The Tender Trap is a 1955 musical comedy directed by Charles Walters and starring iconic screen actor and musician Frank Sinatra, along with screen veterans Debbie Reynolds, Celeste Holm and David Wayne. I will be the first to admit that out of all the actors in this movie, I was not familiar with actor David Wayne until I saw this picture, and it is no mystery as to why. It turns out I had seen only two with the actor until this one. One of the aspects that makes The Tender Trap notable as it was shot in CinemaScope and Eastman Color.
Based on the 1954 play under the same title by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith, the story is about theater agent Charlie Y. Reader (Frank Sinatra, Suddenly) who enjoys bachelorhood and being surrounded by ladies that do everything he asks of them. He gets a visit from his old friend Joe (David Wayne, Adam’s Rib) who is married with children. They both admit they are envious of each other’s lifestyle when it comes to women.
Charlie later meets singer-actress Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds, Singin’ in the Rain) during an audition and falls in love with her, but balks at commitment, while Joe meets singer Sylvia Crewes (Celeste Holm, The Snake Pit), another of Charlie’s girls and falls for her even though he is married. And that’s where the fun begins!
The Tender Trap is an enjoyable Frank Sinatra programmer and makes for a great matinee film. The acting by the cast is superb and smooth direction by Charles Waters. The only negative to me was the film was overlong. The picture earned an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original Song for “(Love Is) the Tender Trap”, which Jimmy Van Heusen provided the music and Sammy Cahn handled the lyrics. Because the song was a big hit for Frank Sinatra, he would continue to sing it throughout his career.
The Tender Trap is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Archive. The film has been given a new 4K scan from the original camera negative. The picture quality for this release is about as pristine as it gets with lively, vivid colors. The details and clarity to the scenery, the clothing the actors wear, and interiors is simply magnificent. Blues look astonishing! Black levels are rich and deep without looking inky. There is signs of any print damage, debris or dirt detected on this release. There is plenty of natural film grain without a hint of DNR or other artificial enhancements.
The Blu-Ray comes with an English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track
Dialogue and background noises come in perfectly along with the cool musical scores from Jeff Alexander. Optional English subtitles are available for this release.
Frank In the Fifties and a theatrical trailer are two extras from the previous DVD that have been ported over.
There are two other extras that might or might not have been on some previous DVD release, if not a Frank Sinatra film, perhaps on another Warner Brothers release, which are two excerpts of The MGM Parade These come from Episodes 7 and 8 and feature discussions about The Tender Trap.
This is a rich release from Warner Archive. You get the film looking the best it ever has, along with some supplements that should make this a no-brainer for fans of Frank Sinatra and/or The Tender Trap!
The Tender Trap
Director- Charles Walters
Cast- Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds
Country of Origin- US
Distributor –Warner Archive Collection / Warner Brothers
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-6/2/21