The Pleasure of His Company

The Pleasure of His Company
Directed by	George Seaton
Written by	Cornelia Otis Skinner Samuel A. Taylor
Produced by	William Perlberg
Starring	Fred Astaire Debbie Reynolds Lilli Palmer Tab Hunter
Cinematography	Robert Burks
Edited by	Alma Macrorie
Music by	Alfred Newman
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	June 1, 1961 (1961-06-01)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Pleasure of His Company is a 1961 comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds, directed by George Seaton and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1958 play of the same name by Samuel A. Taylor and Cornelia Otis Skinner.

Astaire won a Golden Globe award for his performance.

Plot

San Francisco debutante Jessica Poole hasn't seen her father "Pogo" Poole since the divorce between him and her mother Katharine, many years before. Pogo went off to travel the world and enjoy himself, while Katharine remarried to stodgy banker Jim Dougherty.

Now Jessica is about to marry Roger Henderson, a cattle rancher from the Valley of the Moon in Sonoma County, and Pogo has been invited to the wedding.

Pogo arrives, as charming as he ever was. He is delighted by Jessica, and captivates her in return. He makes peace with Katharine, and even wins over Toy, the Doughertys' prized cook, though not Jim and Roger.

But Pogo is still as irresponsible as before. He invites Jessica to come away with him and "see the world". He even tries to break up her engagement, to Katharine's dismay. He also seems to be coming between Jim and Katharine, who has never quite got over her love for him.

Despite Pogo's maneuvers, the wedding goes through. But Pogo has reserved two airline tickets: who's going with him? Katharine, fearing that Pogo has won over Jessica after all, rushes to the airport. Jim, seeing Katharine leave the reception, fears she is leaving him for Pogo, and goes after her. They meet at the airport, and see Pogo boarding a plane - with Toy.

Cast

At the time this film was released, Fred Astaire had given up dancing on screen. He had recently completed a dramatic performance in On the Beach in 1959 and retired from dancing in films because he was getting old. He wouldn't do another Hollywood musical until Finian's Rainbow was released in 1968. However, he did dance a little in this film during the party sequence, and even sang briefly as he teased Lilli Palmer. Famed costume designer Edith Head, who designed dresses for the film, appeared early in the film, showing dresses to Debbie Reynolds.

• Fred Astaire as Biddeford "Pogo" Poole
• Debbie Reynolds as Jessica Anne Poole
• Lilli Palmer as Katharine "Kate" Dougherty
• Tab Hunter as Roger Berk Henderson
• Gary Merrill as James "Jim" Dougherty
• Charles Ruggles as Mackenzie Savage
• Harold Fong as Toy
• Elvia Allman as Mrs. Mooney

Awards and nominations

• Golden Globes
  • Best Motion Picture Actor, Musical or Comedy (Astaire, winner)
• Berlin Film Festival
  • Golden Bear (nominated)

See also

• List of American films of 1961

External links

• The Pleasure of His Company at IMDb
• The Pleasure of His Company at the IBDB database