A Disappointing Continuation

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I am a fan of Frank Sinatra's body of work and I realize that this is a comedy/romance/musical, but I still have a difficult time imagining so many beautiful women fawning over the petite and feminine looking Frank Sinatra. Having said that, bringing into the film theater agent Charlie Y. Reader's (played by Frank Sinatra) old childhood friend Joe McCall (played superbly by David Wayne) who comes to stay with his playboy buddy Charlie as he thinks his marriage is on the rocks.Throughout the film we see a turnstile of beautiful women coming in and out of Charlie's apartment. Charlie is torn between two women in particular. One of these beautiful women is actress Debbie Reynolds who plays a young independent stage performer named Julie Gillis. The other is actress Celeste Holm who plays Sylvia Crewes a beautiful and mature woman of the same age as her good friend Charlie. Who will Charlie decide to marry? As stated earlier I just cannot wrap my head around the other gorgeous women such as actresses Lola Albright (Poppy Masters),Jarma Lewis (Jessica Collins), and Carolyn Jones (Helen the twice a day dog walker) who also seem to be interested in the wimpy looking Frank Sinatra.David Wayne who plays Joe McCall can't stop shaking his head at the many women chasing his friend Charlie, (and neither can I stop shaking my head). Joe also seems to be going through a mid-life crisis and so he starts falling for one of Charlie's love interests. The many confusing relationships will periodically be broken up by a song and dance number simply to remind the audience to not take these many relationships too seriously, and I didn't. Nor could I take this film too seriously and so I give the film a decent but not too praise worthy 6 out of 10 rating.

Hard to say this film set women's rights back 100 years because it portrays a no nonsense woman who knows what she wants and won't settle for less. You do not see this type of behavior at ALL these days. Most women accept that men have a double standard and let them be treated like chattel. Maybe marriage, kids, and loving your husband is an antiquated goal in life but for some this film shows gumption.I found the dialog witty and entertaining, the women most beautiful, and Frank's singing divine. I guess I am a big sucker for any project involving Debbie Reynolds, she is a mega talent. It all started when I first saw her in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and was mesmerized.So even if you find this movie's message subservient, I found it uplifting and inspirational. Be strong with your aspirations and let those dogs lay sleeping. Whipit good DR!! haha

It's a CinemaScope culture clash when swinging Manhattan playboy agent Frank Sinatra (as Charlie Reader) falls in love with sweet marriage-minded actress Debbie Reynolds (as Julie Gillis). Fond of lipstick and liquor, Mr. Sinatra finds it difficult to commit. The surprising thing about this semi-serious sixties comedy is the thoughtful and mature subplot acted out by David Wayne (as Joe McCall), who moves in with Sinatra while contemplating divorce, and one of his promiscuous pal's girlfriends, Celeste Holm (as Sylvia Crewes).With the lead relationship between Sinatra and Ms. Reynolds proceeding in flat and predictable fashion, Mr. Wayne and Ms. Holm are the ones to watch. They were nominated for "Supporting Actor" and "Supporting Actress" awards by "Film Daily". Also receiving industry attention was the great title track "(Love Is) The Tender Trap" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, which received an "Academy Award" nomination. Sinatra's great Capitol Records version took an understandable and well-deserved trip to the US "Top Ten".****** The Tender Trap (11/4/55) Charles Walters ~ Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, Celeste Holm

When Frank Sinatra's real film career (the one that starts with MEET DANNY Wilson and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and SUDDENLY) got started, his comedies generally improved. Instead of playing the eternally naive heartthrob that the bobby-soxers supposedly enjoyed (but is actually quite annoying in films like ANCHORS AWEIGH), he found that his sophistication could carry a better style of comedy. Ahead of him was HIGH SOCIETY, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, COME BLOW YOUR HORN, ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS, where he was usually in control of the situations rather than pulled about by mechanical plot twists based on his stupidity. And THE TENDER TRAP is an early example of this switch.Sinatra's Charlie Reader is a successful talent agent, and his success is mirrored in his apartment facing the 59th Street Bridge in Manhattan, and his colorful lifestyle of a different date with a different woman (Celeste Holms, Lola Albright, Caroline Jones, and Jarma Lewis) every night. His trade comment of "A ring-a-ding-ding" is not voiced here, but it could easily be said. Like his character of the older brother in COME BLOW YOUR HORN, he is inviting an old childhood pal (like his younger brother in the later film) named Joe McCall (David Wayne). But the younger brother in the later film is intoxicated by the glamor of Sinatra's lifestyle. Eventually the younger brother actually makes Sinatra ashamed of his own lifestyle as the younger brother takes it to extremes. Here, Wayne is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, and he's actually hoping to enjoy Sinatra's lifestyle, but as the film progresses gradually realizes that Sinatra's habits mistreat many women. Sinatra may be a great swinger, but he is something of a sexual pig.But Frank's lifestyle is beginning to show cracks. In COME BLOW YOUR HOME it was a matter of his aging (Lee J. Cobb fuming that he's a bum because he's unmarried and approaching 40). Here it is his meeting a young actress named Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds) that he starts dating. Sinatra looks at Julie (at least at first) as just another lady on his weekly list. But he slowly finds he does not want her to consider his other girlfriends, and he also wants her to be available to him. But his interest is tempered when he discovers she is only interested in him dating her and only her...with the intention of only marrying her.Sinatra goes crazy here - not babbling but losing his cool thoroughly. He tries to forget her quickly, by picking up one of the other regular girls, only to find that Jones has met a fellow who is going to marry her, and Albright has another regular date. Holms (as Sylvia Crewes) shows up. Oddly enough she is willing to accept the one sided dating system that Sinatra has chosen, because she is aware that she is now 33 and the chances of getting a fellow to marry her are quite rare. She lists the types to Wayne, and none are very appetizing. Sinatra proposes marriage to a shocked Holms, who (somewhat shakily) agrees. Sinatra decides to throw a huge party, even inviting his other occasional date Lewis to it. But in the middle of getting the party under way he runs downstairs and smack into Reynolds. She decides she loves him despite his selfishness, but he announces that he loves her as well...and proposes to her. She heads home, promising to see her fiancé in the morning, and he proceeds to wonder what to do now that he's affianced to two women.It turns out to be a disaster, but it is deserved. I won't go into the rest of the plot, but things do work out. It is nice to see Tom Hellmore, soon to be the notorious Elstin Draper in VERTIGO, in a far nicer role her. Also the conclusion of the film, with the now standard Jimmy Van Husen theme song being sung by Sinatra, Reynolds, Holms, and Wayne (with a sorrowful chorus of Albright, Lewis, and Jones) bears comparison to the singing by Cameron Diaz and her three bridesmaids at the start of MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING for being so fresh and unexpected. It was a top notch comedy, and another step upward for Sinatra in the rebuilding and expansion of his film career.