Weddings and Babies
Encyclopedia
Weddings and Babies is a 1960 film directed, produced, and written by independent filmmaker Morris Engel
. Starring Viveca Lindfors
and John Myhers.
The last of Engel's feature films, it was shot in 1957 and previewed at the 1958 Venice Film Festival
, where it won the Critics Award. Being unable to find a traditional distributor, Engel took the necessary steps to distribute the film himself, including financing it and handling the booking at theaters. It debuted on October 5, 1960.
Al, however, resists getting married until he has substantial savings. He buys a movie camera in order to expand his business, but the camera is damaged accidentally. Meanwhile, Al is under pressure from his elderly mother, who he has just committed to a home for the elderly. At one point, his mother runs away to the cemetery where her husband is buried, as one critic later put it, "to see the grave site that awaits her, one stone among a million in that vast necropolis gazing on the city's distant skyline from the shadow of the BQE."
According to Time magazine, Engel preferred his actors to improvise and "often throws away his working script". He followed them with the handheld camera to record scenes as they developed, "catching this, missing that, taking his chances and riding his luck." Chiarina Barile, who plays Al's elderly mother, was discovered by Engel while she was sitting on the stoop of a New York City apartment building, and died soon afterwards. She never saw the film.
stated that "as a technical exercise in cinema [Weddings and Babies] is one of the most exciting feature films the U.S. has produced in a decade."
Writing in The New York Times
, film critic Bosley Crowther
praised the "exquisite and isolatedly eloquent little bits in Mr. Engel's picture." He said of Lindfors' performance that "everything she does—every movement, every gesture, every reaction, every lift and fall of her voice — is so absolutely right and convincing that the style drapes most fitly around her...She is the solid core of this film." However, he also felt the "do-it-as-you-feel-it approach, accounts for more looseness and banality than beauty and eloquence," and that "it fails to develop cohesion and leaves many questions—indeed, the conflict—unclarified." He also criticized the sound quality and said the photographic style provokes "more irritation and bewilderment than surprise."
Crowther said of the film, which turned out to be Engel's last feature: "Perhaps when he gets somebody with real professional skill to write him a script and he learns to hold his camera more firmly, he will give us the great American urban film."
Writing in The Village Voice
in 2008, critic J. Hoberman said that "Weddings and Babies is "certainly the most extensive portrait of Manhattan's Little Italy before Martin Scorsese
's incomparable Mean Streets
." He singled out Barile's performance as "incredibly ancient and incomparably dignified."
Morris Engel
Morris Engel was an influential American photographer, cinematographer and filmmaker best known for directing the 1953 film The Little Fugitive in collaboration with his wife, photographer Ruth Orkin, and their friend, writer Raymond Abrashkin.Engel completed two more features during the 1950s,...
. Starring Viveca Lindfors
Viveca Lindfors
Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors , better known under her professional name of Viveca Lindfors, was a Swedish stage and film actress.-Life and career:...
and John Myhers.
The last of Engel's feature films, it was shot in 1957 and previewed at the 1958 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, where it won the Critics Award. Being unable to find a traditional distributor, Engel took the necessary steps to distribute the film himself, including financing it and handling the booking at theaters. It debuted on October 5, 1960.
Plot summary
The film focuses on the stormy relationship between New York City wedding photographer Al Capetti (Myhers) and his Swedish-born girlfriend and assistant Bea (Lindfors). As the film begins, Bea tells Al how anxious she is to get married and have children of her own.Al, however, resists getting married until he has substantial savings. He buys a movie camera in order to expand his business, but the camera is damaged accidentally. Meanwhile, Al is under pressure from his elderly mother, who he has just committed to a home for the elderly. At one point, his mother runs away to the cemetery where her husband is buried, as one critic later put it, "to see the grave site that awaits her, one stone among a million in that vast necropolis gazing on the city's distant skyline from the shadow of the BQE."
Production
Weddings and Babies was filmed using a handheld 35 mm motion picture camera, and is considered to be the first fictional movie to be shot with such a camera that also recorded synchronized sound.According to Time magazine, Engel preferred his actors to improvise and "often throws away his working script". He followed them with the handheld camera to record scenes as they developed, "catching this, missing that, taking his chances and riding his luck." Chiarina Barile, who plays Al's elderly mother, was discovered by Engel while she was sitting on the stoop of a New York City apartment building, and died soon afterwards. She never saw the film.
Reception
A reviewer for TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
stated that "as a technical exercise in cinema [Weddings and Babies] is one of the most exciting feature films the U.S. has produced in a decade."
Writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, film critic Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
praised the "exquisite and isolatedly eloquent little bits in Mr. Engel's picture." He said of Lindfors' performance that "everything she does—every movement, every gesture, every reaction, every lift and fall of her voice — is so absolutely right and convincing that the style drapes most fitly around her...She is the solid core of this film." However, he also felt the "do-it-as-you-feel-it approach, accounts for more looseness and banality than beauty and eloquence," and that "it fails to develop cohesion and leaves many questions—indeed, the conflict—unclarified." He also criticized the sound quality and said the photographic style provokes "more irritation and bewilderment than surprise."
Crowther said of the film, which turned out to be Engel's last feature: "Perhaps when he gets somebody with real professional skill to write him a script and he learns to hold his camera more firmly, he will give us the great American urban film."
Writing in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
in 2008, critic J. Hoberman said that "Weddings and Babies is "certainly the most extensive portrait of Manhattan's Little Italy before Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's incomparable Mean Streets
Mean Streets
Mean Streets is a 1973 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973...
." He singled out Barile's performance as "incredibly ancient and incomparably dignified."