The Tender Trap (1955)

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The first must-see film of the year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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 leaves 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 classi dubbed version, just as l like..............Amuzing!!!Resume: First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

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.

"The Tender Trap" is a snapshot of the 1950s with the portrayal of the swinging bachelors and dreams of girls finding their man in the big city. At least, we saw that sort of thing portrayed somewhat in those days. And this film has a fine cast of players who are capable of putting out very good movies. But this is far from one. As several other reviewers to date have noted, the screenplay for this movie is lousy.So, the film comes off like a broken record with nearly identical scenes with different women played over and over again. It fast becomes boring. Even with the cast of stars it has, "The Tender Trap" is bland. The direction was terrible and the acting just came across like a high school reading for a play. The only performer who has any spark of life is Celeste Holm, and she was just slightly convincing. Frank Sinatra had some energy – of motion. He moved around a lot, and he talked a lot. But there was no heart or soul in his character. And there clearly was no spark between Sinatra's Charlie Reader and Julie Gillis, played by Debbie Reynolds.Others have noted that Sinatra was portraying the lifestyle he actually lived. That may have been part of the problem. His usual lifestyle could easily become bland after a while. It sure seems to be that way in this film.This is supposed to be a comedy-romance and musical. The only reason I give it as many as four stars is for the song by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. And for the little bit of performing we see from Frank and Debbie. But where is the romance? There isn't a spark between them. Worse still – where is the comedy? A few different women parading through Charlie's apartment and calling on the phone don't equal a single good witty line. But there are none of those. Or, if there are one or two, they got lost in the tediousness of the film.

This is yet another smarmy Hollywood movie where a young woman falls for an older guy and everything is supposed to be oh so cute simply because that's the premise. In real life, Sinatra was 17 years older than Reynolds. They don't seem to have much in common in this movie, but Hollywood has always loved this combination of young women with older men (both on screen and off). At least with Bogart and Bacall, there was some chemistry. I understand why this improbable pairing appeals to some men, but it certainly doesn't appeal to all women. Why doesn't Hollywood make movies about guys falling in love with older women? Sunset Boulevard is not what I had in mind. If you like mindless fluff with improbable plots, then this is a movie for you, but if you like movies with substance, don't bother with this.