AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Steineded How sad is this?

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

wes-connors New York matchmaker Shirley Booth (as Dolly Gallagher Levi) is assigned to pick a mate for wealthy old gentleman Paul Ford (as Horace Vandergelder); but, Ms. Booth decides she wants him for herself. Meanwhile, Anthony Perkins (as Cornelius Hackl), who works for Mr. Ford, falls for young Shirley MacLaine (as Irene Molloy). However, Ms. MacLaine is Ford's hottest prospect. Can Ms. Booth get Ford to changes his preference for the very young? "Life's never quite interesting enough, somehow; you people who come to the movies know that," Booth explains, in the introduction. The statement could serve as a review for the film; it's never quite interesting enough, somehow. "The Matchmaker" is a bright production, with a likable cast, that really never achieves its full potential as a film. Its stage origins are clearly evident. In the transition, the film changes all the wrong things, and keeps what it should have discarded. For example, the characters "speaking to the camera" becomes tiresome, after Booth's charming opening.One thing filmmakers wisely kept was actor Robert Morse (as Barnaby Tucker), who essayed the role on stage, alongside Arthur Hill. Mr. Morse effortlessly equals his higher-billed co-stars. For as long as he's on camera, Morse does not for one moment surrender the screen to anyone. If the film were better received, Morse might have been considered for a "Best Supporting Actor" award."The Matchmaker" returned, to both stage and film, as "Hello, Dolly!"

gftbiloxi The history of THE MATCHMAKER is quite interesting from an academic point of view. In 1835 English playwright and drama critic created a one-act play titled A DAY WELL SPENT, a lightweight comedy of mismatched lovers, mistaken identities, and foolish misbehavior. In 1842 Austrian playwright and actor Johann Nestroy developed Oxenford's work into a full-length comedy titled EINEN JUX WILL ER SICH MACHEN, which was (and remains) very popular in German-language theatre. American writer and scholar Thornton Wilder came to the material in the 1930s--and in 1938 returned the story to the English language under the title THE MERCHANT OF YONKERS. It was an instant disaster, receiving incredibly dire reviews and running all of 39 performances in its New York debut.It was quite a setback for Wilder, who had previously won Pulitzers for the novel THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY and the play OUR TOWN. Even so, actress Ruth Gordon and Tyrone Guthrie strongly felt the play was sound, and in the 1950s both began to pressure Wilder to rework his script. With Gordon starring and Guthrie directing, and with the title changed to THE MATCHMAKER, it opened on Broadway in 1955--and was a smash hit. It attracted the attention of Hollywood, and in 1958 it became a vehicle for Tony and Academy Award-winning actress Shirley Booth.The film version alters Wilder's script quite a bit, and not always for the better, occasionally over-reaching itself in a grab for broad farce; all the same, it does manage to capture the innate charm of the original. Much of this is due to Shirley Booth. Although she is not well recalled today, she was easily among the finest actresses of her era, and her performance here is a warm and glowing jewel, clever, witty, and very gently sly. The remaining cast follows suit--and what a cast it is! Memorable character actors Paul Ford, Perry Wilson, and Wallace Ford; rising stars Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine; and even a very young Robert Morse. Few films can lay claim to an equally gifted line up. The production values are also quite fine, capturing the charm of the 1880s without recourse to the gaudy edge one so often sees in films set in that period.The story itself is equally beguiling. Miserly businessman Horace Vandergelder (Paul Ford) is eager to marry and employs professional busy-body Dolly Levi (Shirley Booth) to fix him up--but when he takes the day off to visit prospective bride Irene Malloy (MacLaine) his two clerks (Perkins and Morse) follow suit. A series of chance encounters bring all concerned together--and with a little not-so-gentle nudging from Dolly, Vandergelder makes the discovery that the matchmaker herself is his own perfect match. If all this sounds a bit familiar, it should, for THE MATCHMAKER had yet another, slightly later incarnation: with music by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart, it became HELLO, DOLLY!, one of Broadway's most celebrated musicals, which itself reached the screen in 1969.There is nothing in the way of bonus materials--a tremendous pity given the astonishing cast--but the DVD does offer the film in near-pristine transfer, and while THE MATCHMAKER doesn't quite rise to the level of the stage play's spark, it is nonetheless a gentle, amusing, and extremely well performed film, an overlooked gem from late-1950s Hollywood.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

krdement This is old-time movie-making at its finest, featuring an ensemble of well-known, well-loved actors. Filmed before either Shirley MacLaine or Anthony Perkins had become established, this film doesn't feature a really big star. The headliner, Shirley Booth, delivers a typically nuanced, poignant performance, but she is hardly a big star. This film is all about ensemble acting. The story, the sets and the actors are all wonderful. This is a far better adaptation of Thornton Wilder than Our Town.There is one element of the film that prevents my rating it higher than an 8. Although they are consistent with Wilder's play, the constant asides, directed to the audience, are a distraction. As I watched the story, I found their constant reminder that I was watching a play instead of a depiction of life a real intrusion. I kept wanting to watch the story unfold in an uninterrupted fashion, and I wondered how that might have altered my perception of the story and the characters. Perhaps the device of the stage manager, as employed in Our Town, would have been more suitable and less distracting here. Or perhaps just breaking the fourth wall at the beginning and end of the film would have been better - employing some other method of imparting to the audience the information delivered in the asides. I just wished that this film had not employed the device of having the characters, themselves, step outside the story, directly addressing the audience. This doesn't ruin the film, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if the characters had all remained within the framework of the story. Simply put, I would have been more involved with the character of Dolly (and the other characters) had she been presented as "real" and not just a character within a play.Nonetheless, this is a highly entertaining film, superior to the succeeding musical versions of the story, and a better adaptation of Thornton Wilder than Our Town. I recommend it highly.

jackhutchinsongallery I have always loved the "straight play" version of the Dolly story. Actually Thornton Wilder's play had a previous incarnation set in Austria, in the German language. He had written it for Broadway in the fifties, it was filmed in 58 in this version, and Jerry Herman must have seen it and fallen in love with it for the musical "Hello, Dolly!". Parts of this are superior to the original stage version of the musical. The film version of the musical is dreadfully over danced and Streisand was way too young for the lead role. Shirley Booth, here in this "Matchmaker", is much closer, in a way to Channing's Dolly of Broadway. I have often wished that SOMEONE would re-do the musical for either video or film. I saw the 1964 Channing production and it was magical. Hollywood so often trashes these brilliant stage works. Anyway, rent this film when you can and compare it to the Streisand "Dolly".