1960·Comedy·2h 6m
7.1
★
Ella Peterson works in the basement office of Susanswerphone, a telephone answering service. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities for her clients. They include an out-of-work Method actor, a dentist with musical yearnings, and in particular playwright Jeffrey Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and desperately needs a muse.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
musical
playwright
answering service
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Judy Holliday
Ella Peterson
Dean Martin
Jeffrey Moss
Fred Clark
Larry Hastings
Eddie Foy Jr.
J. Otto Prantz
Jean Stapleton
Sue
Dort Clark
Inspector Barnes
Frank Gorshin
Blake Barton
Valerie Allen
Olga
Gerry Mulligan
Ella's Blind Date
Lela Bliss
Party Guest (uncredited)
Donna Douglas
Party Guest (uncredited)
Oliver Blake
Ludwig Smiley (uncredited)
Crew
Vincente Minnelli
Director
Adolph Green
Screenplay
Jule Styne
Original Music Composer
Milton Krasner
Director of Photography
Adolph Green
Theatre Play
Adolph Green
Lyricist
Walter Plunkett
Costume Design
André Previn
Conductor
Sydney Guilaroff
Hairstylist
William Tuttle
Makeup Designer
A. Arnold Gillespie
Special Effects
Alexander Courage
Orchestrator
Popular Reviews
17 reviews
Cymbaline
6.0★ · 10/29/25
Dean Martin 🫦
Dean Martin 🫦
Rach
8.0★ · 02/10/25
“you’re a girl with a lot of love to give. don’t scatter it all over the place. give it to me. i need it. i want it.”
OH MY GOD DEAN MARTINSHSIXNSKXNWONDKSNC
OH MY GOD DEAN MARTINSHSIXNSKXNWONDKSNC
“you’re a girl with a lot of love to give. don’t scatter it all over the place. give it to me. i need it. i want it.”
OH MY GOD DEAN MARTINSHSIXNSKXNWONDKSNC
OH MY GOD DEAN MARTINSHSIXNSKXNWONDKSNC
Minnie
7.0★ · 12/15/23
Can we talk about the first few minutes?! Cuz the intro to this movie may just about be my favorite thing ever! But JEEZ where can sign up for Susanerphone??!!! I need someone to look out for me the way Ella does…☎️ 👩🏼
Dean Martin may you always feel safe and soft to me forever. 🫶🏼🤍
Dean Martin may you always feel safe and soft to me forever. 🫶🏼🤍
Can we talk about the first few minutes?! Cuz the intro to this movie may just about be my favorite thing ever! But JEEZ where can sign up for Susanerphone??!!! I need someone to look out for me the way Ella does…☎️ 👩🏼
Dean Martin may you always feel safe and soft to me forever. 🫶🏼🤍
Dean Martin may you always feel safe and soft to me forever. 🫶🏼🤍
Adam
8.6★ · 07/04/21
Judy Holliday is such a star! Someone in a popular review compared her to Carole Lombard and I think it's such an apt comparison. They both showed that comedic chops and beauty do not preclude intelligence and wisdom. I know this is the only Holliday picture I've seen, but I can see all that so clearly.
I really like Vincente Minnelli's directorial style. It has the glamour of Old Hollywood, the artificiality of Golden Age musicals, and a human core that feels similar to, but is still distinctly different from, Douglas Sirk. I don't know if this movie would soar without Holliday, but Minnelli knows she's the star and focuses the spotlight on her. Rightly so.
Dean Martin has a smooth voice and that's all he really needs in this role. I think it would've been a nice role for Rock Hudson to elevate (and I have not seen Pillow Talk but I'll get on it, I promise!).
The music is the real low here. "Just in Time" and whatever Holliday's solo is when she leaves the party are the only good and hummable tunes. The rest are so strange. There's a song about name-dropping that's genuinely one of the strangest and sadly dated songs I've heard in a musical. No person who doesn't actively know classic Hollywood stars would pick up a single name. Also the tune is boring and weird.
Besides all that, the story is cute. I liked it a lot! It also has one of the BEST first kisses! But it would be nothing without Judy Holliday.
I really like Vincente Minnelli's directorial style. It has the glamour of Old Hollywood, the artificiality of Golden Age musicals, and a human core that feels similar to, but is still distinctly different from, Douglas Sirk. I don't know if this movie would soar without Holliday, but Minnelli knows she's the star and focuses the spotlight on her. Rightly so.
Dean Martin has a smooth voice and that's all he really needs in this role. I think it would've been a nice role for Rock Hudson to elevate (and I have not seen Pillow Talk but I'll get on it, I promise!).
The music is the real low here. "Just in Time" and whatever Holliday's solo is when she leaves the party are the only good and hummable tunes. The rest are so strange. There's a song about name-dropping that's genuinely one of the strangest and sadly dated songs I've heard in a musical. No person who doesn't actively know classic Hollywood stars would pick up a single name. Also the tune is boring and weird.
Besides all that, the story is cute. I liked it a lot! It also has one of the BEST first kisses! But it would be nothing without Judy Holliday.
Judy Holliday is such a star! Someone in a popular review compared her to Carole Lombard and I think it's such an apt comparison. They both showed that comedic chops and beauty do not preclude intelligence and wisdom. I know this is the only Holliday picture I've seen, but I can see all that so clearly.
I really like Vincente Minnelli's directorial style. It has the glamour of Old Hollywood, the artificiality of Golden Age musicals, and a human core that feels similar to, but is still distinctly different from, Douglas Sirk. I don't know if this movie would soar without Holliday, but Minnelli knows she's the star and focuses the spotlight on her. Rightly so.
Dean Martin has a smooth voice and that's all he really needs in this role. I think it would've been a nice role for Rock Hudson to elevate (and I have not seen Pillow Talk but I'll get on it, I promise!).
The music is the real low here. "Just in Time" and whatever Holliday's solo is when she leaves the party are the only good and hummable tunes. The rest are so strange. There's a song about name-dropping that's genuinely one of the strangest and sadly dated songs I've heard in a musical. No person who doesn't actively know classic Hollywood stars would pick up a single name. Also the tune is boring and weird.
Besides all that, the story is cute. I liked it a lot! It also has one of the BEST first kisses! But it would be nothing without Judy Holliday.
I really like Vincente Minnelli's directorial style. It has the glamour of Old Hollywood, the artificiality of Golden Age musicals, and a human core that feels similar to, but is still distinctly different from, Douglas Sirk. I don't know if this movie would soar without Holliday, but Minnelli knows she's the star and focuses the spotlight on her. Rightly so.
Dean Martin has a smooth voice and that's all he really needs in this role. I think it would've been a nice role for Rock Hudson to elevate (and I have not seen Pillow Talk but I'll get on it, I promise!).
The music is the real low here. "Just in Time" and whatever Holliday's solo is when she leaves the party are the only good and hummable tunes. The rest are so strange. There's a song about name-dropping that's genuinely one of the strangest and sadly dated songs I've heard in a musical. No person who doesn't actively know classic Hollywood stars would pick up a single name. Also the tune is boring and weird.
Besides all that, the story is cute. I liked it a lot! It also has one of the BEST first kisses! But it would be nothing without Judy Holliday.
sar
6.0★ · 03/27/26