VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

SimonJack Almost everything about Margaret Tobin Brown's life story is fiction in the film – except for her heroics in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. But this is a movie musical. It's loosely based on the life and fortunes (pun intended) of a real person. But the details of that life are turned to fiction to fit the romance, comedy and music and dance of a musical. And what a great piece of entertainment it is. "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" is a first-rate film with great music and dance numbers, and with a good plot to boot. It has a good serving of comedy, a tender love story, and lessons about life. The sets and costumes are spectacular and the film has some great Rocky Mountain scenery. The movie was a box office success, and the fact that it received six Academy Award nominations says something about its quality – including the best actress nomination for Reynolds. Just consider the competition it was up against. Film historians say that musicals were waning in appeal by the mid-1960s. Yet, 1964 was one of the most competitive years in the history of Hollywood for musicals. Besides Molly Brown, "Mary Poppins" scored a best actress for Julie Andrews, and "My Fair Lady" took the best picture prize. Indeed, 1964 was a great year for movies period, so the Academy Awards for that year was a showcase of great movies that have endured with time. Other great films were "Becket," "Zorba the Greek," "Dr Strangelove," "The Night of the Iguana," "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte," "The Pink Panther," "Seven Days in May," "What a Way to Go," "The Best Man," and "The Fall of the Roman Empire." As one who greatly enjoys musicals for the many song and dance talents of show biz, including group songs and dance routines, I find it hard to rate one top performance over another. Especially in a year when three great musicals came out. Mary Poppins surely had the most popular tunes, including the incomparable Julie Andrews singing "Chim Chim Cher-ee." My Fair Lady had the unique "Rain in Spain" series with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, and two good choreographed scenes. But I liked the boisterous numbers Debbie Reynolds had in Molly Brown, the very good songs that baritone Harve Presnell sang, and the two large-scale group song and dance episodes. Then, I like the story line of Molly Brown best – even fictionalized – because it's about a real person, who lived a most unusual life, with times and places I knew about and could recognize as a viewer. So, I give "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" a rating of 9 out of 10 stars – the same as for "Mary Poppins;" and just one-notch away from the 10 rating I give to "My Fair Lady." (My only other 10 ratings for the year were "Becket" and "Dr. Strangelove," and the only other 9 ratings I gave were for "Zorba the Greek" and "The Pink Panther." And, very few years dating since the 1920s do I have six films that I rate 9 or 10.)

jotix100 "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" made its debut on Broadway in 1960. Tammy Grimes, as the Molly Brown of the title, received, perhaps, the best reviews of her acting career. When it was made into an MGM musical, Miss Grimes, lost her creation to Debbie Reynolds, who had a bigger name and was a favorite of the movie going public.Meredith Wilson, the man behind another hit, "The Music Man", created a musical comedy that showcased a fictionalized account of the larger than life character of Molly, a woman who went from humble beginnings to bigger, and better things. As a matter of fact, she was truly "unsinkable" as proved by having survived the Titanic disaster.Not having seen this film for quite some time, didn't quite make it for this viewer, on a second viewing, in spite of glowing comments from other IMDb contributors. However, it must be noted, our memory of having seen it before was more positive than the impression we got in watching it again. Part of the problem is the plot, which is silly, in the way the material is presented. Then again, this film has a dated feeling.Debbie Reynolds threw herself into the role of Molly with gusto. It's one of her best achievements in the movies, and it should be recognized. Herve Presnell, who played Johnny Brown on Broadway, seemed destined for bigger and better things, as he shows here with his handsome looks and powerful singing voice. The cast includes several character actors that enhance the movie, notably, Ed Begley, Hermione Baddeley, Jack Krushen and Martita Hunt, among others.The film could be seen as a curiosity, although it shows its age. The songs, with only a few exceptions don't have the quality of other Meredith Wilson's work. Only a couple of songs stay with the viewer after all is said and done. Charles Walters' direction was not too inspired and perhaps that seems to be the basic flaw with this "Molly".

edwagreen Debbie Reynolds gives us everything in her rousing Oscar nominated performance for best actress in 1964's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."Raised in poverty, found after she was abandoned, Molly (Debbie) wants more out of life. We see the same desire for upward mobility as a George Eastman in "A Place in the Sun." Naturally, for Reynolds, this desire is framed around this excellent musical.As she grows up, she meets her husband-to-be, an engaging Harve Presnell, whose great voice, as in his rendition I'll Never Say No Again is great. After they marry, Molly's accidental burning of the money she was hiding for safe-keeping is hilarious. In his anger, Johnny (Presnell) strikes gold purely by accident. This supposedly will lift the newlyweds to a new life filled with wealth.Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Uneducated and lacking polish, they are immediately rejected by Denver's socialite families. When they throw their own party, no one shows up with the exception of the faithful, kindly pastor.Her inability to move up socially will ultimately cause a separation from Johnny. Molly and her husband head off to Europe to become a cultured. They achieve this as she mingles with the elite of European society. Johnny wants to go home and when Molly refuses, the two part.Regarded well by her new friends, Molly decides to come home as her heart longs for John. History was apparently on Molly's side. She was on the Titanic and was credited for calming the hysterical women survivors during this disaster. Coming home, she is heralded by Denver's elite-including neighbor and arch enemy, Audrey Christie. (Remember her as Natalie Wood's mother in "Splendor in the Grass?") Naturally, Mrs. McGraw's (Christie) mother is Buttercup, a wonderful common Hermione Baddeley, who has become a good friend to the man who reared Molly- Ed Begley, in a gem of a performance with his full Irish brogue.The singing and dancing are great. The musical scene where the elite of Europe dance with the people of Denver is hilarious.A great film with a marvelous ensemble cast. A wonderful realization of social mobility in America. Did it really have to take the heroic efforts of Molly to establish herself among the elite of Denver? Returning

tedg The movie musical by this time was already breathing its last. Perhaps all genres go through a life cycle and eventually fade away, or so most observers believe. But I think there was a more fundamental shift at work, a shift in how we see film stories. Musicals demand that we enter a work that wavers between reality (in the story) and a stylized non-reality where a song-and-dance theatrical entertainment is presented. Since the 60s, we've been unwilling to shift realities without one of the explicit conventions that have evolved, some quite sophisticated.They tried something like one of these conventions by having an onstage "band" whenever Christmas and gang appeared.But there are other interesting things about this project. First, that it really is rooted in reality, more so than others of its ilk. At least Molly Brown did live, and her life was roughly as depicted. Second, there was another fold with reality: a celebrity scandal involving the "good" Debbie and the "bad" Liz, with Debbie fighting back (as a pudgy 32 year old).But there's another level that is lost today. The 60's in particular and the decades before as well were periods when the American social conscience was in a "populist" camp. Movies and books reflected this: the rich were either evil, or selfish, or blind or simply stupid while the real wisdom and joy and meaning of America was found in its "ordinary" people.Many were the dramas that reduced things as they are here: genuine but rough, simple people contrasted with the stodgy, sober unimaginative rich. That was before the American scene shifted. Most people now consider themselves middle class and don't mind being a bit pretentious consumption-wise. What was "simple" and "genuine" has been co-opted by their commercial abstractions in various worlds ("country" and "hiphop" for example).The model for "Molly" has now shifted to the explicitly dumb but well-intentioned and pure- hearted as in "Legally Blond."Once again, we have a Technicolor redheaded heroine. She's no Charisse and danced with a loping wide athletic stance that Gene Kelly would famously criticize. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.