Evengyny
Thanks for the memories!
Mjeteconer
Just perfect...
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
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A delightful Romantic Comedy with its non-sticky romance embedded nonchalantly within one of the funniest comedies that I've ever seen is BACHELOR MOTHER. Actually, outside of the best of the Marx Brothers, and maybe THE AWFUL TRUTH, I can't think of a more consistently funny movie. Perhaps not the best comedy ever made (I doubt that it really has very much to say about unwed motherhood, for example, and any other deeper meanings remain, shall we say, not especially evident), but it's close to a perfect example of its kind and the wonder is that it's not far better remembered. Perhaps history has simply lost it among the many excellent and more ambitious movies of 1939. BACHELOR MOTHER didn't go unnoticed at the time, it was both RKO's biggest hit of the year and Hollywood's most popular comedy. And maybe this pure vehicle for Ginger Rogers (she hadn't had many up to this point in her career. Only VIVACIOUS LADY and PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART come to mind) has been obscured by her continuing fame as Fred Astaire's dancing partner. If so, it's a shame. BACHELOR MOTHER simply begs rediscovery as a forgotten Holiday Classic. The story begins on Christmas Eve and ends on New Year's Day and includes the most charming and funny and touching New Year's Eve sequence that you could ever imagine.1937-38 had brought on a second leg of the Depression with unemployment again breaching the 20% mark, so Polly Parrish's (Ginger Rogers') predicament at the beginning of the film (ironically laid off immediately after being wished a "very Merry Christmas" by the big boss, Charles Coburn) was an all-too-realistic plot device for its audience. It's hinted without ever quite being said that Polly is a recent orphan herself ("There's no one to go back to," she says when her friend suggests that she might return home), establishing a sympathetic parallel between her and the infant with whom she'll soon be unwillingly bonded. For Polly is no more a willing volunteer for motherhood than you or I would be in similar circumstances, but the consequences for a single girl unemployed in New York City in 1939 were ominous, indeed. So she makes lemonade out of lemons and winds up Cinderella at the ball in the finest screwball tradition. Ginger's deadpan approach to Polly's sentimental journey provides just the touch of astringency needed. Neither her growing love for the baby nor for that bigger baby (David) ever grows the least bit gooey.Within the scenes, Garson Kanin's direction is relatively staid and relaxed, as befitting a movie about a mother and child, but the scenes themselves rush forward breathlessly, its set-pieces practically falling one on top of another: David's smug satisfaction at reuniting 'mother and child'; the dance contest at the Pink Slipper; the feeding lessons according to 'Dr. Eaglefoot, or Eagleface, or whatever his name is"; the entire New Year's Eve sequence, "Schmorgen!"; "I don't care who the father is, I'm the grandfather!", etc. Just typing it all out brings a smile to my face.This was Ginger Rogers' first film after the series with Fred Astaire had ended at RKO and she was never better (often different, but never better). If her star wasn't secure before BACHELOR MOTHER, it certainly was afterwards. And if anything, BACHELOR MOTHER was an even more important film for David Niven, for though he wasn't the one to carry the movie, this was probably his most important role to date. He'd been largely a supporting actor to this point, notably in serious movies (THE DAWN PATROL, WUTHERING HEIGHTS), but BACHELOR MOTHER proved him a natural both for comedy and romance. For Charles Coburn, BACHELOR MOTHER was simply one more triumph in what was still relatively early in his brilliant movie career.Ironically, Ginger Rogers didn't like the script and producer Pandro Berman, who must have had plenty of confidence in the project, literally had to force her to do the picture. She did seem to enjoy the experience of working on it once she got to the set, however, and established lifelong friendships with Niven and director Kanin. I suspect that most actors aren't the best judges of what projects are best for them, but it's fitting that a film as delightful as BACHELOR MOTHER worked out so well for everyone involved.
vincentlynch-moonoi
While I never particularly liked David Niven, I never disliked him either. Here, however, he turns in a very entertaining portrayal of a socially dense department store heir. Through all his density, he eventually becomes rather likable.For years I avoided Ginger Rogers, thinking of her as "that dancer". In recent years I've discovered she was quite a good actress, and she shines here as the woman with the foundling...which doesn't really belong to her. Of course, she works for David Niven's department store.The big disappointment here is Charles Coburn's role. As one of the finest character actors of that era, he was terribly wasted here as the father/owner of the department store. He could have been so good had the role been fleshed out a bit more.I'm not sure Frank Albertson was up to the role of the sorta-protagonist here.The plot line is entertaining. Polly (Ginger Rogers) is walking along the street one day and sees an older lady leave a baby on the steps of an orphanage. Fearing for the baby's safety, Polly picks up the baby and is assumed to be the baby's mother. Although she has just lost her job as a clerk at a department store, the store's owner's son (David Niven) is brought into the situation, and also assumes Polly is the mother. He gives her her job back, but Polly has to start raising the child (BTW, this part of the story -- what ultimately happens to the baby -- is never resolved in the film). Of course, Ginger and Niven fall in love, although it is a bit of a rocky road for a while. Niven's father (Charles Coburn) wants a grandson, even if it was born out of wedlock, and in a screwball finale all live happily ever after...presumably the baby, too.It's light, but charming and funny. Recommended.
Jem Odewahn
Ginger Rogers gets one of her best roles in this absolutely charming, goofy and heartwarming comedy. She's the plucky shopgirl who has just been fired, and has just been landed with a baby in a severe case of misunderstanding! David Niven is the rich shop-owner's son who both foists a child on Ginger that's not hers, and then falls in love with her and it, the adorable little "Johnny". And the always-great Charles Coburn is just marvellous as the "grandfather" who thinks that Niven and Rogers have produced his longed-for grandson.This is pretty much a perfect romantic comedy, with Rogers giving a terrific performance. Niven gets one of his more unusual roles, it;s sort of a role you imagine Cary Grant in, but he's delightful in it and has unexpectedly great chemistry with Ginger. Garson Kanin directs and Norman Krasna provides a sparkling comic script, that has you both laughing and getting a tear in the eye as a loving, makeshift family is created around a cute tot. When a film contains a major plot gag involving Donald Duck, has Ginger pretending to be Swedish and David Niven trying to rub oatmeal into a baby's stomach, you really can't go wrong!
MartinHafer
Okay, at the outset I've gotta admit that if you are the type person that CAN'T suspend disbelief and just keep your brain from thinking too much, you WON'T enjoy this film. But, if you can and are willing to see this film with an open mind, then you'll find it to be a delightful and funny little romance. Some of this is due to the clever dialog, some due to the fine direction and some of this is no doubt due to the excellent acting of the three leads in the film. And when it comes to the leads, you KNOW a film with Charles Coburn must be watching, as he plays his usual gruff but lovable old rich guy--and perhaps he's just a little more likable and cuddly in this film than usual.The plot is silly and easily could be explained away, but bear with it. Single lady Ginger Rogers is walking down the street when she sees an older lady placing a baby on the steps of a society for foundlings. However, the baby is precariously balanced and the lady just leaves the kid--and the kid might fall down the steps. So, nice lady Ginger picks up the tyke when the door opens and they assume the baby is hers. A quick visit with a doctor COULD have cleared this up but no one thought of that. Instead, after she leaves the baby (despite their protests), they decide to help this poor unfortunate lady by going to her boss and begging him to not only give her a job (she'd just been laid off) but to assist her take care of the little fella. This is how she meets young and handsome David Niven and again and again throughout the film, Niven and others insist the baby is Ginger's. Later, when Niven's father (Charles Coburn) finds out about this "bachelor mother", he is surprisingly delighted and thinks it's his son's! The film has a lot of laughs and is clever, but most of all, it's just a lot of fun as well as romantic. It's a sweet little film well worth your time and one of the better movies Rogers or Niven ever made.
