The Catered Affair

Aggie Hurley (Bette Davis) is making up for a lifetime of making do. Her daughter Jane (Debbie Reynolds) is going to have a lavish wedding -- even if Jane wants a simple ceremony. And even if Aggie's husband Tom (Ernest Borgnine) must give up his dream of owning his own taxi to finance the extravaganza. Borgnine, winner of 1955's Best Actor Oscar for Marty (like The Catered Affair originally written for TV by Paddy Chayefsky), etches another superb working-class portrait. And Davis, renowned for playing larger-than-life characters, proves masterly at capturing the life-sized intensity of Aggie. Together, they create a gem of "shirtsleeved intimacy and gamy humor" (Time) as real as a shabby Bronx apartment. Barry Fitzgerald and Rod Taylor also star.