When Frank Sinatra's real film career (the one that starts with MEET DANNY Wilson and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and SUDDENLY) got started, his comedies generally improved. Instead of playing the eternally naive heartthrob that the bobby-soxers supposedly enjoyed (but is actually quite annoying in films like ANCHORS AWEIGH),he found that his sophistication could carry a better style of comedy. Ahead of him was HIGH SOCIETY, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, COME BLOW YOUR HORN, ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS, where he was usually in control of the situations rather than pulled about by mechanical plot twists based on his stupidity. And THE TENDER TRAP is an early example of this switch.

Sinatra's Charlie Reader is a successful talent agent, and his success is mirrored in his apartment facing the 59th Street Bridge in Manhattan, and his colorful lifestyle of a different date with a different woman (Celeste Holms, Lola Albright, Caroline Jones, and Jarma Lewis) every night. His trade comment of "A ring-a-ding-ding" is not voiced here, but it could easily be said.

Like his character of the older brother in COME BLOW YOUR HORN, he is inviting an old childhood pal (like his younger brother in the later film) named Joe McCall (David Wayne). But the younger brother in the later film is intoxicated by the glamor of Sinatra's lifestyle. Eventually the younger brother actually makes Sinatra ashamed of his own lifestyle as the younger brother takes it to extremes. Here, Wayne is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, and he's actually hoping to enjoy Sinatra's lifestyle, but as the film progresses gradually realizes that Sinatra's habits mistreat many women. Sinatra may be a great swinger, but he is something of a sexual pig.

But Frank's lifestyle is beginning to show cracks. In COME BLOW YOUR HOME it was a matter of his aging (Lee J. Cobb fuming that he's a bum because he's unmarried and approaching 40). Here it is his meeting a young actress named Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds) that he starts dating. Sinatra looks at Julie (at least at first) as just another lady on his weekly list. But he slowly finds he does not want her to consider his other girlfriends, and he also wants her to be available to him. But his interest is tempered when he discovers she is only interested in him dating her and only her...with the intention of only marrying her.

Sinatra goes crazy here - not babbling but losing his cool thoroughly. He tries to forget her quickly, by picking up one of the other regular girls, only to find that Jones has met a fellow who is going to marry her, and Albright has another regular date. Holms (as Sylvia Crewes) shows up. Oddly enough she is willing to accept the one sided dating system that Sinatra has chosen, because she is aware that she is now 33 and the chances of getting a fellow to marry her are quite rare. She lists the types to Wayne, and none are very appetizing.

Sinatra proposes marriage to a shocked Holms, who (somewhat shakily) agrees. Sinatra decides to throw a huge party, even inviting his other occasional date Lewis to it. But in the middle of getting the party under way he runs downstairs and smack into Reynolds. She decides she loves him despite his selfishness, but he announces that he loves her as well...and proposes to her. She heads home, promising to see her fiancé in the morning, and he proceeds to wonder what to do now that he's affianced to two women.

It turns out to be a disaster, but it is deserved.

I won't go into the rest of the plot, but things do work out. It is nice to see Tom Hellmore, soon to be the notorious Elstin Draper in VERTIGO, in a far nicer role her. Also the conclusion of the film, with the now standard Jimmy Van Husen theme song being sung by Sinatra, Reynolds, Holms, and Wayne (with a sorrowful chorus of Albright, Lewis, and Jones) bears comparison to the singing by Cameron Diaz and her three bridesmaids at the start of MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING for being so fresh and unexpected. It was a top notch comedy, and another step upward for Sinatra in the rebuilding and expansion of his film career.

'The Tender Trap' had a lot going for it, namely with the casting of Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds (my main reason in seeing the film in tribute to her),David Wayne and Celeste Holm. Charles Walters has also had his share of solid films.

And that is what 'The Tender Trap' is, a solid film. This said, it is not going to appeal to everybody and considering the high calibre of talent it could easily have been great. It's pleasant, it's charming, it's well-performed and it's well made, it just needed more spice and tenderness with it feeling a little bland in places.

It is lacking in the romantic department and is uneven in the comedy. There is a lack of chemistry between Sinatra and Reynolds, their chemistry is clinical and not particularly warm and one never gets the sense that they are in love, partly because of the character and writing that Reynolds has to work with but it was like she and Sinatra didn't get on.

Reynolds' role and material don't play to her strengths, an example of a normally adorable and very bubbly screen presence that captivates in charm made to look stiff and annoying. The script is uneven, it sparkles with the supporting cast (especially with Celeste Holm) but falls flat with Reynolds, the wittier moments not always being sharp enough.

However, Walters does do a competent job directing and 'The Tender Trap' is filmed with real elegance with the production values in general being sumptuous and charmingly 50s (for someone who really likes 50s production values the look of the film was in no way a flaw). One of 'The Tender Trap's' biggest pleasures is the timeless title song, beautifully and intimately staged and after hearing Sinatra sing it with such impeccable control and phrasing and his unmistakable timbre one cannot imagine the song sung by anybody else other than him. The music overall fits beautifully.

While the writing is uneven, there are parts that do sparkle in a witty way, there are a few poignant moments and while some of what it has to say does not hold up now and may not be in the best of taste for some for me those parts illuminated still. The story charms a good deal and doesn't bore.

Sinatra is perfectly cast and has endearing charisma. The supporting cast are even better, especially incandescently classy Celeste Holm and hilarious David Wayne (the morning-after scene is an absolute joy). A pre-Morticia Addams Carolyn Jones is also notable.

On the whole, charming and pleasant but could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

"The Tender Trap" is a very odd film because it's almost like a couple different movies combined. The first is a light comedy where Frank Sinatra plays a lovable playboy. The second is a darker story where the hollowness of Sinatra's care-free life is exposed in all its ugliness and selfishness. The net effect, though quite good, probably served to confuse audiences and I could easily see how the film would have very skewed reactions among the viewers.

The film begins with David Wayne leaving his wife and kids and coming for a surprise visit with his lecherous old friend, Sinatra. It soon seems that all of Frank's time is spent chasing one woman after another and he has absolutely no interest in settling down and getting married. Wayne appears to envy this sort of existence--at least at first. However, as the film progresses, the humor vanishes as Wayne starts to see that Sinatra is hurting these women and that he is just a selfish jerk--and he tells him so. So much for being a comedy!!

Despite this being a somewhat uncomfortable mix of moods, I liked the film quite a bit. I guess that's because I am a very happily married man and I enjoyed the pro-marriage indoctrination (which the film really was). It just seems pretty funny that they chose Sinatra for such a part--as, in many ways, he was an awful lot like the character he played. As for the women in Frank's life, Celeste Holm had the best part and did a lot with it. Some have complained about Debbie Reynold's rather one-dimensional character, but I thought she was pretty good. But, like several reviewers pointed out, Wayne and Holm definitely were the standout performances