Debbie Reynolds gives us everything in her rousing Oscar nominated performance for best actress in 1964's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."
Raised in poverty, found after she was abandoned, Molly (Debbie) wants more out of life. We see the same desire for upward mobility as a George Eastman in "A Place in the Sun." Naturally, for Reynolds, this desire is framed around this excellent musical.
As she grows up, she meets her husband-to-be, an engaging Harve Presnell, whose great voice, as in his rendition I'll Never Say No Again is great. After they marry, Molly's accidental burning of the money she was hiding for safe-keeping is hilarious. In his anger, Johnny (Presnell) strikes gold purely by accident. This supposedly will lift the newlyweds to a new life filled with wealth.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Uneducated and lacking polish, they are immediately rejected by Denver's socialite families. When they throw their own party, no one shows up with the exception of the faithful, kindly pastor.
Her inability to move up socially will ultimately cause a separation from Johnny. Molly and her husband head off to Europe to become a cultured. They achieve this as she mingles with the elite of European society. Johnny wants to go home and when Molly refuses, the two part.
Regarded well by her new friends, Molly decides to come home as her heart longs for John. History was apparently on Molly's side. She was on the Titanic and was credited for calming the hysterical women survivors during this disaster. Coming home, she is heralded by Denver's elite-including neighbor and arch enemy, Audrey Christie. (Remember her as Natalie Wood's mother in "Splendor in the Grass?") Naturally, Mrs. McGraw's (Christie) mother is Buttercup, a wonderful common Hermione Baddeley, who has become a good friend to the man who reared Molly- Ed Begley, in a gem of a performance with his full Irish brogue.
The singing and dancing are great. The musical scene where the elite of Europe dance with the people of Denver is hilarious.
A great film with a marvelous ensemble cast. A wonderful realization of social mobility in America. Did it really have to take the heroic efforts of Molly to establish herself among the elite of Denver?
Returning
Raised in poverty, found after she was abandoned, Molly (Debbie) wants more out of life. We see the same desire for upward mobility as a George Eastman in "A Place in the Sun." Naturally, for Reynolds, this desire is framed around this excellent musical.
As she grows up, she meets her husband-to-be, an engaging Harve Presnell, whose great voice, as in his rendition I'll Never Say No Again is great. After they marry, Molly's accidental burning of the money she was hiding for safe-keeping is hilarious. In his anger, Johnny (Presnell) strikes gold purely by accident. This supposedly will lift the newlyweds to a new life filled with wealth.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Uneducated and lacking polish, they are immediately rejected by Denver's socialite families. When they throw their own party, no one shows up with the exception of the faithful, kindly pastor.
Her inability to move up socially will ultimately cause a separation from Johnny. Molly and her husband head off to Europe to become a cultured. They achieve this as she mingles with the elite of European society. Johnny wants to go home and when Molly refuses, the two part.
Regarded well by her new friends, Molly decides to come home as her heart longs for John. History was apparently on Molly's side. She was on the Titanic and was credited for calming the hysterical women survivors during this disaster. Coming home, she is heralded by Denver's elite-including neighbor and arch enemy, Audrey Christie. (Remember her as Natalie Wood's mother in "Splendor in the Grass?") Naturally, Mrs. McGraw's (Christie) mother is Buttercup, a wonderful common Hermione Baddeley, who has become a good friend to the man who reared Molly- Ed Begley, in a gem of a performance with his full Irish brogue.
The singing and dancing are great. The musical scene where the elite of Europe dance with the people of Denver is hilarious.
A great film with a marvelous ensemble cast. A wonderful realization of social mobility in America. Did it really have to take the heroic efforts of Molly to establish herself among the elite of Denver?
Returning