| The Matchmaker | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
|
| Directed by | Joseph Anthony |
| Produced by | Don Hartman |
| Written by | Thorton Wilder (play) John Micheal Hayes(screenplay) |
| Starring | Shirley Booth Anthony Perkins Shirley McClaine Paul Ford Robert Morse |
| Music by | Adolf Deutsch |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang (as Charles Lang Jr.) |
| Editing by | Howard A. Smith (as Howard Smith) |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | 1958 |
| Running time | 145 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Matchmaker is a 1958 film starring Shirley MacLaine. It is a retelling of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, Hello Dolly!
Plot
When Horace Vandergelder (Paul Ford), a rich miser of Yonkers, New York, decides to get remarried, he employs the cunning (and widowed) matchmaker Dolly Levi (Shirley Booth) to help him woo the lovely young hatmaker Irene Malloy (Shirley MacLaine). Dolly, however, hates to see money being kept "cold and idle", so she secretly plans on marrying Horace herself. She pretends that there is another girl who is young, beautiful, and an heiress named Ernstina Money who is interested in marrying Horace, to try to convince him not to marry Irene. Horace decides to visit Irene's hat shop anyway, and leaves his store in the hands of his young chief clerk Cornelius Hackl (Anthony Perkins) and "idiot assistant" Barnaby Tucker (Robert Morse). Cornelius and Barnaby, however, have had enough of Yonkers and are desperate to have some fun for once in their life. Taking advantage of their boss's absence, they sneak out of Yonkers and head off to the city. There, they find Irene's hat shop, where they enter and begin to flirt with the owner. Shortly after they arrive, however, Horace comes to the shop. The two men hide under Irene's table, however their position is given away when Irene's assistant, Minnie Fay (Perry Wilson) sees them (despite Irene and Dolly's attempts to help). Although Mr. Vandergelder doesn't realize who exactly is under the table, he becomes angry at Ms Malloy for hiding men in her store and leaves to have a dinner date with the fictious Ernstina. Irene, furious at Cornelius and Barnaby, demands that they take her and Minnie to dinner at that same restaurant (Dolly, to tease Mr. Vandergelder, implied that Cornelius was actually from a wealthy family). They agree, although they don't have any money. At the restaurant, financial aide comes to Cornelius when Mr. Vandergelder drops his wallet and a confused waiter gives it to Cornelius. Dolly joins Horace for dinner, then receives a telegram from "Ernstina" (which she sent to herself), saying that the imaginary heiress married another man. Horace is not amused and tries to leaves. Meanwhile, Cornelius falls in love with Irene as Barnaby falls in love with Minnie. They realize, however, that they cannot continue to deceive the girls. They manage to sneak out of the restaurant, disguised as women, dancing with Dolly and Mr. Vandergelder along the way. As they leave, they slip Horace's wallet to Dolly. As they ride a cab home, they leave a note for Irene, explaining that they are actually poor, but that they love them. Irene receives the note and realizes that she loves Cornelius as well. The next day, Dolly, Irene, Minnie, Cornelius, and Barnaby pool their money to rent a store across the street from Vandergelder's, pretending that they are about to rival his business. Mr. Vandergelder admits that he was a fool and asks Dolly to marry him. Dolly accepts, handing him back his wallet.
Cast
- Dolly 'Gallagher' Levi - Shirley Booth
- Mr. Horace Vandergelder - Paul Ford
- Cornelius Hackle - Anthony Perkins
- Irene Malloy - Shirley Maclaine
- Barnaby Tucker - Robert Morse
- Minnie Fay - Perry Wilson
- Malachi Stack - Wallace Ford
- Joe Scalon - Russel Collins
- August - Rex Evans
- Rudolph - Gavin Gordon
- Alex - Torben Meyer
- Himself (a cat) - Rhubarb
