Synopsis
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.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Judy HollidayElla Peterson
- Dean MartinJeffrey Moss
- Fred ClarkLarry Hastings
- Eddie Foy Jr.J. Otto Prantz
- Jean StapletonSue
- Ruth StoreyGwynne
- Dort ClarkInspector Barnes
- Bernie WestDr.Joe Kitchell
- Frank GorshinBlake Barton
- Jimmy AmesBernie
Recommendations
- 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Adolph Green always said that they based the warm, maternal and loyal main character on Holliday herself; perhaps that's why she manages to more than save it, she makes it very worthwhile to watch. [21 Jul 1990] - 70
Variety
Better Broadway musicals than Bells Are Ringing have come to Hollywood, but few have been translated to the screen so effectively. - 70
The New Yorker
Vincente Minnelli makes use of the wide screen with graceful, fluid movement, and he helps Martin anchor his usual breeziness with just the right amount of anxiety. - 70
Los Angeles Times
The endearing Judy Holliday's last film, 1960's Bells are Ringing, may not be her best, but it's definitely worth tuning in. [29 Dec 1996, p.4] - 60
TV Guide Magazine
Vincente Minnelli's film might have benefited from less emphasis on dialogue and more on the musical numbers ("Just in Time" and "The Party's Over" among them), but Holliday is adorable and efforlessly "real" in one of the best roles of her sadly abbreviated career. - 60
Chicago Reader
Engaging entertainment, but far from Minnelli’s peak. - 50
Time Out
The two stars are a pleasure to behold, particularly the genially dizzy Holliday, a telephone answering-service operator who can't help involving herself in the lives and hopes of her clients. And old Mr Nonchalance Martin sidles through his part as a doubting, drunken playwright with his customary charm. But their material just isn't up to the mark. - 38
Slant Magazine
It has the unfortunate effect of being a movie that seems stuck on a Broadway stage.
