The Matchmaker (film)
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| The Matchmaker | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Joseph Anthony |
| Produced by | Don Hartman |
| Written by | Thorton Wilder (play) John Michael Hayes(screenplay) |
| Starring | Shirley Booth Anthony Perkins Shirley McClaine Paul Ford Robert Morse |
| Music by | Adolf Deutsch |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Editing by | Howard A. Smith |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1958 |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Matchmaker is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Joseph Anthony. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes is based on the 1955 play of the same name by Thornton Wilder.
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[edit] Plot
Set in 1884, the story focuses on Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widow who supports herself by a variety of means, with matchmaking as her primary source of income. Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy but miserly merchant from Yonkers, New York, has hired her to find him a wife, but unbeknownst to him Dolly is determined to fill the position herself. When he expresses his intent to travel to New York City to woo milliner Irene Molloy, Dolly shows him the photograph of a woman she calls Miss Ernestina Simple and tells him the buxom beauty would be a far better choice for him. Horace agrees to have dinner with Ernestina at the Harmonia Gardens after visiting Irene.
Meanwhile, Horace's clerk head Cornelius Hackl convinces his sidekick Barnaby Tucker that they, too, deserve an outing to New York. The two cause cans of tomatoes to explode, spewing their contents about the store, which justifies their closing it for the day and heading to the city.
In New York, the two men stumble upon Mrs. Molloy's shop. Charmed by her beauty, Cornelius suggests they pretend to be wealthy men-about-town in the market for expensive hats. His plan backfires when Horace and Dolly arrive at the store, forcing the clerks to hide. Horace eventually becomes aware of the presence of two men on the premises and leaves in a huff. Although he has no money, Cornelius suggests he and Barnaby escort Irene and her assistant Minnie to the Harmonia Gardens for dinner.
The four are seated in a private dining room when Horace arrives and is placed in the one adjacent to theirs, where he impatiently awaits the arrival of Miss Simple. Instead it's Dolly who shows up, assuring him Miss Simple is enroute while helping herself to sherry and hors d'oeuvres. A telegram announcing Enestina has been married that very day, and therefore no longer is available for Horace, is delivered to the table moments before the waiters begin to serve a lavish and very expensive twelve-course meal. While they dine, Dolly warns Horace not to entertain any romantic ideas about her, a thought that was the farthest from his mind.
Meanwhile, Cornelius unexpectedly has come into a good deal of cash, thanks to Horace's lost wallet being returned to him in error by Malachi Stack, his boss' newest apprentice. Deciding he cannot continue to deceive Irene, he gives her money to settle the bill and prepares to leave with Barnaby, ostensibly to buy the ladies a gift. Seeing Horace and Dolly on the dance floor in the center of the room, the two clerks disguise themselves in Irene and Minnie's coats and hats and escape the restaurant in drag. Outside, Cornelius scribbles a note of explanation and a declaration of his feelings and asks the doorman to deliver it to Irene.
After realizing Ernestina was a figment of Dolly's imagination, Horace sees Irene and begins to pursue her in earnest, inviting her to return to Yonkers with him the following morning. Hoping to find Cornelius there, she accepts.
Dolly suspects Cornelius and Barnaby went to Irene's shop to leave their borrowed clothing before leaving town and goes their to intercept them. She explains she has a plan and the three return to Yonkers on the late train.
The following morning, when Horace proudly escorts Irene and Minnie to his store, he is shocked to discover the mess his clerks left behind. He's even more upset to see the two with Dolly across the street, apparently setting up shop, although they had enough money to rent the building for only one day in the hope the threat of competition would encourage Horace to overlook all that had transpired in the past twenty-four hours. Horace confesses their scheme has worked and he repents his miserly ways. Irene forgives Cornelius with a kiss, Dolly coaxes Horace into making him a partner, Horace proposes marriage to Dolly, and in the film's closing moments each ponders the moral of the story. Barnaby feels it proves everyone needs an occasional day off, while Cornelius thinks it means life should be a mixture of madcap adventures and peaceful moments.
[edit] Production notes
Thornton Wilder's play that served as the basis of the film was a substantial revision of his unsuccessful 1938 effort The Merchant of Yonkers, in which Dolly Levi had been a secondary character.
According to an item in the March 1956 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, producer Don Hartman originally planned to cast Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as the film's leads [1]. The project proved to be his last, as he died just prior to its release.
Stage and television actress Perry Wilson, who portrayed Minnie Fay, was married to director Joseph Anthony. Her feature film career was limited to this and Fear Strikes Out starring Anthony Perkins, who portrayed Cornelius Hackl.
Robert Morse was the sole cast member of the Broadway production to recreate his role onscreen.
In the opening scene, Dolly looks directly into the camera and welcomes the audience, a device that continues throughout the film, allowing various characters to express their personal desires and philosophies.
[edit] Principal cast
- Shirley Booth ..... Dolly Gallagher Levi
- Paul Ford ..... Horace Vandergelder -
- Anthony Perkins ..... Cornelius Hackl
- Shirley Maclaine ..... Irene Malloy
- Robert Morse ..... Barnaby Tucker
- Perry Wilson ..... Minnie Fay
- Wallace Ford ..... Malachi Stack
[edit] Critical reception
In his review in the New York Times, A.H. Weiler said the film "welds authentic charm and nostalgia into a winning frolic . . . Shirley Booth is a sly but sweet schemer bustling about her business with a veneer of naiveté that is a delight to watch. Her comparatively restrained performance gives the impression that she enjoys sharing with the customers the fine time she is having. List Paul Ford's portrayal of the pompous object of her affections as the film's outstanding job . . . . Anthony Perkins' loose-limbed, youthful delineation of the country bumpkin who finds adventure and romance in New York strongly indicates that he is equally at home in farce as he is in serious drama. Robert Morse does a fine stint . . . and Shirley MacLaine is properly sweet, demure and confused as the lovelorn milliner. They, as well as an able supporting cast, are professionally serious about their silly situations. It makes The Matchmaker, which is never serious, a pleasurable experience." [2]
Time stated, "Shirley Booth . . . stumbles, rumbles and cannily bumbles her way through the title role . . . in a manner that moviegoers with a taste for old-fashioned American farce will have no trouble savoring . . . Brought off at breakneck speed amidst a kaleidoscope of neck-breaking pratfalls, the chatter and unabashed clowning by all hands turn Matchmaker into a highly amusing farce." [3]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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