot from here.

One thing the play on Broadway didn't have was that wonderful title tune that James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn wrote. Sinatra opens the film with that song before the title credits and Reynolds later sings it in the film. I remember what a mega-hit it was for Frank back in the day. So perfectly suited for him and his style. All I can say is Ring-a-ding ding ding.

Frank and Debbie do well together, too bad they never made another film together. The following year she made one with her husband Eddie Fisher and the demand for the team was underwhelming.

Everyone, but especially Sinatra aficionados should love this one.

Amusing...

[classic-daisy · 6/10 · 3 February 2002]

Frank Sinatra is one cool cat, but this movie is not really great. The girls bring humor to the film and all that planning (courtesy of Debbie Reynolds) makes you smile. Celeste Holm was good. But I find the plot a bit weak.

A 1955 Hit Hasn't Stood the Test of Time--Downright Ghastly!

[sdiner82 · 2/10 · 4 July 2001]

A dream cast, a high-gloss MGM CinemaScope production, a title song hit--what more could one ask for? A viable script! What seemed the height of sophisticated froth in 1955 (and was indeed a smash commercial hit, of which I had fond memories) is painfully unwatchable today. Other reviewers on this website have blamed the mentality of the 1950s for the now-beyond-dated nature of the film. Not true at all. One year later, Sinatra & Celeste Holm would be reunited in the still-dazzling "High Society." And Debbie Reynolds, who tries her best in a horribly written and conceived role, is still a delight in the similar 1954 comedy "Susan Slept Here," which was far from a hit in its day but now looks better than ever--especially compared to this mind-numbing disaster! Put the blame squarely on the screenplay (adapted from a hit play, God help us!). Celeste Holm comes off best, as usual, but under these circumstances, consider that feat a very minor victory.

Cute Flick

[beth_h_2006 · 4 December 2004]

This is a very cute movie with a cute plot. Frank Sinatra gives a memorable performance. Do not begin watching this movie expecting a serious or dramatic film.... it is a romantic comedy. Debbie Reynolds is adorable and charming. The Title track sung is unique and one of the highlights of the film. As a teenager who enjoys old movies it is great and enjoyable for me to see what good movies were before so much trash was put into them. This movie is funny without using sexual innuendo or swearing. This is a movie the whole family can sit and watch and enjoy. I recommend this movie to anyone looking for something lighthearted and entertaining! Enjoy!

Reminds me of the 1969 TV series Love, American Style

[Ed-Shullivan · 6/10 · 9 January 2018]

I am a fan of Frank Sinatra's body of work and I realize that this is a comedy/romance/musical, but I still have a difficult time imagining so many beautiful women fawning over the petite and feminine looking Frank Sinatra. Having said that, bringing into the film theater agent Charlie Y. Reader's (played by Frank Sinatra) old childhood friend Joe McCall (played superbly by David Wayne) who comes to stay with his playboy buddy Charlie as he thinks his marriage is on the rocks.

Throughout the film we see a turnstile of beautiful women coming in and out of Charlie's apartment. Charlie is torn between two women in particular. One of these beautiful women is actress Debbie Reynolds who plays a young independent stage performer named Julie Gillis. The other is actress Celeste Holm who plays Sylvia Crewes a beautiful and mature woman of the same age as her good friend Charlie. Who will Charlie decide to marry? As stated earlier I just cannot wrap my head around the other gorgeous women such as actresses Lola Albright (Poppy Masters),Jarma Lewis (Jessica Collins), and Carolyn Jones (Helen the twice a day dog walker) who also seem to be interested in the wimpy looking Frank Sinatra.

David Wayne who plays Joe McCall can't stop shaking his head at the many women chasing his friend Charlie, (and neither can I stop shaking my head). Joe also seems to be going through a mid-life crisis and so he starts falling for one of Charlie's love interests. The many confusing relationships will periodically be broken up by a song and dance number simply to remind the audience to not take these many relationships too seriously, and I didn't. Nor could I take this film too seriously and so I give the film a decent but not too praise worthy 6 out of 10 rating.

Cute little romp

[dh_oohmedia · 7/10 · 19 February 2021]

What I enjoyed most about this movie was the lovely mid century vibe. The clothes, the sets, the beautiful color palette. Other than that, it's a predictable light hearted little romp.

Constant Misfires

[brucehendrick-49283 · 6/10 · 7 August 2023]

The Tender Trap, even if one takes it within its mid 1950's context, misfires at nearly every step resulting in a very underachieving effort.

First and foremost is the miscast pairing of Reynolds and Sinatra. In addition to there being zero on-screen chemistry between them, their entire relationship lacks credibility. Did no one, even in 1955, not see this in the relationship upon which the film is based?

Taken individually, both characters are just as flawed. We are made to believe that Charlie is receiving dozens of calls daily from beautiful young women. The film makers clearly confused the character of Charlie, a somewhat successful talent agent, with Sinatra the famous singer/actor. Even worse is Debbie Reynolds' character. We are to believe a first time actress cast in a new Broadway play would forget to attend her first rehearsal to look at furniture?! Very irritating is her ridiculous preplanning, such as marking on the calendar her wedding date despite not even dating anyone.

The parade of young women through Charlie's is bizarre. One enters with cheese. One brings a fish. One enters & exits without a word to walk his dog. All are treated as mere objects.

David Wayne's character is certainly insulting. After initial outrage by Charlie that his best friend may have left his wife & kids back in Indianapolis, the rest of the film sees no one objecting to this married man's nightly dates with Sylvia.

A great many many smaller details constantly keep the film off kilter. Suddenly Charlie can't get a date. Innocent Jenny is on guard of Charlie but invites him into her place for a drink. A big blowout party becomes a plot point but we don't see it. Jenny is a bridesmaid for Sylvia despite being rivals and having barely met.

Even with its two popular music stars, the music is mostly limited to Reynolds & Sinatra each singing the title tune at a rehearsal.

Probably the only saving moments of this film are the innovative opening & closing credits where first Frank and then the cast sing the otherwise underwhelming title song.

An old fashion trap

[ryancm · 6/10 · 29 May 2008]

THE TENDER TRAP is part of the Frank Sinatra collection from his "golden years" and first time out on DVD. While quite "stagey" (after all it WAS a stage play), it's quite enjoyable and in todays world "quite improbable". First, a young actress gets a lead role in a show in an instant and isn't even excited about it!! What??? She has designs on marriage instead. Then why try to get into a long running show? Oh well, that's the only way theatrical agent, SINATRA, could meet her I guess. Even though the lead character is a playboy with lots of girlfriends, it all seems so G-rated. If made today, well, heaven knows what sex acts, foul language and nudity would prevail. SINATRA was made for the role of Charlie. DEBBIE REYNOLDS is cute in an un-defined role. The real scene stealer is CELESTE HOLM and a cute bit by CAROYLN JONES. SINATRAS buddy played by David WAYNE was a bit annoying, but WAYNE does a good job non-the-less. Good use of the CinemaScope process works good here, even though all scenes are interiors with one weird outdoor process shot. Rent this one as it's SINATRA in his prime. Now Paramount should release JOKER IS WILD and COME BLOW YOUR HORN and MGM/UA should release NOT AS A STRANGER. That would make about 90% of SINATRA on DVD.

A wonderful comedy of the mid-'50's

[luvdec · 8/10 · 11 May 2002]

I love this film because it is so reflective of the mid-50's sensibility and the glamour of New York at that time. All of the actors have wonderful chemistry, and Celeste Holm is a stand out as Sinatra's "fiancee" Debbie Reynolds is adorable as a 22 year old ingenue who wants a career in the theatre, but only for a brief time. She has a plan to get married, have three children and live in Scarsdale, which everyone knows has the best school system in the country. Sinatra and David Wayne are old friends and the married Wayne comes to New York to take a vacation from his wife. He becomes interested in Holm and falls in love with her. Sinatra falls in love with Debbie Reynolds and their scenes are just lovely. Complications ensue, but in the end, it all shakes out. This is one of the best adaptations of a 1950's stage comedy and it is most enjoyable and certainly worthwhile.

THIS was a big hit?

[preppy-3 · 6/10 · 9 April 2001]

**Possible spoilers** I've heard this was a big hit in 1955. It certainly doesn't age well. It's half a good movie. It begins with playboy/agent Frank Sinatra seeing multiple women...but Sinatra was hardly a good-looking man--it strains credibility that all these gorgeous women are flinging themselves at him. Also, the scenes of him with his shirt off are not pretty. He falls in love with young, naive Debbie Reynolds...but he doesn't want to get married and she does. His friends (Celeste Holm and David Wayne) watch on with amusement (and give out dynamite performances).

The first hour is pretty good--funny, fast-moving and Holm, Wayne and Sinatra shine (Reynolds gives out a bad performance, but it's not entirely her fault--her role is badly written). Then, after about an hour, the film turns all serious and melodramatic and falls apart. It suddenly moves VERY slowly, throws in very dated (and offensive) sexual politics and Holm's character is treated cruelly. It picks up at the very end, but it's too late. So, it's worth seeing for Holm, Wayne and the first hour. After that, switch it off.

Don't Fall for A Tender Trap **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 6 June 2006]

Disappointing inane farce with an all-star cast.

Frank Sinatra plays his usual swinging self. As a theatrical agent, he has a supply of women around including Lola Albright and Carolyn Jones. Both are completely wasted here. Jones was much better, when she starred 4 years later with Sinatra, in 1959's A Hole in the Head.

Debbie Reynolds tries to play the prim and proper Julie, who has her life planned out for her. She falls for Sinatra.

Celeste Holm tries to show comic flair by playing a musician-another love interest of Sinatra. Frankie becomes engaged to both Holm and Reynolds at the same time-you would think this would make for an hilarious situation. It doesn't and is quickly resolved.

David Wayne, a wonderful under-rated actor, plays Sinatra's married and want-to-be swinging pal who has left his wife of 11 years along with his 3 children. He falls for Holm as well.

Naturally, this story resolves itself at the end. Was it really worth the effort?

Sinatra-Reynolds-Holm and Wayne come out on the screen at the end to sing the title song. Holm and Wayne hold hands despite the fact that Wayne returns to his wife and Holm conveniently marries a British resident who resides in the same building as Sinatra. How coincidental.

The Limits of the Joys of the Swinging Single's Life

[theowinthrop · 9/10 · 25 September 2006]

When Frank Sinatra's real film career (the one that starts with MEET DANNY Wilson and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and SUDDENLY) got started, his comedies generally improved. Instead of playing the eternally naive heartthrob that the bobby-soxers supposedly enjoyed (but is actually quite annoying in films like ANCHORS AWEIGH), he found that his sophistication could carry a better style of comedy. Ahead of him was HIGH SOCIETY, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, COME BLOW YOUR HORN, ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS, where he was usually in control of the situations rather than pulled about by mechanical plot twists based on his stupidity. And THE TENDER TRAP is an early example of this switch.

Sinatra's Charlie Reader is a successful talent agent, and his success is mirrored in his apartment facing the 59th Street Bridge in Manhattan, and his colorful lifestyle of a different date with a different woman (Celeste Holms, Lola Albright, Caroline Jones, and Jarma Lewis) every night. His trade comment of "A ring-a-ding-ding" is not voiced here, but it could easily be said.

Like his character of the older brother in COME BLOW YOUR HORN, he is inviting an old childhood pal (like his younger brother in the later film) named Joe McCall (David Wayne). But the younger brother in the later film is intoxicated by the glamor of Sinatra's lifestyle. Eventually the younger brother actually makes Sinatra ashamed of his own lifestyle as the younger brother takes it to extremes. Here, Wayne is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, and he's actually hoping to enjoy Sinatra's lifestyle, but as the film progresses gradually realizes that Sinatra's habits mistreat many women. Sinatra may be a great swinger, but he is something of a sexual pig.

But Frank's lifestyle is beginning to show cracks. In COME BLOW YOUR HOME it was a matter of his aging (Lee J. Cobb fuming that he's a bum because he's unmarried and approaching 40). Here it is his meeting a young actress named Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds) that he starts dating. Sinatra looks at Julie (at least at first) as just another lady on his weekly list. But he slowly finds he does not want her to consider his other girlfriends, and he also wants her to be available to him. But his interest is tempered when he discovers she is only interested in him dating her and only her...with the intention of only marrying her.

Sinatra goes crazy here - not babbling but losing his cool thoroughly. He tries to forget her quickly, by picking up one of the other regular girls, only to find that Jones has met a fellow who is going to marry her, and Albright has another regular date. Holms (as Sylvia Crewes) shows up. Oddly enough she is willing to accept the one sided dating system that Sinatra has chosen, because she is aware that she is now 33 and the chances of getting a fellow to marry her are quite rare. She lists the types to Wayne, and none are very appetizing.

Sinatra proposes marriage to a shocked Holms, who (somewhat shakily) agrees. Sinatra decides to throw a huge party, even inviting his other occasional date Lewis to it. But in the middle of getting the party under way he runs downstairs and smack into Reynolds. She decides she loves him despite his selfishness, but he announces that he loves her as well...and proposes to her. She heads home, promising to see her fiancé in the morning, and he proceeds to wonder what to do now that he's affianced to two women.

It turns out to be a disaster, but it is deserved.

I won't go into the rest of the plot, but things do work out. It is nice to see Tom Hellmore, soon to be the notorious Elstin Draper in VERTIGO, in a far nicer role her. Also the conclusion of the film, with the now standard Jimmy Van Husen theme song being sung by Sinatra, Reynolds, Holms, and Wayne (with a sorrowful chorus of Albright, Lewis, and Jones) bears comparison to the singing by Cameron Diaz and her three bridesmaids at the start of MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING for being so fresh and unexpected. It was a top notch comedy, and another step upward for Sinatra in the rebuilding and expansion of his film career.

Love ANYTHING Debbie R!

[GeoPierpont · 6/10 · 18 November 2015]

Hard to say this film set women's rights back 100 years because it portrays a no nonsense woman who knows what she wants and won't settle for less. You do not see this type of behavior at ALL these days. Most women accept that men have a double standard and let them be treated like chattel. Maybe marriage, kids, and loving your husband is an antiquated goal in life but for some this film shows gumption.

I found the dialog witty and entertaining, the women most beautiful, and Frank's singing divine. I guess I am a big sucker for any project involving Debbie Reynolds, she is a mega talent. It all started when I first saw her in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and was mesmerized.

So even if you find this movie's message subservient, I found it uplifting and inspirational. Be strong with your aspirations and let those dogs lay sleeping. Whipit good DR!! haha

Tender clap-trap

[Lejink · 2/10 · 20 February 2011]

Incredibly lame Sinatra vehicle teaming him with Debbie Reynolds in a real oil and water mix. It wants so-hard-it-hurts to be an urbane comedy in the Tracy / Hepburn vein with supposedly extra added glamour centred as it is on the lifestyles of show-people but falls flatter than a trodden-on pancake. Sinatra gets an easy part as the rake the "dames" as he would no doubt call them can't get enough of whose life is spiced up by the arrival of old chum, David Wayne as a disillusioned married man and then Debbie Reynolds as a priggish and to my eyes anyway, boyish looking new girl in town who of course reels her man in by the simple expedient of actually saying "No" to him. All it is, is a dressed up homily to marriage, although personally I'd run a mile from Reynolds' hubby-hunting ingénue. There's no chemistry between the leads at all, Sinatra is unquestionably, as Reynolds herself tells him at one point, much too old for her. Celeste Holm and David Wayne get to mug and swoon in the background to no telling effect plus the production is so stage-bound, you can almost hear the line-prompter from off-stage feeding the actors. Its one redeeming feature is the well-known title song which is inserted into the movie not periodically enough but really on the whole this is sloppy Hollywood film-making of the worst kind, almost embarrassing to watch, particularly in these thankfully more enlightened times.