{ "id": "ep5epy4hqf", "slug": "fathers-little-dividend", "title": "Father's Little Dividend", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s", "label": "Comedies of the 1950s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Comedies of the 1950s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s", "label": "Comedies of the 1950s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Father's Little Dividend (1951) is Vincente Minnelli's MGM comedy sequel to Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor returning as Stanley Banks faces becoming a grandfather.", "snippet": "Father's Little Dividend (1951) is Vincente Minnelli's MGM comedy sequel to Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor returning as Stanley Banks faces becoming a grandfather.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1950s", "markdown": "# Father's Little Dividend\n\n**Father's Little Dividend** is a 1951 American comedy film directed by [Vincente Minnelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/vincente-minnelli) and starring [Spencer Tracy](https://www.edgepedia.org/spencer-tracy), Joan Bennett, and [Elizabeth Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-taylor), made as the sequel to MGM's hit *Father of the Bride* (1950). It continues the story of middle-class family man Stanley Banks, who must come to terms with becoming a grandfather when his newly married daughter Kay announces she is expecting a baby.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 13 April 1951 (United States); Los Angeles opening 5 April, New York opening 12 April[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) |\n| Director / producer | Vincente Minnelli; Pandro S. Berman[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) |\n| Screenplay | Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, from characters created by Edward Streeter[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) |\n| Studio / format | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Loew's Inc.); black and white, 81–82 minutes, Western Electric Sound System[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) |\n| Principal cast | Spencer Tracy (Stanley Banks), Joan Bennett (Ellie Banks), Elizabeth Taylor (Kay Dunstan), Don Taylor (Buckley Dunstan), Billie Burke (Doris Dunstan), Moroni Olsen (Herbert Dunstan)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) |\n| Production speed | A 23-day shoot, released about ten months after *Father of the Bride*[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend) |\n| Critical scores | 100% Tomatometer (10 reviews) and 61% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.5/10 on IMDb[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fathers_little_dividend) |\n| Later remake | Loosely remade as *Father of the Bride Part II* (1995), with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe film opens with Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) addressing the audience and relating the events of the past year, with his voice heard throughout as a running commentary.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) Stanley and his wife Ellie ([Joan Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-bennett)) have barely recovered from their daughter Kay's wedding when Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and her husband Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) announce that Kay is expecting a baby. Buckley's parents, Doris ([Billie Burke](https://www.edgepedia.org/billie-burke)) and Herbert (Moroni Olsen), are delighted, as is Ellie, but Stanley broods that he is too young and vibrant to be a grandfather.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND)\n\nStanley keeps quiet while everyone else fusses over the mother-to-be with baby names and nursery decorations, and his silence ironically makes him the person Kay turns to most for help.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fathers_little_dividend) Ellie throws Kay a baby shower, which Stanley regards as highway robbery not punishable by law.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) The synopsis on [Turner Classic Movies](https://www.edgepedia.org/turner-classic-movies) adds that the grandparents' dreams of peace and quiet are soon shattered by baby wails and dirty diapers.[4](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/3230)\n\n## Production\n\n*Father of the Bride* had been such a hit in 1950 that MGM released the sequel a mere ten months later.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend) The studio had registered the tentative title *Now I'm a Grandfather* while the first film was still in production, and because most of the cast and crew were under contract to MGM, producer Pandro Berman was able to reassemble them for a speedy 23-day shoot.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend) The Banks and Dunstan family cast members were the same in both films, and Marietta Canty (the Banks family maid Delilah) and [Paul Harvey](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-harvey) (Reverend Galsworthy) reprised their roles, as did Janet Fay, Wendy Waldron, and Erin Selwyn, who had played bridesmaids in the first film and appear as baby shower guests in the sequel.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND)\n\nSpencer Tracy was not keen on doing a sequel, believing sequels rarely lived up to the originals, but [Katharine Hepburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/katharine-hepburn), his longtime partner, convinced him that he owed it to the studio and that it made good business sense.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend) Minnelli was already at work on *An American in Paris* (1951); Berman insisted on the same director, so Minnelli shot *Father's Little Dividend* during a break while sets were being completed for *An American in Paris*'s famous ballet sequence, then returned to finish that film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend)\n\nThe production credits included John Alton as cinematographer, Ferris Webster as editor, [Cedric Gibbons](https://www.edgepedia.org/cedric-gibbons) and Leonid Vasian as production designers, Helen Rose for women's costumes, and music by Albert Sendrey conducted by Georgie Stoll.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND)\n\n## Reception and aftermath\n\nReviews highly praised the film as a worthy successor to the original.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND) Bosley Crowther of *The New York Times* gave it 4/5, writing that it is not very often that the sequel to a successful film turns out to be even half as rewarding as the original.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fathers_little_dividend) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 100% Tomatometer from 10 reviews and a 61% Popcornmeter score from more than 1,000 ratings; IMDb users give it 6.5/10.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fathers_little_dividend) Emanuel Levy, a film professor and critic, took a dimmer view, calling it inferior in every respect to the original but noting it was made quickly, cheaply, and generated profit for MGM.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fathers_little_dividend)\n\nWhen the sequel became another big hit, MGM discussed a third installment, hoping the Banks family might become a franchise like the [Andy Hardy](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-hardy) series. That never happened: not long after the film's release, Joan Bennett's husband Walter Wanger, believing she was having an affair with her agent Jennings Lang, shot Lang in the groin in a restaurant parking lot. Bennett's career never fully recovered, and no more *Father of the Bride* movies followed.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend)\n\nDuring filming, Elizabeth Taylor's real-life marriage to hotel heir [Nicky Hilton](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicky-hilton) was unraveling, and by the time the sequel was released she had already filed for divorce.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend)\n\n## Legacy\n\nBoth *Father of the Bride* and *Father's Little Dividend* were remade with [Steve Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-martin) in the Tracy role and [Diane Keaton](https://www.edgepedia.org/diane-keaton) as his wife: the 1991 *Father of the Bride* and the 1995 sequel *Father of the Bride Part II*, which loosely remade *Father's Little Dividend*.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend) The film later fell into the public domain and has circulated widely on free streaming services; as of 2026 it streams on subscription services including Amazon Prime Video and MGM+, free with ads on channels such as [Pluto TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/pluto-tv), Tubi, and The Roku Channel, and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Video and the Apple TV Store.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fathers-little-dividend) MGM released it on video on June 2, 1998, and a Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray followed in the 2020s.[6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fathers-Little-Dividend) • [7](https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/119829/fatherslittledividend1951.html)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Father's Little Dividend (1951), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50090-FATHER%27S-LITTLE-DIVIDEND)\n2. [Father's Little Dividend, article by Andrea Passafiume, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/18526/fathers-little-dividend)\n3. [Father's Little Dividend, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fathers_little_dividend)\n4. [Father's Little Dividend, TCM synopsis](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/3230)\n5. [Father's Little Dividend streaming: watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fathers-little-dividend)\n6. [Fathers Little Dividend (1951), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fathers-Little-Dividend)\n7. [Father's Little Dividend (1951) Blu-ray review, High-Def Digest](https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/119829/fatherslittledividend1951.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1950s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Father's Little Dividend\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Father's Little Dividend](https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend](https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Father's Little Dividend\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/fathers-little-dividend. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Father's Little Dividend is Vincente Minnelli's MGM comedy sequel to Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor returning as Stanley Banks faces becoming a grandfather." }