Love Is Better Than Ever

1952 film by Stanley Donen

February 23, 1952 (1952-02-23)

Running time

81 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$941,000^[1]Box office$974,000^[1]

Love Is Better Than Ever is a 1952 American romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen from a screenplay by Ruth Brooks Flippen, starring Larry Parks and Elizabeth Taylor. The plot concerns a small-town girl who falls in love with a big-city talent agent.^[2]

Plot

Confirmed bachelor Jud Parker (Larry Parks) likes his life the way it is. A talent agent, he goes to New Haven, Connecticut on a client's behalf and meets Anastacia "Stacie" Macaboy (Elizabeth Taylor), who owns a dance school.

Stacie then runs into him in New York when she goes to a convention. Jud takes her to a New York Giants baseball game and to dinner and dancing. Stacie falls in love, but Jud is furious when a story in the New Haven paper claims they are engaged.

Mrs. Levoy and her daughter, who run a rival dance school, sully Stacie's reputation and cause students to drop out. Stacie and Jud disagree on how to explain their relationship until Stacie ultimately bets everything on the outcome of the Giants' next game.

Cast

Larry Parks as Jud Parker
Elizabeth Taylor as Anastacia (Stacie) Macaboy
Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Macaboy
Tom Tully as Mr. Charles E. Macaboy
Ann Doran as Mrs. Levoy
Elinor Donahue as Pattie Marie Levoy
Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Kahrney
Doreen McCann as Albertina Kahrney
Alex Gerry as Hamlet (Smittie's regular)
Dick Wessel as Smitty - cafe owner
John Handley as Johnny - Little boy dancer who plays the "grape" (uncredited)
Florence Ravenel as Mother (uncredited)^[3]
Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen make uncredited cameo appearances as themselves seated at a table at 21 Restaurant.

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $634,000 in the US and $340,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $362,000.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Love Is Better Than Ever at the TCM Movie Database
^ "Florence Ravenel filmography". American Film Institute.