My Sister Eileen

Starring:Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Betty Garrett, Bob Fosse, Kurt Kasznar, Dick York, Lucy Marlow, Tommy Rall, Barbara Brown, Horace McMahon, Henry Slate, Hal March, Estelita Zarco, Tony Randall (III), Jana Mason, Ricky Gonzales, Fred Curt (II), Frank O'Connor, Dorothy Gordon, Peter Norman (II)
Director: Richard Quine
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Two innocent sisters from Ohio hit Greenwich Village and must cope with wall-shaking subway construction, the neighborhood kooks, and a whopping $65 a month for an apartment. My Sister Eileen is one of those "Look out, world, we're conquering Manhattan!" movies, with Betty Garrett as a plain, would-be writer and Janet Leigh as her knockout sister, an aspiring actress who draws men like milk draws kittens. The 1955 movie's well-scrubbed Greenwich Village is a delightful fantasy playground. The city was never like this, but it probably should have been. In one of his early roles, Jack Lemmon (crooning one of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin songs quite charmingly) plays a magazine publisher, one of the many Young Men with Ideas he would play in the subsequent decade. Even more interesting is the presence of future director Bob Fosse, as a soda jerk who romances Leigh. Fosse also choreographed the film's musical numbers, and his dances include a delightful quartet at a bandstand and a sensational showdown with Tommy Rall. Fosse and Rall try to outdo each other in a male rivalry dance that will remind Fosse fans of his obsession with hats. The breezy direction is by Richard Quine, who cowrote the script with another future director, Blake Edwards. The original source material, stories by Ruth McKenney, formed the basis for a play and a nonmusical 1942 Rosalind Russell movie, also called My Sister Eileen (in which Quine played the Fosse role); there was a Broadway musical adaptation of the stories, Wonderful Town, which is not related to this film. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

it takes me back.......2005-08-04

I saw this movie when I was a teenager and going to the movies was a big thing for me then-----what I remember best about it was the terrific dancing----and, of course, who could ever get tired of looking at Janet Leigh---seeing it again enables one to look at it more closely and realize how really enjoyable it is.

Ruth, Eileen and their 'wonderful town'..........2005-05-04

MY SISTER EILEEN was Columbia's answer when they could not secure the film rights to WONDERFUL TOWN, the hugely-successful Broadway musical version of Ruth McKenney's "Eileen Stories". Columbia had previously filmed MY SISTER EILEEN to acclaim in 1942 with Rosalind Russell as Ruth and Janet Blair as Eileen. Roz later wowed Broadway when she made her musical Ruth debut in WONDERFUL TOWN in 1953 (playing the role again for a TV version of the tuner in 1957). This musical version of MY SISTER EILEEN features a score that cannot even compare with that for WONDERFUL TOWN (despite the music by Jule Styne - `Mr Broadway Overture' himself).

Betty Garrett is good casting for the role of plain-speaking Ruth, and Janet Leigh makes the role of flirty Eileen her own. Jack Lemmon plays Ruth's boss Bob Baker (he has a charming musical style) whilst Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall play two suitors competing for Eileen's hand. Dick York (of `Bewitched' fame) plays the girls' helpful footballing-neighbour Wreck and Kurt Kasznar plays the double-talking landlord Appopolous to perfection. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The DVD presents a great new anamorphic print of the film. Extras consist of the original trailer plus trailers of other classic Columbia releases.

A charming, screwball musical.......2002-12-21

Most folks will pay attention to this film becuase it's an early piece by choreographer Bob Fosse -- but it is a fun bit of froth that easily stands on its own. An absolutely delightful musical comedy, starring Betty Garrett as a smart smalltown girl determined to make it in New York City. She moves there with her with her glamourous, ditzy sister Eileen, whose good looks open more doors than do Garrett's brains and moxie. A nice film about struggling to get ahead in the Big Apple, with a script that takes its time and several exuberently goofy dance numbers, gleefully choreographed by a young Bob Fosse, who also plays one of the sister's avid suitors. The penultimate dance scene is side-splittingly hilarious, featuring a swarm of recently disembarked Cuban sailors on the prowl for American women, who form an inexhaustable conga line that snakes chaotically through the gal's tiny apartment. Thoroughly entertaining... a great, lighthearted film with some fabulous acting and bright, winning performances by all involved.

Entertaining Classic!.......2001-07-04

What a great movie! It is refreshing to see so much energy brought to the silver screen. The casting makes this movie! It has something for everyone: dancing, singing, funny misunderstandings, apartment problems and much more. This movie provides the entire family with good clean entertainment which is almost extinct in today's Hollywood. Jack Lemmon is wonderful opposite Betty Garrett. Janet Leigh also does a superb job as the sister with everything!

Watching a young Bob Fosse dance is incredible.......1999-11-08

A great cast with Jack Lemon and Betty Garrett doing a great job together and Bob Fosse showing why he is among the greatest dancers of our time.

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