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Rich, Young and Pretty
Rich, Young and Pretty
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Norman Taurog
Screenplay by	Dorothy Cooper; Sidney Sheldon
Story by	Dorothy Cooper
Produced by	Joe Pasternak
Starring	Jane Powell; Danielle Darrieux; Wendell Corey; Fernando Lamas; Marcel Dalio; Una Merkel; Richard Anderson; Jean Murat; Vic Damone
Cinematography	Robert H. Planck
Edited by	Gene Ruggiero
Music by	Sammy Cahn (lyrics); Nicholas Brodszky (music)
Production; company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's, Inc.
Release dates	July 24, 1951 (New York City); August 3, 1951 (U.S.);
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,528,000
Box office	$2,999,000

Rich, Young and Pretty is a 1951 American musical comedy film produced by Joe Pasternak for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Norman Taurog. Written by Dorothy Cooper and adapted as a screenplay by Cooper and Sidney Sheldon, it stars Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, Wendell Corey, and Fernando Lamas, features The Four Freshmen, and introduces Vic Damone. This was Darrieux's first Hollywood film since The Rage of Paris (1938).^[4]

Plot

Elizabeth (Jane Powell) accompanies her wealthy Texan rancher father (Wendell Corey) on a visit to Paris, where her mother (Danielle Darrieux) lives. In Paris, she meets Andre (Vic Damone), an eager young Frenchman. The father tries to keep her from marrying the Frenchman and avoid the mistake he made when he married her mother.

Cast

Jane Powell as Elizabeth Rogers
Danielle Darrieux as Marie Devarone
Wendell Corey as Jim Stauton Rogers
Vic Damone as Andre Milan
Fernando Lamas as Paul Sarnac
Marcel Dalio as Claude Duval
Una Merkel as Glynnie
Richard Anderson as Bob Lennart
Jean Murat as Henri Milan
Hans Conreid as Maître d'Hotel
Four Freshmen Quartet as Four Musicians

Songs

MGM promotion for the film emphasized the film's "songs rather than its patter";^[1] Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics and Nicholas Brodszky the music for several songs, including

"Wonder Why" (which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song)

Other original songs by Cahn and Brodszky include

"We Never Talk Much (We Just Sit Around)",
"How D'Ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning?" and
"I Can See You", both of which received radio airplay; "I Can See You" was also a jukebox favorite.^[1]

The film also features a "studied going over"^[1] of songs such as

"Deep in the Heart of Texas" (written by June Hershey and Don Swander),
"There's Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie" (written by Jack Maskill, Harry Richman, Pete Wendling) and
"Old Piano Roll Blues" (written by Cy Coben).

Reception

Box office

According to MGM records, the film made $1,935,000 in the US and Canada and $1,064,000 elsewhere, making a profit of $54,000.^[3]

Critical reception

Time said the film was "aglow with Technicolor and plush sets" and said it treated a "light cinemusical subject with the butterscotch-caramel sentimentality of the bobby-soxers it is designed to please"; the film "tackles its situations without verve or humor, and handles its lightweight problems as ponderously as if they had been propounded by Ibsen in one of his gloomier moods."^[4] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "pretty as a picture postcard and just about as exciting."^[1]