The Bells are Ringing (1960)

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Starring:

Dean Martin

Judy Holliday

Fred Clark    

Plot:

Ella Peterson is a Brooklyn telephone answering service operator who tries to improve the lives of her clients by passing along bits of information she hears from other clients. She falls in love with one of her clients, the playwright Jeffrey Moss, and is determined to meet him. The trouble is, on the phone to him, she always pretends to be an old woman whom he calls “Mom.”

Review:

For a brief time growing up we lived near an old video rental store and they had tons of musicals that I ended up loving. This was one of them. I was lucky enough to stumble across a DVD of it on my most recent trip to the McKay’s in Chattanooga (best used bookstore I’ve been too).

The songs aren’t up to Rogers and Hammerstein but what I really love is the story. Ella, Judy Holliday, is klutzy and sweet, so naturally she falls in love with playboy Dean Martin. It’s cute, but after my most recent viewing I think part of why I like it is nostalgia.

4/5