ELOPEMENT (1951)

In this bland and predictable comedy, Clifton Webb plays a prominent industrial designer whose genius daughter (Anne Francis) has graduated from college. He hopes she will go to Sweden to work with his mentor, but that night at a party, Francis' psychology professor (William Lundigan) confesses his love for her and the two impulsively decide to elope. When Webb discovers Francis' bed empty in the morning, he is furious and he and his wife head to over to Lundigan's parents' house to find that Lundigan's father (Charles Bickford) is almost as mad as Webb. Both sets of parents wind up in one car chasing after the couple, but they end up liking each other and decide they approve of the marriage. However, at the same time, Francis and Lundigan begin questioning their relationship, and Webb and Bickford find themselves trying to get the two back together. Much as I love Webb in LAURA and THE RAZOR'S EDGE, I'm not a fan of his 20th Century Fox comedies of the 50s. His brittle, distant, ironic persona in his more serious movies does not travel well into the sit-com father role he took in his later films. Obviously he must have been popular as a beleaguered dad, but his performances haven't aged well. Add to that ill-suited fit a screenplay with virtually no surprises and you have a rather colorless film. Still, this is not unwatchable—Webb has his moments, and Francis and Lundigan have some chemistry. Bickford is unmemorable, as are the actresses playing the wives. Reginald Gardiner is welcome in his small role as an old friend of Webb's. Difficult to recommend wholeheartedly, but also easy to watch if you want a TV sit-com stretched out to almost 90 minutes. Pictured are Francis and Lundigan. [FMC]