Bells are Ringing (1960)

The first time I watched a Judy Holliday movie, it took me awhile to like her. Her voice and dumb blonde act that can be grating. But her bubbly personality is infectious and it’s nay impossible to eventually root for her in whatever predicament she gets herself in. I have not had the same epiphany with Dean Martin. Here, Holliday is an operator for a phone answering service who can’t help but get involved in the lives of her customers, Martin being one of them. The romance between them is hammered in, especially since Dean seems like he’d rather be anywhere but in this picture. The production feels like the stage adaptation it is, with sets that swallow the actors. The songs lackluster and forced into the narrative, but the story itself is cute particularly when all the customers’ lives entangle.   <img src=”http://movingpictures.plur.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/postmusical.gif”  alt=”Musical”  height=”25″  width=”25″>

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture