The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
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71% of critics liked it
(7 reviews) -
70% of users liked it
(6,694 ratings)
Meredith Willson's second Broadway hit (the first and biggest was The Music Man) proved a lucrative vehicle for the equally unsinkable Debbie Reynolds. Based on a true story, the film casts Debbie as hoydenish Molly Brown, who wangles her way into Denver High Society when she marries… More Meredith Willson's second Broadway hit (the first and biggest was The Music Man) proved a lucrative vehicle for the equally unsinkable Debbie Reynolds. Based on a true story, the film casts Debbie as hoydenish Molly Brown, who wangles her way into Denver High Society when she marries "overnight millionaire" Johnny Brown (Harve Presnell). When the local social arbiters give Molly the brush-off, she pulls off a coup by bringing a representative of European royalty, Prince Louis de Laniere (Vassili Lambrinos) into the Colorado community. Her admiration for the prince causes a rift in her marriage; it takes the sinking of the Titanic--wherein Molly heroically commandeers one of the lifeboats and is responsible for rescuing several of the passengers--to bring Molly and Johnny together again. While the energetic performances of such songs as I Ain't Down Yet and Belly Up to the Bar Boys are to be cherished, the real highlight of The Unsinkable Molly Brown is a society ball which ends up in a pie fight between the Denver "elite" and Molly's rambunctious mining-town cronies. Treated condescendingly by the critics, the film struck a responsive chord with audiences to the tune of a $7.5 million gross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Charles Walters
- Written By
- Helen Deutsch
- Genres
- Musical & Performing Arts, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jul 11, 1964 Wide
- Studio
- MGM Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Debbie Reynolds received her only Oscar nomination for playing the title role of this artistically mediocre but commercially popular musical comedy about the rags to riches of the Denver heroine who was also a passenger on the Titanic.
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Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
Razzle-dazzle biopic kept afloat by a determined Reynolds.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
There's a reason why Charles Walters' musicals are less remembered than Stanley Donen's.
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Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
The movie sinks like the Titanic.
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James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
"Beware: The high spirits are contagious"
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Debbie Reynolds
as Molly Brown
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Harve Presnell
as Johnny Brown
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Ed Begley Sr.
as Shamus Tobin
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Jack Kruschen
as Christmas Morgan
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Hermione Baddeley
as Mrs. Grogan
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Martita Hunt
as Grand Duchess Elise Lupovinova
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Vassili Lambrinos
as Prince Louis de Laniere
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Fred Essler
as Baron Karl Ludwig von Ettenburg
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Harvey Lembeck
as Polak
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Lauren Gilbert
as Mr. Fitzgerald
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Kathryn Card
as Mrs. Wadlington
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Hayden Rorke
as Broderick
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Harry Holcombe
as Mr. Wadlington
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Amy Douglass
as Mrs. Fitzgerald
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George Mitchell
as Monsignor Ryan
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Vaughan Taylor
as Mr. Cartwright
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Anthony Eustrel
as Roberts
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Audrey Christie
as Mrs. McGraw
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Grover Dale
as Jam
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Brendan Dillon
as Murphy
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Maria Karnilova
as Daphne
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Gus Trikonis
as Joe
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Eleanor Audley
as Mrs. Cartwright
- Minta Durfee
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Ramsay Hill
as Lord Simon Primdale
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Anna Lee
as Passenger
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Moyna MacGill
as Lady Primdale
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Herb Vigran
as Spieler
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Pat Moran
as Vicar
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George Jay Nicholson
as Hotchkiss
- Ed Begley
