El padre es abuelo

I usually do not care for sequels, but this one is a complete joy! The first film; "Father of the Bride" was rightly nominated for the Academy Award for best picture, so this film had a lot to live up to. Spencer Tracy does not come to mind when you think about comedy, but he is hysterical as Stanley Banks, who has to come to terms on grandparenting. Joan Bennett is a perfect co-star for him, they work extremely well together. Her "double takes" with him are particularly funny.

A befuddled Spencer Tracy and a scatty Joan Bennett find out they are to become grandparents in this charming sequel to 'Father of the Bride'. Although the original film was better, this is a funny, warm, and worthy follow-up.

Elizabeth Taylor again appears as daughter Kay, looking beautiful and radiant. Husband Buckley (the slightly wooden Don Taylor) struggles to cope with his pregnant wife's mood swings, while the in-laws (Moroni Olsen as the pompous ex-Harvard father-in-law, Billie Burke as the twittery mother-in-law) almost come to blows before baby has even arrived.

The star performance in this film is, as ever, Tracy, as he comes to terms with his little girl growing away from him, with his life 'slipping away' with the arrival of the new baby, with his resentment of the rich in-laws. It's a winning performance, and his scenes with Bennett and with Taylor are pure gold.

In this sequel to Father of the Bride (1950), Stanley Banks learns that his daughter Kay is going to have a baby.

When they get the news everyone except Stanley is overjoyed.

His wife and grandmother-to-be Ellie broadcasts it everywhere and all Stan can do is worry about the practical things like how his son-in-law Buckley can afford it.

Well, having not long ago paid for the wedding, Stanley has no intention of bearing any of the expenses involved.

Buckley's parents and Ellie are overjoyed at the news and virtually take over redecorating the young couple's new house.

Crisis and false alarms take over their lives and when the child is born, the only person he doesn't seem to like is Stanley.

A walk in the park - and absolute panic when Stanley misplaces his grandson - seems to resolve the situation.

The print I saw was good but the sound was muffled. This film was made at a time when Hollywood started to direct films like TV shows.

That's not necessarily a negative.

Tracy's wive in this movie looks 35 years younger than him. He looks like he should have been the great grandfather, not the grandfather.

It's a very bumper type movie transitioning from the 40s to the 60s.

Not exactly my cup of tea, but not a horrible movie.

Spencer Tracy blusters around quite nicely in this fluffy sequel to Father of the Bride. It's most interesting to watch as a sort of time capsule, to see the attitudes and quirks of the early 1950s. I love the scene where Liz Taylor describes to her father how her doctor believes in the bizarre new concept of childbirth, wherein the mother is actually conscious during the process, and then she is with her baby as much as possible during the coming days. It's quite funny, then, to the viewer, as Tracy's eyes widen in horror -- and episodes like this pepper the film. It's not a masterpiece, but it's cute, and for fans of the genre, it's just fine.

The material may be sticky, but the players shine. Fortunately, Tracy's dour reactions keep the soggy motherhood plot from becoming too sweet. His pained grimaces and caustic asides are really quite droll, more amusing however than funny. The young couple, Taylor and Taylor, are right out of a glossy Photoplay, but manage not to be too annoying, while Bennett shows she can do dutiful wives as well as conniving trollops (Scarlet Street, 1945). For some reason the two sons, Tamblyn and Irish, make a brief appearance, then disappear without a trace, and I'm wondering why the script bothered in the first place. Of course, the complications of a first- time baby keep the narrative moving; at the same time, we know perfectly well how things will end. And they do. This is the old MGM dream factory at work even after the boss L.B. Mayer has departed-- big houses, elegant clothes, household servants, and even teenagers with no zits. As the boss himself famously remarked, People don't want to see people like themselves on the big screen, or words to that effect. Not much chance of that here. Still, the movie remains a seductive piece of entertainment, rather like a shiny new suit that doesn't quite fit, but you buy it anyway.