Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Plot  





2 Cast  





3 Reception  





4 See also  





5 References  





6 External links  














Mail Order Bride (1964 film)






Français
Italiano
Português
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Mail Order Bride
Directed byBurt Kennedy
Screenplay byBurt Kennedy
Based on"Mail Order Bride"
1952 story in The Saturday Evening Post
by Van Cort
Produced byRichard E. Lyons
StarringBuddy Ebsen
Keir Dullea
Lois Nettleton
Warren Oates
CinematographyPaul C. Vogel
Edited byFrank Santillo
Music byGeorge Bassman
Color processMetrocolor

Production
company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release date

  • March 11, 1964 (1964-03-11)

Running time

83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$700,000[1]
Box office$1,250,000 (US/ Canada)[2]

Mail Order Bride is a 1964 American Western comedy film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Buddy Ebsen, Keir Dullea and Lois Nettleton. The screenplay concerns an old man who pressures the wild son of a dead friend into marrying a mail-order bride in an attempt to settle him down.

Plot[edit]

Retired lawman Will Lane promises to look after a dying friend's son. He is given the deed to the man's Montana ranch and instructed not to let the friend's son, Lee Carey, have it until Lee gives up his immature ways.

One provision is that Lee must marry. Will uses a catalog to look for a suitable wife. He ends up finding Annie Boley, a widow in Kansas City with a six-year-old son, working in a saloon for Hanna, who originally placed the ad in the catalog.

Lee agrees to marry her, with ranch hand Jace as his best man, but assures Annie that their marriage will be in name only, with no other marital obligations. Will learns that Jace has been stealing cattle. Lee refuses to believe it until Jace proposes they rustle together and leave the ranch in ruins.

When Jace starts a fire with the boy still inside the house, Lee rescues him and comes to his senses. An angry Will believes Lee conspired with Jace to steal the herd and disgustedly gives him the deed. But Lee realizes he cares for his new family and asks Will to help him get back the cattle. They corner Jace in town and in a shootout Jace is killed.

Lee vows to rebuild the ranch and Will rides back to Kansas City to court Hanna.

Cast[edit]

Reception[edit]

In his June 11, 1964 review in The New York Times, Howard Thompson described it as “a curious little Western drama… (that) shapes up steadily as a tart, perceptive and amusing character study snugly pegged on reality and real people…” He was less enthusiastic about the ending: “a pretentious, dramatic wind-up all but spoils the picaresque flavoring of some dandy vignettes, such as the slapdash marriage ceremony.” However, “… every line of Mr. Kennedy's lean dialogue edges the picture forward and several scenes are like strung pearls. The best ones involve Marie Windsor, as a wistful saloon owner, and young Barbara Luna, who does a beautifully shaded bit… it is the laconic restraint of Mr. Ebsen, straight from "The Beverly Hillbillies," that continually steadies the picture. If only Grandpa had whipped out a hammer and nailed it down tight.”[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hopper, Hedda (February 17, 1964). "Wayne Will Play 'Harm's Way' Role: He'll Portray Adm. Torrey; Ebsen Film Setting Records". Los Angeles Times. p. C16.
  • ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors, not total gross.
  • ^ "M-G-M Double Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  • External links[edit]


  • t
  • e
  • t
  • e

  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mail_Order_Bride_(1964_film)&oldid=1232942783"

    Categories: 
    1964 films
    1960s American films
    1960s English-language films
    1960s Western (genre) comedy films
    1963 films
    1963 comedy films
    American Western (genre) comedy films
    Films about weddings
    Films based on short fiction
    Films directed by Burt Kennedy
    Films set in Kansas City, Missouri
    Films set in Montana
    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
    Films scored by George Bassman
    English-language Western (genre) comedy films
    1960s Western (genre) film stubs
    1960s American film stubs
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles with short description
    Short description is different from Wikidata
    Use mdy dates from October 2021
    Use American English from October 2021
    All Wikipedia articles written in American English
    Template film date with 1 release date
    All stub articles
     



    This page was last edited on 6 July 2024, at 13:09 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki