''The Model and the Marriage Broker'' is a 1951

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film about a

marriage broker Matchmaking is the process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. The word is also used in the context of sporting events such as boxing, in ...

. Though

Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in '' Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films '' In the Meantime, Darling'' (194 ...

(as the model) is top billed, the movie revolves around

Thelma Ritter Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American actress, best known for her comedic roles as working-class characters and her strong New York accent. She won the 1958 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and received ...

's character (the broker), in a rare leading role for Ritter.

Scott Brady Scott Brady (born Gerard Kenneth Tierney; September 13, 1924 – April 16, 1985) was an American film and television actor best known for his roles in Western films and as a ubiquitous television presence. He played the title role in the televi ...

also stars. The film is directed by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...

and produced by

Charles Brackett Charles William Brackett (November 26, 1892 – March 9, 1969) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He collaborated with Billy Wilder on sixteen films. Life and career Brackett was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, the son of ...

. At the

24th Academy Awards The 24th Academy Awards were held on March 20, 1952, honoring the films of 1951. The ceremony was hosted by Danny Kaye. ''An American in Paris'' and '' A Place in the Sun'' each received six Oscars, splitting Best Picture and Best Director, r ...

, it received a nomination in the category of Best Costume Design (Black & White) for Charles LeMaire and

Renié Renié Conley (July 31, 1901 − June 12, 1992) was a prominent Hollywood costume designer. Biography Born in Republic, Washington and studied at Chouinard Art Institute and University of California in Los Angeles. For over three decades, Renié w ...

. The award, however, went to

Edith Head Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is cons ...

for her work in '' A Place in the Sun''.

Plot

Through her "Contacts and Contracts" company, Mae Swasey is busy scheming to bring couples together. It is not very rewarding financially, and Mae is in debt, as her friend and business associate Doberman reminds her periodically during their regular games of

Pinochle Pinochle (), also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick-taking, Ace-Ten card game typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by for ...

. Even one of her seeming successes, Ina Kuschner's impending wedding to Radiographer Matt Hornbeck, does not go as hoped. Ina's mother refuses to pay Mae the agreed-upon $500 commission. Mae, however, gets the last laugh; Matt gets cold feet at the last moment and leaves the bride waiting at the altar. When Mae goes to see another client, her purse is accidentally taken by model Kitty Bennett, while she gets Kitty's lookalike one. Looking inside for something to identify its owner, Mae reads a letter in which Kitty's current boyfriend apologizes for not mentioning that he is married (but wants to keep on seeing her). When the two women get together to exchange purses, Kitty becomes annoyed when she discovers Mae has read her letter and rejects Mae's advice to give the self-admitted "heel" up. Kitty comes to apologize for her unkind words later. Mae talks her into breaking up with the married man, then tries to fix her up with Matt by pretending that Kitty may have swallowed a missing earring (which may have fallen into an omelet Mae was preparing) and requires an X-ray. Matt and Kitty become a couple, but when Kitty learns about Mae's meddling and her plans to maneuver a commitment-averse Matt into proposing, she ends their friendship. Mae, badly shaken, goes away to a resort to think things over. Before she leaves, Mae gets an unexpected visit from Emmy Swasey. Twenty years before, she had stolen Mae's husband. Now that she is recently widowed and lonely (and not so cute as she used to be), she wants Mae to find her a replacement. Mae turns her down, less because of the past than because she's not sure about her future, having been so rattled by Kitty's denunciation of her business. When Kitty goes to make up with Mae at her office, she runs into Mr. Johannson, one of Mae's clients, who needs help to patch up his relationship. Kitty reluctantly takes the absent Mae's place. Doberman, hoping to find his friend, tells Kitty how badly she hurt Mae, that Mae thought of her as the daughter she never had, and that Mae helps those who are shy, need a helpful push, and were not gifted with natural beauty and charm. Afterward, Kitty tries to arrange a relationship for Mae with Dan Chancellor, a wealthy Canadian bachelor who had heard of Mae's service. Mae and Kitty become friends again, but Mae, having found out her meeting with Dan wasn't serendipitous after all, comes to realize she herself will never be lonely as long as she has people to help (but she will be, stuck on a peninsula with a man who can't play Pinochle to save his life). Mae decides that Dan would be a better match for Emmy, since he just wants a good-natured woman who knows how to talk back. Matt and Kitty get past their mutual hesitance, and are clearly headed for the altar. Back at her office to stay, Kitty and Doberman resume their running Pinochle game, and he surprises Mae by presenting himself as a suitor for her. She's absorbing all this, as the film ends.

Cast

as Kitty Bennett *

as Matt Hornbeck *

as Mae Swasey *

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

as George Wixted, one of Mae's more reluctant clients * Michael O'Shea as Doberman *

Helen Ford Helen Ford (born Helen Isabel Barnett; June 6, 1894, Troy, New York–January 19, 1982, Glendale, California) was an American actress. Biography Ford's father was a manufacturer in Troy, and she was considered a musical prodigy as a child. ...

as Emmy Swasey *

Frank Fontaine Frank Fontaine (April 19, 1920 – August 4, 1978) was an American stage, radio, film and television comedian, singer and actor. Early years and personal life Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fontaine came from a family of entertai ...

as Hjalmer Johannson *

Dennie Moore Dennie Moore (born Florence Moore; December 30, 1902 – February 22, 1978) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Moore was born in New York City on December 30, 1902, to immigrant parents of Scottish and Irish descent. She wa ...

as Bea Gingras, who wants her sister Hazel to marry and move out of her home * John Alexander as Mr. Perry * Jay C. Flippen as Dan Chancellor *

Nancy Kulp Nancy Jane Kulp (August 28, 1921 – February 3, 1991) was an American character actress and comedienne best known as Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series ''The Beverly Hillbillies''. Early life Kulp was born to Robert Tilden and M ...

as Hazel Gingras, a new client of Mae's *

Kathryn Card Kathryn Card (October 4, 1892 – March 1, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film actress who may be best remembered for her role as Mrs. McGillicuddy, Lucy's mother on '' I Love Lucy''. Radio Born in Butte, Montana one of the four ...

as Mrs. Kuschner *

Maudie Prickett Maudie Prickett (born Maudie Marie Doyle; October 25, 1914 – April 14, 1976) was an American character actress who performed in over 300 stage, film, and television productions during a career that spanned nearly four decades. Death In ...

as Delia Seaton *

Ken Christy Robert Kenneth Christy (November 23, 1894 – July 23, 1962) was an American television, film, and radio character actor. Early life Born Robert Kenneth Christy, he was the second of three children of Alice Christy and Olivier B. Christy. ...

as Mr. Kuschner *

Shirley Mills Shirley Olivia Mills (April 8, 1926 – March 31, 2010) was an American actress. She played the roles of the youngest daughter in ''The Grapes of Wrath'' and the title character in ''Child Bride''. In the latter, she is shown nude in a nude swim ...

as Ina Kuschner

Production

Walter Reisch Walter Reisch (May 23, 1903 – March 28, 1983) was an Austrian-born director and screenwriter. He also wrote lyrics to several songs featured in his films, one popular title is "Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne". He was married to the dancer and ...

who worked on the film said it "worked like a million dollars. Fox production head Darryl Zanuck loved the picture so much that I don't think he eliminated one frame. I don't remember one marginal note in a script of 140 pages. We came in on budget, and Cukor's work was lovely, sensitive. We had a big success, and the reason ''The Model and the Marriage Broker'' didn't score an even bigger success was because it came just at the start of the age of CinemaScope and color, and that story certainly did not lend itself to CinemaScope and color. It was very intimate... But when it was finished... Zanuck was so involved in CinemaScope and had put so much money and publicity into CinemaScope that he simply treated this picture as a stepchild."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Model And The Marriage Broker, The 1951 films 1951 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by George Cukor Films produced by Charles Brackett Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by Charles Brackett 20th Century Fox films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films