Rich, Young and Pretty
{{Short description|1951 film by Norman Taurog}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Rich, Young and Pretty
| image = Rich young pretty (1951).jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Norman Taurog
| producer = Joe Pasternak
| screenplay = Dorothy Cooper
Sidney Sheldon
| story = Dorothy Cooper
| starring = Jane Powell
Danielle Darrieux
Wendell Corey
Fernando Lamas
Marcel Dalio
Una Merkel
Richard Anderson
Jean Murat
Vic Damone
| cinematography = Robert H. Planck
| editing = Gene Ruggiero
| studio = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
| distributor = Loew's, Inc.{{TCMDb title|id=2493}}
| released = {{Film date|1951|07|24|New York City|1951|08|03|U.S.|ref2=}}
| runtime = 95 minutes
| country = United States
| music = Sammy Cahn (lyrics)
Nicholas Brodszky (music){{cite web| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06EEDB133DEF3BBC4E51DFB166838A649EDE&pagewanted=print|title=Two Newcomers on the Local Scene|author=Bosley Crowther|work=The New York Times|date=1951-07-26}}
| language = English
| budget = $1,528,000{{Citation|title=The Eddie Mannix Ledger|publisher=Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study|place=Los Angeles, California}}
}}
File:Fernando Lamas Danielle Darrieux.jpg and Danielle Darrieux}}]]
Rich, Young and Pretty is a 1951 American musical comedy film produced by Joe Pasternak for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Norman Taurog. Written by Dorothy Cooper and adapted as a screenplay by Cooper and Sidney Sheldon, it stars Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, Wendell Corey, and Fernando Lamas, features The Four Freshmen, and introduces Vic Damone. This was Darrieux's first Hollywood film since The Rage of Paris (1938).{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859323-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025201931/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859323-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2012|title=Also Showing|publisher=Time| date=1951-08-20}}
Plot
Elizabeth (Jane Powell) accompanies her wealthy Texan rancher father (Wendell Corey) on a visit to Paris, where her mother (Danielle Darrieux) lives. In Paris, she meets Andre (Vic Damone), an eager young Frenchman. The father tries to keep her from marrying the Frenchman and avoid the mistake he made when he married her mother.
Cast
File:Jane Powell in Rich, Young and Pretty trailer.jpg
- Jane Powell as Elizabeth Rogers
- Danielle Darrieux as Marie Devarone
- Wendell Corey as Jim Stauton Rogers
- Vic Damone as Andre Milan
- Fernando Lamas as Paul Sarnac
- Marcel Dalio as Claude Duval
- Una Merkel as Glynnie
- Richard Anderson as Bob Lennart
- Jean Murat as Henri Milan
- Hans Conreid as Maître d'Hotel
- Four Freshmen Quartet as Four Musicians
Songs
MGM promotion for the film emphasized the film's "songs rather than its patter"; Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics and Nicholas Brodszky the music for several songs, including
- "Wonder Why" (which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song)
Other original songs 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", both of which received radio airplay; "I Can See You" was also a jukebox favorite.
The film also features a "studied going over" of songs such as
- "Deep in the Heart of Texas" (written by June Hershey and Don Swander),
- "There's Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie" (written by Jack Maskill, Harry Richman, Pete Wendling) and
- "Old Piano Roll Blues" (written by Cy Coben).
Reception
=Box office=
=Critical reception=
Time said the film was "aglow with Technicolor and plush sets" and said it treated a "light cinemusical subject with the butterscotch-caramel sentimentality of the bobby-soxers it is designed to please"; the film "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." Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "pretty as a picture postcard and just about as exciting."
References
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb title|0043968}}
- {{TCMDb title|2493}}
- {{AFI film|50267}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20171114142536/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b44be65 Rich, Young and Pretty] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
{{Norman Taurog}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich Young And Pretty}}
Category:1952 musical comedy films
Category:1952 romantic comedy films
Category:American musical comedy films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:American romantic musical films
Category:Films directed by Norman Taurog
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Category:Films produced by Joe Pasternak
Category:1950s English-language films
Category:Films scored by Nicholas Brodszky
Category:English-language romantic comedy films