Judy Holliday & Dean Martin star in this 1960 film adaptation of Betty Comden/Adolph Green's (Singin' in the Rain) stageplay directed by Vincent Minnelli. Holliday works at an answering service (remember those?) where she inadvertently inserts herself in the lives of her clients when she feels she can give them advise for them to move forward. A couple of her minions are a dentist who wants to be a songwriter & an actor, played by Frank Gorshin (TV's Riddler from Batman), who is up for a role in a play w/the playwright himself, Martin, who hits a block in his writing which Holliday is more than happy to help fix making this a variation on Cyrano De Bergerac where Holliday's on call persona & who she is in person are treated as different entities since she feels (once Martin starts to woo her) she's not up to snuff to engage w/the jet set in celebrity circles. Also in the mix is a betting outfit using the answering service to take bets over the phone (using a record buying technique) which doesn't help since the police already think Holliday's firm is actually a call girl out service. Holliday's performance as always sneaks up on you (I never knew she could carry a tune) as she belts her songs out w/the best of them (she only originated the part on the stage) w/Martin following suit (I didn't buy his role as a writer but as a smoking drinker, he excelled). Nice meta touch in the song "Drop that Name" when Minnelli's name is mentioned in the tune. Co-starring Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker from TV's All in the Family) as Holliday's co-worker.
Review of Bells Are Ringing
