Father's Little Dividend

1951 RomanceComedy 82 minutes Directed by Vincente Minnelli

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About Father's Little Dividend

Stanley Banks learns that his daughter Kay and her husband Buckley are expecting. He thinks he is too young to be a grandfather. Kay and Buckley buy their own house instead of moving in with either set of parents. A late-night fight, caused by Kay's jealousy over Buckley's office hours, blows over. After the birth the baby cries whenever Stanley comes near. Left in charge for an afternoon, Stanley loses the carriage in the park while he joins a soccer game, then finds the child safe. At the christening the boy is named Stanley Banks Dunstan.

Cast & crew

More about Father's Little Dividend

Vincente Minnelli directed the sequel to Father of the Bride (1950). Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich wrote it, drawing on Edward Streeter's Father of the Bride. Pandro S. Berman produced. Ferris Webster edited. Loew's, Inc. distributed it. The Hollywood opening was 5 April 1951 and the New York opening 12 April.

Themes

  • Too young to be a grandfather
  • The carriage goes missing
  • The baby takes his name
  • Stanley Banks
  • Kay Dunstan
  • Buckley
  • baby
  • grandfather
  • park

Reviews

Bosley Crowther in the New York Times called it grand diversion and wrote that Tracy again mirrored a real American type, never sugared. Edwin Schallert in the Los Angeles Times said it was in many ways more amusing than Father of the Bride.

Look

John Alton photographed the film.

Music

Albert Sendrey composed the score.

Preservation

A copy is on the Internet Archive and on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

  • Spencer Tracy plays Stanley and also narrates. Joan Bennett plays Ellie. Elizabeth Taylor plays Kay. Don Taylor plays Buckley.
  • Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen play Doris and Herbert Dunstan. Russ Tamblyn, billed as Rusty Tamblyn, plays Tommy Banks.
  • Hayden Rorke plays Dr. Andrew Nordell. Marietta Canty plays Delilah.
  • Donald and Donna Clark play the baby.

Scenes

  • Stanley loses the baby carriage during a park soccer game and runs to the police.
  • At the christening the child is named Stanley Banks Dunstan.

Influenced by

  • Father of the Bride (1950)
  • Edward Streeter's Father of the Bride

Also available

  • Internet Archive (Fathers_Little_Dividend.avi)