Rich, Young and Pretty

Rich, Young and Pretty is a 1951 musical film produced by Joe Pasternak for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Norman Taurog. Written by Dorothy Cooper and adapted as a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon. It stars Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, Wendell Corey, and Fernando Lamas, features The Four Freshmen, and introduces Vic Damone. This was Darrieux's first Hollywood film since The Rage of Paris (1938).[4]

Rich, Young and Pretty
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNorman Taurog
Produced byJoe Pasternak
Written byDorothy Cooper (story)
Screenplay bySidney Sheldon
StarringJane Powell
Danielle Darrieux
Wendell Corey
Fernando Lamas
introducing Vic Damone
Music bySammy Cahn (lyrics)
Nicholas Brodszky (music)[1]
CinematographyRobert H. Planck
Edited byGene Ruggiero
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's[2]
Release date
  • July 24, 1951 (1951-07-24) (New York City)
  • August 3, 1952 (1952-08-03) (U.S.)[2]
Running time
95 min
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,528,000[3]
Box office$2,999,000[3]
Fernando Lamas and Danielle Darrieux

Plot

Elizabeth (Jane Powell) accompanies her wealthy Texan rancher father (Wendell Corey) on a visit to Paris, where her mother (Danielle Darrieux) lives. In Paris, she meets Andre (Vic Damone), an eager young Frenchman. The father tries to keep her from marrying the Frenchman and avoid the mistake he made when he married her mother.

Cast
Jane Powell

Songs

MGM promotion for the film emphasized the film's "songs rather than its patter";[1] Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics and Nicholas Brodszky the music for several songs, including

Other original songs by Cahn and Brodszky include

  • "We Never Talk Much (We Just Sit Around)",
  • "How D'Ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning?" and
  • "I Can See You", both of which received radio airplay; "I Can See You" was also a jukebox favorite.[1]

The film also features a "studied going over"[1] of songs such as

Reception

Box office

According to MGM records, the film made $1,935,000 in the US and Canada and $1,064,000 elsewhere, making a profit of $54,000.[3]

Critical reception

Time said the film was "aglow with Technicolor and plush sets" and said it treated a "light cinemusical subject with the butterscotch-caramel sentimentality of the bobby-soxers it is designed to please"; the film "tackles its situations without verve or humor, and handles its lightweight problems as ponderously as if they had been propounded by Ibsen in one of his gloomier moods."[4] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "pretty as a picture postcard and just about as exciting."[1]

References
  1. Bosley Crowther (1951-07-26). "Two Newcomers on the Local Scene". The New York Times.
  2. Rich, Young and Pretty at the TCM Movie Database
  3. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study
  4. "Also Showing". Time. 1951-08-20.
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