Bells Are Ringing (1960)

An answering-service operator (Judy Holliday) falls in love with the man she's known only as a voice on the telephone. Dean Martin and Jean Stapleton co-star. Year: 1960 Director: Vincente Minnelli Starring: Judy Holliday Dean Martin Fred Clark Eddie Foy Jr.Running Time: 126 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 012569591325 Product Description

Just In Time...Bells Are Ringing is on DVD!

Back at a time when there were no answering machines, all smart New Yorkers solved there problems by subscribing to Susanswerphone.

Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday) is the switchboard operator for Suanswerphone, along with her cousin and owner of the business, Sue (Jean Stapleton). Ella, also known as Melisande Scott, is very committed to her job and enjoys helping out each subscriber in a personal way - whether it be a muster plaster for an opera star with laryngitis, a suit for an aspiring actor, or a break for a dentist composing songs on an air hose. But the subscriber Ella spends most of her time on is Mr. "Plaza O Double 4 Double 3" a.k.a Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), a struggling play writer who fondly refers to her as "Mom." They have "the perfect relationship. She can't see him and he can't see her." But that's about to change! And does Jeff get a surprise when he finds out that "Mom" isn't an old lady at all, but a very cute and charming blonde.

Judy Holliday's film career got started with the help of Katharine Hepburn, who Judy starred with in Adam's Rib (1949), along with Spencer Tracy. Bells are Ringing was Judy Holliday's final film after winning a Tony for her Broadway version. It was also the final musical that director Vincente Minnelli and screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green did together.

So, now that the party's over, I may as well say - This movie is a whole lot of fun for everyone! April 10, 2008

The party will never be over again!

At last, BELLS ARE RINGING makes it's long-overdue DVD debut in its original widescreen ratio with Judy Holliday triumphantly reprising her Broadway role of Ella Peterson. Dean Martin plays Ella's handsome subscriber Jeff Moss, and the entire film is stylishly directed by the amazing Vincente Minnelli.

BELLS ARE RINGING was written specifically to fit the talents of Judy Holliday by her old friends Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and originally premiered on Broadway in 1956. Holliday beat Julie Andrews (in MY FAIR LADY) to win the coveted Tony Award and she stayed for the entire 3-year-run. The story concerns the lovelorn Ella Peterson, a telephone operator for the Susanswerphone message service. Ella (disguised as 'Mom') falls in love with the voice of one of her subscribers, Jeff Moss, a playwright with writer's block, though she resigns herself to the fact that she may never actually meet him. Complications arise when Ella bites the bullet and takes on the persona of 'Melisande Scott' in order to embark on a relationship with him.

Eddie Foy Jr., Frank Gorshin and Jean Stapleton, all great stage-trained actors, turn in fantastic supporting performances. It is lovely seeing Judy Holliday (in her final film before succumbing to cancer) kicking up her heels in her acclaimed Broadway role. She is truly missed.

The DVD includes a brief Making-Of featurette with Hal Linden talking about understudying and eventually replacing Sydney Chaplin as Jeff Moss on Broadway; as well as warm reminisces from Comden & Green and Frank Gorshin. The outtake numbers "Is It a Crime?", "My Guiding Star" and an alternate take of "The Midas Touch" can also be savoured, as well as the obligatory trailer. March 31, 2008

What can Suesanswerphone do for you?

Stage play brought to the big screen and finally to DVD and you.

Several plots overlap. I will not go into detail as it is fun to be surprised.

However working as an operator for a phone answering service Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday) is in the perfect location to here people problems, and schemes to help them. At first she passes information on by phone. When one customer unplugs, she decides to help in person. She takes on an alias "Melisande Scott" and falling in love with customer, Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), she takes on more than she bargained for.

Mean while Inspector Barns suspects that the answering service is a front for some hanky panky and is looking for an excuse to put the lot of them in the woman's' detention center.

And J. Otto Prantz just sold 5000 copies of Beethoven's Tenth, Op. 6.

Lots of song including "Plaza O, Double Four, Double Three" and dance scenes. The still camera gives it that stage musical feel but it only adds to the fun.

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One note on the DVD. The outtakes with the exception of one Dean Martin song "My Guiding Star" were best taken out as they distracted form the rest of the story.

Born Yesterday. by Garson Kanin (Paperback - Jan 1951)

Born Yesterday
January 12, 2008

Ringing with Love for that Holliday and Martin pair.

I very much enjoyed watching this movie. Saw it many years ago and still love it. Holliday and Martin shine. They seemed to have had a great time making this film. The music is uplifting and fun. If you like this film - see Guys and Dolls with Brando and Simmons. April 12, 2007

What a perfect relationship! (recommended)

Throw away your mobile phones. Smash your answering machines. Turn back your clock to 1960 when Suesanswerphone makes a pitch to improve all aspects of your life by preventing you from missing a phone call. An office full of Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday) voices filters incoming calls and forwards subscriber messages. Ella offers a unique personality for each client, making the establishment sound much grander than it is. Despite instructions to the contrary from her boss, cousin Sue (Jean Stapleton), but to the delight of subscribers, Ella goes beyond phone answering; she becomes a confidant and advisor.

A typical disaster on blind dates, Ella falls in love with the "disembodied voice" and circumstance of "Plaza-0 Double-4 Double-3" -- playwrite subscriber Jeffery Moss (Dean Martin) with whom she speaks in the voice of an elderly mother. "What a perfect relationship; I can't see him and he can't see me!"

Sue is swooned into sharing her office with shady Titanic Records owner J. Otto Prantz (Eddie Foy, Jr.) while Suesanswerphone is being investigated under suspicion of providing lonely-hearts-club service. Inspector Barnes (Dort Clark) warns Susanswerphone personnel not to have personal conversations or arrange meetings with male callers. Aware of these restrictions, Ella's concern for clients soon transcends the switchboard as she goes undercover in a variety of voices and costumes to pass along helpful information affecting the careers of such characters as beatnik Blake Barton (Frank Gorshin).

Discover how many ways BELLS ARE RINGING in another successful Broadway play adapted to motion picture, the subplots of this Oscar nominated romantic comedy are intertwined with song, dance, and humor. What a wonderful tribute to Judy Holliday in this, her final role before succumbing to cancer in 1965. BORN YESTERDAY and IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU are two other wonderful performances of about a dozen in her all-too-short film career. Expect Broadway musical style over-exaggeration at times while BELLS ARE RINGING the sound of delightful entertainment -- deserving 4.5 stars.

Movie quote: "It's a simple little system when the law is listening in. We will take those record orders in a very cultured tone while we're really booking horses over at Suesanswerphone." December 27, 2006

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