The Catered Affair

(Richard Brooks, US 1956, 93 min., 16mm)

Ernest Borgnine | Free Member Film. Ernest Borgnine stars with Bette Davis as working-class parents in this timely and extremely relevant field guide for anyone contemplating marriage with no budget. Practical and level-headed Jane announces at breakfast that she and Ralph are getting married next week in a simple ceremony with only family in attendance, and for economy, no reception. By dinner time, the opinions of various family members from both sides of the aisle have blasted the nuptials into the realm of extravaganza. Borgnine is especially poignant as the father of the bride—sensible, frugal, and loving—as he contemplates his life’s savings burning on the altar of artificial social pressure. Members admitted free.