Bells Are Ringing (1960)
Ella Peterson works in the basement office of Susanswerphone, a telephone answering service. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities for her clients. They include an out-of-work Method actor, a dentist with musical yearnings, and in particular playwright Jeffrey Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and desperately needs a muse.
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what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
A long time ago, answering services were used before technology improved. Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday) runs such a service and takes care of many clients. She gets involved in their personal lives although she has never met them. Only 2 really notable songs in this movie musical: "Just in Time" and "The Party's Over". "It's a Perfect Relationship" and "I'm Going Back" are clever, but many songs are totally forgettable. Most notable as the "Tour De Force" of the persona and style of Judy Holliday, who tragically died of throat cancer just five years later, in 1965 at age 43. (She was a chain smoker.) A clever and unique "book" involving dumb cops, bookies, stereotypical gangsters, and many personalities. Jean Stapleton and Frank Gorshin in a rather large cast. Dean Martin plays the musical author with writer's block and Judy Holliday plays his "Muse". They work well together. I also love the tacky bar showgirls bumping and grinding to "The Midas Touch" song which is truly terrible. Based on the often-used concept that one single life can affect many people in a very positive way. The last Arthur Freed-Vincente Minnelli production.
Ella (Judy Holliday) is an answering service operator (this was way before answering machines existed). She unwisely gets involved in the personal lives of her clients. She gets most involved with playwright Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin) and ends up meeting him. However she tells him her name is Millicent Scott and they fall in love with each other...but she feels guilty for lying to him. Will their love survive? Well--it's an MGM musical. What do you think?:) It's too long, there's some terrible overacting (especially by Frank Gorshin), it moves too slowly and the awareness that this was Holliday's last film (she died of cancer 5 years later) casts sort of a pall over this film but it's worth seeing. The songs are good, it's wonderfully directed by Vincente Minnelli and is in bright vivid color. However the main attraction here is Holliday. She played this role on stage and won a Tony for it and they (wisely) kept her in the film. She was sick when she did this but you would never know it. She was beautiful, bright and full of energy. In her music numbers she gives all she's got and comes roaring off the screen. Also it's her only color film. Worth seeing just for her.
If I was asked to describe this musical with one word, it would be zany. Crazy, madcap, wacky, whacky, screwball, screwy and unconventional are the other words suggested by Microsoft Word. Pons asinorum, Dean Martin's character is a playwright in need of encouragement and inspiration. Judy Holliday's character, a telephone operator, is there to provide them. There's actually nothing standing between them except for the ancient old romantic comedy regulation that demands a misconception of any kind to drive a wedge between them.But this isn't why I decided to write a little review. I wanted to tell just how well they play together; what kooky characters they encounter; how they swing the Jule Styne songs. Imagine Seinfeld, the musical. That's it. The highlight of the film is Dino singing Just in Time. Saying hello to strangers and breaking into a cappella song never felt so nice, and easy.
"Bells are Ringing" is a must for Judy Holliday's fans. The bubbly star of some of the best comedies of the fifties, is the main reason for watching this musical, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Betty Comden and Adolph Green were the creators of the book and lyrics with music by Jule Styne.The film was an excuse for showcasing Ms. Holliday and Dean Martin, who took over Sydney Chaplin's role. The two stars show an easy chemistry in their scenes together, even though the transfer to the screen seems somehow clumsy coming from an experienced director of musicals like Mr. Minnelli."Bells are Ringing" is a nostalgic look at the New York of the 1950s. It was quite a status symbol to have an answering service in those days before the automatic devices of today. There is a hilarious second plot involving illegal gambling by linking classical music works to the different races in several horse race tracks that are channeled through Susanswerphone service, which makes the police Ella is involved in the scheme.Judy Holliday gave a tremendous performance in the film as the kind, but somehow naive Ella. Dean Martin is fine also as the blocked writer. In supporting roles Eddie Foy Jr., Jean Stapleton, and Dean Clark, are seen among others.