quotes: debbie reynolds movies

1. Salutations.
Salu-what?
Salutations.

2. Meet the greatest actor in the world! I'd rather kiss a tarantula.
You don't mean that.
I don't - - Hey Joe, get me a tarantula.

3. I don't care who the father is, but I'M the grandfather!

4. Just think, Miss Renie, that same moon that's shinin' down on me this very moment, is shinin' down on Pete's tomatoes!

5. I'll bet you made the doctor show his license before he slapped your bottom!

6. Molly sure know what she was doin' when she made this place red. The blood don't show.

7. I was holding auditions...
With three sailors?
With a young lady! And we were, well...
You can skip that. You're old enough and we're broad minded.

best of: debbie reynolds

Tammy:


The Tender Trap:


Two Weeks With Love:


Bundle of Joy:

tammy and the bachelor

the year: 1957

the genre: comedy


the cast: Debbie Reynolds (Tambrey "Tammy" Tyree); Leslie Nielsen (Peter Brent); Walter Brennan (John "Grampa" Dinwitty); Mildred Natwick (Aunt Renie)


the plot: When Pete's plane crashes in the swamp, he's rescued by young Tammy, an unsophisticated backwoods girl who lives with her lay-preacher/moonshiner grandfather. When Pete's well, he goes back home to his fiancée. But then Grampa gets sent to jail and he sends Tammy to stay with Pete. At Pete's house, Tammy's home cooking, enthusiasm and quaint sunshiny personality bring about changes in Pete's family and in Pete himself.



don't miss: Aunt Renie's paintings.




did you know: when the movie was initially released, it fared poorly in theaters. On a whim, the studio released Debbie Reynold's song "Tammy" from the movie. The song spent 23 weeks on the "Top 40" charts, and was #1 for five weeks. After the success of the song, the studio rereleased the film. It did MUCH better.




listen for: "She loves him for richer...but not for poorer!"



extra bonus points: if you recognize the actress who played Peter's mother and know why she's famous.






also listen for: "I'm not a wolf-on-the-make Pete."




count: Leslie Nielsen's dimples. (sigh.) He was a looker at this age.



you can watch the movie in parts, starting here.

the mating game

the year: 1959

the genre: comedy



the cast: Paul Douglas (Pop larkin); Una Merkel (Ma Larkin); Debbie Reynolds (Mariette Larkin); Tony Randall (Lorenzo "Clarlie" Charlton); Fred Clark (Oliver Kelsey)



the plot: Irritated neighbor Wendell Burnshaw brings the Larkin family to the attention of the Internal Revenue Service. Lorenzo Charlton is assigned to the case and Ma and Pop Larkin warmly welcome him to their family farm in Maryland, at first unaware of why he is there. Lorenzo is aghast to learn that the Larkins have never filed a tax return. With their cooperation, he sets out to figure out what, if anything, they owe in the way of back taxes - a difficult task, as Pop usually just trades for what they need and keeps no records. Lorenzo and the eldest Larkin daughter Mariette become attracted to each other, but he doesn't let that get in the way of his work...at least not at first.




listen for: "Don't you boys have a project to work on?"





also listen for: "Lorenzo, what's holding you up down there?" "What's holding me up? The truth of the matter is I'm defying the law of gravity."




don't miss: Lorenzo's version of I've Got You Under My Skin.


also listen for: "You know, whenever I get in a nasty mood, I just come out here and I lie down and listen, and look. And in no time at all, whatever has been bothering me seems no bigger than one leaf on a whole tree. Now you tell me how much that's worth and I'll pay the taxes on it myself."






did you know: the film was loosely based on a British novel, The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates.

bundle of joy

the year: 1956

the genre: comedy


the cast: Debbie Reynolds (Polly Parish); Eddie Fisher (Dan Merlin); Adolphe Menjou (J. B. Merlin); Tommy Noonan (Freddie Miller); Nita Talbot (Mary)


the plot: A remake of Bachelor Mother. Polly is fired from her job as salesclerk at J.B. Merlin’s department store and while waiting for an employment office to open she finds a cherubic blond baby in front of a foundling home. The helpful but obtuse employees think she is trying to abandon the baby because she has lost her job. Playing Guardian Angel, one of the administrators of the home visits J.B. Merlin’s to get Polly her job back. He sees the younger Mr. Merlin, Dan, who not only gives Polly her job back but a $10 raise. Poor Polly thinks the store has finally seen the light and realizes what a great employee she is, but her bubble is soon burst when the foundling home delivers the baby to her doorstep later that night. Through the course of the movie, she falls in love with the younger Merlin and complications ensue when J.B. thinks the baby is his grandchild.


don't miss: when Polly (as Dan's date at the fancy New Year's Eve dinner) pretends to be Swedish.


extra bonus points: if you recognize the actress who plays Mrs. Dugan from a Disney/Hayley Mills movie.


I'll be honest - I like Bachelor Mother a tiny bit better, but this one is great because Debbie Reynolds is just fun to watch - and the music is kind of swingin', too. Watch the trailer here.


You can watch the movie in parts starting here.