Father of the Bride is a 1950 American romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli[3] from a screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Edward Streeter.

The film stars Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor, and follows a man trying to cope with preparations for his daughter's wedding.

[4] Father of the Bride was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Writing, Screenplay, and Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Tracy).

In the aftermath of the wedding of his daughter Kay, Stanley T. Banks, a successful middle-aged lawyer, recalls the day three months earlier when he first learned of her engagement to Buckley.

Kay's casual announcement at the dinner table of the family's comfortable suburban home that she is in love with him and has accepted his proposal makes Stanley feel uneasy, but he soon recognizes that his daughter has grown up and the wedding is inevitable.

While Ellie, Kay's mother, immediately begins making preparations, Stanley lies awake at night, fearing the worst for his daughter.

After spending the entire time talking about himself, Stanley is pleased to learn later from Ellie that Buckley is the head of his own small company and is indeed capable of providing a comfortable life for Kay.

The Bankses' first meeting with Buckley's wealthy parents, Doris and Herbert Dunstan, starts awkwardly, careens animatedly, then tails off when Stanley drinks too much and falls asleep upright on their couch.

[6] The premiere of Father of the Bride took place 12 days after Taylor's real-life marriage to her first husband Nicky Hilton, an event that MGM exploited in its publicity campaign for the picture.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film "equally wonderful" when compared to the book, with "all the warmth and poignancy and understanding that makes the Streeter treatise much beloved."

Since the plot consists simply of outlining the difficulties of putting on a wedding, including, of course, the damnable expense of it all, it grows a little tiresome after a half hour or so.

The website's critics consensus reads, "With a terrific script, great performances from Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, and assured direction from Vincent Minnelli, Father of the Bride endures as a sparkling comedy of its era.

The film was also adapted into a television series of the same name, which aired on CBS during the 1961–62 season and stars Leon Ames (Stan), Ruth Warrick (Ellie), and Myrna Fahey (Kay).