Bells Are Ringing
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dean Martin, Judy HollidayBrand: MARTIN,DEAN
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 126 minutes
Published: 2005-03-01
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-15
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Bells Are Ringing
Movie Review: Great Musical! Fun story!
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, the best part of the movie is Judy Holliday. She is so good and so funny in all the movies that I have seen her in. Born Yesterday is perhaps my favorite, but It Should Happen To You is also hilarious.
Dean Martin does a good job playing the love interest for her, and of course he has a fantastic voice. The main setting for this movie is an answering service, back when phone lines had to be connected by a telephone operator. The opening scene shows Judy Holiday meeting the many challenges of her job, and switching her voice to fit the different phone lines that she is taking messages for.
The fun comes in when Judy Holliday's character gets involved in the lives of the answering service subscribers. Unfortunately for her, there are two cops watching their business and spying on them (they think that they are either selling drugs or a "lonely hearts club", when they really are a legitimate answering service). Unbeknownst to the innocent gals who operate the answering service, they are being used by a bookie operation, under the disguise of taking orders for a record company, to communicate racing bets. In the end, Judy Holiday saves the day with her innocence by changing some "record orders" because Beethoven didn't write that many symphonies, and the cops come in just in time to arrest the bookies.
In order to help make other's lives better, Judy's character has disguised herself when talking to them, so of course, Dean Martin's character thinks that she is someone else, and after he proposes to her, she disappears thinking that he is in love with a girl who doesn't exist, vowing to leave forever and not come back. Of course, there has to be a happy ending, and the story ends with the two lovers together again.
The only part I don't like about his movie is one of the songs, "The Midas Touch" which is really not very good, however, it is part of the storyline because it is written by a dentist! So, I think they made it annoying on purpose. Other than that, Bells Are Ringing has a fantastic score with a fun and unusual storyline.
The DVD came with some great extras, which included a couple of deleted scenes. :) A nice touch! Overall, I would highly recommend it to any musical fans!
Summary of Bells Are Ringing
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson Judy Holliday re-creates her Broadway role of flibbertigibbet telephone operator Ella Peterson in Bells are Ringing. Ella works for Susanswerphone, a hole-in-the-wall answering service run by her cousin Sue (Jean Stapleton). Our girl Ella can't help but become involved in the lives of her customers, which brings her to the attention of a dimwitted police detective, Barnes (Dort Clark), who suspects that Susanswerphone is a front for a house of ill repute. The cop is so obtuse that he never notices the story's genuine criminal, a flamboyant German bookie (Eddie Foy Jr.) who poses as a record executive and uses the names of composers as code for the various racetracks around the country. To avoid Barnes' wiretapping, Ella goes around New York in person to minister to the needs of her clients--most notably playwright Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), who is in danger of becoming an alcoholic if he can't come up with a good idea for a play. Assuming a false identity, Ella prattles on about some of her other clients, notably a dentist (Bernie West) who composes pop songs on his air hose. Moss is inspired by Ella, and eventually falls in love with her. Because she will not reveal who she really is to Jeffrey, Ella decides that her relationship is founded on lies, and walks out of his life. But Moss, together with the other Susanswerphone customers who have been "rescued" by Ella, show up at Ella's doorstep for a happy ending. Bells are Ringing is not an example of MGM's Arthur Freed unit at its best, but Judy Holliday is luminescent in this, her last screen role (incidentally, Holliday's "blind date" in one scene is played by her then boyfriend, jazz musician Gerry Mulligan). The film's songs, by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne, include the hit numbers "Just in Time" and "The Party's Over".Similar DVD Movies
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