Bachelor Mother (1939)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Garson Kanin

Writers:

Norman Krasna (screenplay)
Felix Jackson (story)

Release Date:

4 August 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Just ten baby fingers and ten baby toes--Troubles? Scandal?--Gosh--Nobody Knows

Plot:

Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling...

Plot Keywords:

Clerk | Department Store | Foundling | Remake Of Austrian Film | Abandoned Baby

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Ginger Rogers	...	Polly Parrish
David Niven	...	David Merlin
Charles Coburn	...	J. B. Merlin
Frank Albertson	...	Freddie Miller
E.E. Clive	...	Butler
Elbert Coplen Jr.	...	Johnnie
Ferike Boros	...	Mrs. Weiss
Ernest Truex	...	Investigator from Foundling Home
Leonard Penn	...	Jerome Weiss
Paul Stanton	...	Hargraves
Frank M. Thomas	...	Doctor
Edna Holland	...	Matron at Foundling Home
Dennie Moore	...	Mary
June Wilkins	...	Louise King
Donald Duck	...	Himself - Mechanical Toy (as Donald the Duck)

Also Known As:

Little Mother (USA) (working title)
Nobody's Wife (USA) (working title)
She Said I Do (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

82 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #5189)

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Hal K. Dawson (Judge), Renie Riano (Amy Mellish) and Charles Halton (Doctor) are in studio records/casting call lists (with their character names) for this movie, but they did not appear or were not identifiable.

Quotes:

Freddie: [referring to the baby] Where did it come from?
Polly: I got it for Christmas!
[beat]
Freddie: This Christmas or last Christmas?

Movie Connections:

References Love Affair (1939)

Soundtrack:

Happy Days Are Here Again

A true Romantic-Comedy

This is a romantic comedy in the fullest sense of both terms. it is both hilariously funny and touchingly romantic (in the old-fashion boy sweeps girl off her feet even though she can give as good as she gets kind of way).

I totally loved the New Year Party scene, and the complications with the other boyfriend were great fun. And Donald Duck has a small but key role to play in this story.

Obviously some of the social attitudes are a bit hackneyed today, but the character personalities certainly shine through brilliantly still.