Rich, Young and Pretty

Rich, Young and Pretty
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNorman Taurog
Screenplay byDorothy Cooper
Sidney Sheldon
Story byDorothy Cooper
Produced byJoe Pasternak
StarringJane Powell
Danielle Darrieux
Wendell Corey
Fernando Lamas
Marcel Dalio
Una Merkel
Richard Anderson
Jean Murat
Vic Damone
CinematographyRobert H. Planck
Edited byGene Ruggiero
Music bySammy Cahn (lyrics)
Nicholas Brodszky (music)
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's, Inc.[1]
Release dates
  • July 25, 1951 (1951-07-25) (New York)[2]
  • August 29, 1951 (1951-08-29) (Los Angeles)[3]
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,528,000[4]
Box office$2,999,000[4]

Rich, Young and Pretty is a 1951 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer American musical comedy film produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Norman Taurog and starring Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, Wendell Corey and Fernando Lamas. The original story was written by Dorothy Cooper and adapted as a screenplay by Cooper and Sidney Sheldon. The film features The Four Freshmen and introduces Vic Damone.

Plot

Elizabeth Rogers accompanies her wealthy Texan rancher father on a visit to Paris, where her mother lives. While there, she meets Andre, an eager young Frenchman. Her father tries to prevent her from marrying Andre to avoid the mistake that he had made when he married her mother.

Cast

Soundtrack

MGM promotion for the film emphasized the film's "songs rather than its patter". Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics and Nicholas Brodszky wrote the music for several songs, including "Wonder Why", which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Other original songs written by Cahn and Brodszky include "We Never Talk Much (We Just Sit Around)", "How D'Ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning?" and "I Can See You", which became a jukebox favorite.

Reception

In a July 1951 review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "Since the temperature 1s obviously torrid, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cannot be blamed for releasing 'Rich, Young and Pretty' at this time. For the newcomer ... is, to borrow a seasoned phrase, appropriate summer entertainment. And, the company, having had the good taste to entrust the entire matter to producer Joe Pasternak, an old hand with tuneful talkies, is making much of a slight story, youthful and not-too-youthful songsters and Technicolor. 'Rich, Young and Pretty' is, to put it into a nutshell, pretty as a picture postcard and just about as exciting. ... Call it a standard songfest suitable for the summer."[2]

Critic John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "A sprightly, somewhat sugary love story ... is for the most part beguiling—a pleasant hour and a half."[3]

Time wrote: "The movie tackles its situations without verve or humor, and handles its lightweight problems as ponderously as if they had been propounded by Ibsen in one of his gloomier moods."[5]

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,935,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,064,000 elsewhere, returning a profit of $54,000.[4]

References

  1. ^ Rich, Young and Pretty at the TCM Movie Database (archived version)
  2. ^ a b Crowther, Bosley (July 26, 1951). "The Screen: Two Newcomers on Local Scene". The New York Times. p. 17.
  3. ^ a b Scott, John L. (August 30, 1951). "'Jim Thorpe' Exciting Sports Film; 'Rich, Young and Pretty' Romantic". Los Angeles Times. p. 9, Part II.
  4. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study
  5. ^ "Cinema: Rich, Young and Pretty". Time. 58 (8): 89. August 20, 1951.
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