Steineded
How sad is this?
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
writers_reign
This is one of those properties which yield incredible mileage in a relatively short time-span. It started life as a series of short stories about two sisters from Ohio. The stories became a film which in turn became a Broadway musical and when Columbia ran into trouble securing the rights to the Broadway musical they simply made their own smaller scale musical and tapped Jule Styne for the music and Leo Robin for the lyrics, both more than able to stand comparison with Lennie Bernstein and Comden and Green, arguably the most overrated lyricists of the forties and fifties. Janet Leigh struggles to reach ho-hum as the (on paper) irrestible Eileen whilst Betty Garrett leaves Leigh dead in the water. It remains a pleasant enough movie for one viewing.
dougdoepke
Unlike the comedy-driven 1942 version, this one is a musical. Trouble is the songs are forgettable, while director Quine has difficulty blending zaniness with the musical score. The result is a patchwork that fades into a few memorable scenes. Then too, none of the characters have time to really register as the scenes constantly shift focus, and without needed close-ups that would emphasize personality. Nonetheless, two dance numbers remain real eye-catchers. Rall and Fosse face-off in an acrobatic duel that still has me dizzy, while the cute bandstand number shows that Leigh can shake a leg with the best of them. But these are the highlights, and I'm sorry to say Lemmon's comedic talents are almost totally wasted in a rather routine role. Then too, I agree with the reviewer who finds a rather dour Garrett unconvincing as Leigh's sister, maybe because she was just coming off the Hollywood blacklist. However, this movie does something few dare do-- grammarian Ruth reminds us not to end a sentence with a preposition. Now I know why I flunked English.Anyway, director Quine would soon prove a real strength with pure comedy. Among others, catch his neglected Operation Madball (1957), where Lemmon and Dick York carry the laughs superbly, (along with a mockingly villainous Ernie Kovacs). My Sister Eileen, however, remains a harmless time-passer, nicely photographed with expert rug-cutting and candy-box colors that keep the eye entertained, even when the narrative falters.
ptb-8
Other comments on this site seem to love this 1955 Columbia musical, but I just didn't. I have an LP of the celebrated stage musical Wonderful Town with Rosalind Russell which is the source material for this film. As with ON THE TOWN (also with Betty Garrett) the studio tossed out almost all the songs and wrote new ones. Unfortunately he new ones weren't better than those deleted... in both cases. Wonderful Town has memorable and lively and wistful songs. EILEEN is a wallflower instead... in every way. Whereas ON THE TOWN succeeds by virtue of stellar MGM cast and other dance talent, MY SISTER EILEEN has non musical talent in the leads (Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon) with superior talent relegated to the second ranks: Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall. As with Columbia's other 1955 musical travesty THREE FOR THE SHOW which slavishly turned every glorious snazzy Fox Marilyn Monroe musical number into a tubby spandex imitation version with Betty Grable (!) EILEEN clearly visually copies a lot of the set decor and costume design Garland enjoyed in A STAR IS BORN from 1954. Some of Garrett's outfits are copies seen in the famous surreal "Born In A Trunk" number. Finally, the apartment block set is right off the same plan as seen in REAR WINDOW... all as if Columbia clumped together ideas gleaned from those other successful films and like a ball of musical plasticine released their second big cinema scope musical called MY SISTER EILEEN. The male dance leads: Fosse and Rall have one truly sensational acrobatic number together, set in an alley... It is really the highlight of the film. ... On the real downside, Betty Garrett and Leigh are just not believable as sisters. Garrett, as wonderful as she is, just looks too old, like her Aunt instead, a generation ahead of perky Debbie-style Leigh. Beyond all that bewilderment, the characters of the girls are just plain dopey. I get naive, but these two are basically whiny and not very smart. MGM's B musicals ATHENA and I LOVE MELVIN and SMALL TOWN GIRL, all produced the year before are far better than this A grade Columbia attempt. And I love Betty Garrett and Jack Lemmon. A proper musical version of WONDERFUL TOWN awaits us all and if ever produced as written and scored will prove my comments to be hopefully more correct than wrong. I wanted to like this film a lot and was ready to, but the obvious plagiarism of production, the wrong casting and the fact I know the source musical to be excellent, makes Eileen fall over. I will avoid commenting on the goofy embarrassment of Dick York, the butch neighbour with the spunky fiancé, a spin on the horny newly weds across the courtyard in Rear Window.
gentoo
"My Sister Eileen" has two great stars -- Bob Fosse and Betty Garrett -- stealing the show from two who turned out to be bigger stars -- Jack Lemmon and Janet Leigh. The story is pretty elementary and certainly predictable, but that doesn't matter. What makes this movie special is Garrett's incredible comic delivery (with and without the Brazilian navy!) and Fosse's fabulous choreography. When he and Tommy Rall challenge each other while waiting outside Eileen's "audition," you'll feel like you're in heaven.
