IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

mark.waltz Just something to think about.... (Considering that "The Matchmaker" was an updated variation of "A Trip to Chinatown").Like another Jerry Herman musical ("Mame"), "Hello, Dolly!" was based upon a hit Broadway play that was later musicalized. And like the original "Auntie Mame", the movie version of "The Matchmaker" (the Thornton Wilder play upon which "Dolly" was based) was released in 1958. Like "Auntie Mame", there are many lines that seem like song cues. For example, the character of Irene Malloy (Shirley MacLaine) indicates that in the summertime, she'll be wearing ribbons down her back. And Cornelius Hackl (Anthony Perkins) says at the very beginning as he is planning a trip to Manhattan with Barnaby (Robert Morse) that even if they come back broke, at least they can remember that once they had a very good day, which in the musical Cornelius says later in the story. Dolly (Shirley Booth) talks about after being widowed making herself a rum toddy, putting out the cat, and thanking God that she didn't depend on anybody. Each of these incidents in the musical leads to a song, and if you know "Dolly" well, you might find yourself humming them at the non-musical version, a delightful comedy that shows Manhattan at a much different time when life may not have been totally smooth, but certainly not as complex as New York City is today."Auntie Mame", the movie, saluted its stage origins by having a blackout in between the important scenes to represent the end of an act. In "The Matchmaker", the stage origins are saluted by having the characters break the third wall and talk to the audience directly. That rarely works in films, but here, it is totally charming, and doesn't make the film seem any more theatrical or lessen its impact. While the basic structure is the same as the musical, there are some slight differences, changed for dramatic content when Michael Stewart wrote the book in the early 60's for the long-running Broadway version.Shirley Booth had been playing only dramatic parts in movies ("Come Back Little Sheba", "About Mrs. Leslie") when she made this, a pre-cursor to her television role as the housekeeper "Hazel". She had showed her comic talents on stage in the original non-musical version of "My Sister Eileen" and threw up her legs as the vivacious Aunt Cissy in the musical version of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". While Ruth Gordon originated the role of Dolly in "The Matchmaker" on Broadway, Booth was a perfect choice for the movie, and I can't imagine it without her as wonderful and cheery as she is here.Shirley MacLaine, who would play Booth's daughter in the same year's "Hot Spell", brings in all her growing comic tricks as Irene Malloy, and steals the scene where Cornelius and Barnaby hide under the table and in the closet of her hat shop, as well as the later scene in the Harmonia Gardens restaurant. Paul Ford, so utterly irascible as the mayor in "The Music Man", was a perfect Horace Vandergelder. In an ironic twist of trivia, character actor David Burns, then on the Broadway as the mayor in "The Music Man", would later play Vandergelder in "Hello, Dolly!".Tall and lanky Anthony Perkins is handsome and graceful as the shy Cornelius who longs to come to life, while future Broadway leading man Robert Morse is perfect as his puppy like sidekick Barnaby. Perry Wilson seemed a bit too old as Minnie Faye, reminding me of character actresses Una Merkel or Nydia Westman from a decade earlier. Her reaction to finding a man in the closet in the hat shop is priceless. Instead of the pig-carrying Ernestina Semple from "Dolly", we get Wallace Ford as one of Vandergelder's employees. He gets his own chance to take over for a minute in a very funny scene where he debates his own honesty when finding a wallet full of money in the restaurant.Many hit Broadway musicals were straight plays before having songs added, and once those songs are added, the plays tend to disappear from view. Fortunately, "The Matchmaker" and "Auntie Mame" have turned up from time to time minus those fabulous Jerry Herman songs; Some producer somewhere should consider doing the play and the musical in repertoire together so audiences can appreciate the play for its qualities, and the musical for theirs.

evlc This movie was shown on TCM last week or so. It's the first time for me, and while watching it, I saw that it is almost the same script as Hello Dolly! It's a charming story and enjoyable movie overall. But Hello Dolly! is a favorite movie with me, and I think they did more with it. Even without the musical element, it developed a lot of scenes further, to the benefit of the story and viewer. Maybe it's also an appreciation for Barbra Streisand, though I do not like her in everything. Her over the top brass as an outrageous Dolly was so much fun. I don't like every musical either, but Hello Dolly! is a very lively and entertaining one to me. There is a lot of fun in it. It's certainly an attractive movie. The two are just different movies, each enjoyable for its own type and handling.

Meg H I just finished watching this film, and it really made me laugh! Especially Anthony Perkins who was very handsome and charming throughout the entire picture. This proves he can be loveable and sweet! And when he asked in the beginning "Are you alone?" I wanted to jump into the screen! (okay...that's a little weird, I know....) The rest of the cast was also superb. Shirley Booth makes and excellent Dolly, as does Shirley MacLaine as Irene. Paul Ford, while he did a wonderful job as Horace, he will always be Mayor Shinn, from The Music Man, to me.Anyway, every Perkins fan needs to see this movie! He will charm your socks off, especially at the end when he explains the moral of the story! And for those who only see him as Norman Bates, watch this film, and it will prove you wrong!

reader4 Hitchcock's "Psycho" marked a turning point in the career of Anthony Perkins. He stabbed his way into the consciousness of the American moviegoing public so forcefully and proved he was so effective at portraying a disturbed and disturbing personality that he never again played anything else. Even in "The Trial," where he is the hero and an uncomprehending victim, he plays the role in an odd way that doesn't evoke much sympathy from the viewer.Come and see what he was like before "Psycho!" He is boyish, cute, rather happy-go-lucky, and absolutely endearing. If for nothing else, "The Matchmaker" is worth watching just to actually like and feel warmly towards the actor who makes our hackles rise upon sight. A unique experience.The rest of the cast is good, too. The story is engaging, wittily written, and never mawkish or sappy. Head and shoulders above "Hello, Dolly."