Film Reviews: Fashion and a Wedding

Last night I watched Designing Woman (1957) and Father of the Bride (1950) that I had DVRed for myself and never watched.

Designing Woman (1957) stars Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall as two people who meet on a Californian vacation. After a whirlwind romance, they get married and return to New York City where they both live only to discover that they come from different worlds. Mike Hagen (Peck) is a sports writer on the tail of a mobster who is fixing sporting events. Marilla Brown (Bacall) is a fashion designer with a swanky apartment and a bunch of artsy friends. Drama ensues when ex's come back into their lives and the mobster gets tired of Hagen's stories.

Check out this cute, casual boating outfit.

I really loved this film. This is the first film I'd seen Lauren Bacall in and she certainly delivered. The costumes were lovely, especially some of Marilla's creations! I'm definitely putting this on the list of films to watch again.

Fashion designers are always fashionable.

The fashion show! I adore the red floral gown and coat in the front.

Father of the Bride (1950) is exactly what it sounds like. Stanley Banks (Spenser Tracy) is thrown for a loop when his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) announces her engagement. The shocks keep piling on as one after another expensive wedding bills comes in. There are all sorts of emotional upsets from all of the characters that show just how crazy planning a wedding can be. There is, of course, a gorgeous wedding scene.

Father daughter bonding.

This film was great. My wedding was much less of a hassle and much less of a production. All of that stuff is much easier to watch than to go through. I'm not sure how related it is to the plot of the 1991 version, since I haven't seen it, but the original is generally better.

The mother (Joan Bennett) wore a fabulous dress for the wedding. I imagine it would have been pink but who knows.

The big day!