Bachelor Mother (1939)

An unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.

Director:

Garson Kanin

Writers:

Norman Krasna (screen play), Felix Jackson (story)

Stars:

Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ginger Rogers	...	Polly Parrish
David Niven	...	David Merlin
Charles Coburn	...	J. B. Merlin
Frank Albertson	...	Freddie Miller
E.E. Clive	...	Merlin's Butler
Elbert Coplen Jr.	...	Johnnie - the Baby
Ferike Boros	...	Mrs. Weiss - the Landlady
Ernest Truex	...	Orphanage Investigator
Leonard Penn	...	Jerome Weiss
Paul Stanton	...	Hargraves
Frank M. Thomas	...	Orphanage Doctor
Edna Holland	...	Orphanage Matron
Dennie Moore	...	Mary
June Wilkins	...	Louise King
Donald Duck	...	Donald Duck

Storyline

Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling. Outraged at Polly's unmotherly conduct, David Merlin becomes determined to keep the single woman and "her" baby together.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | mistaken for unwed mother | single mother | reference to kipling's gunga din | mistaken identity | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Little Mother

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 1, 1942 with Charles Coburn reprising his film role.

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Goofs

When David Niven and Ginger Rogers leave the New Years Eve party, the amount of confetti on David Niven's jacket changes dramatically from when he talks to the lady by the door and when he exits the building.

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Quotes

David Merlin: Of course he talks! Why, he can recite the first line of Gunga Din!

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Crazy Credits

The cast of characters includes a wind-up toy: Donald Duck as himself. Ginger Rogers' character was in charge of a display table full of the Donald Duck toys.

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

References Gunga Din (1939)

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Soundtracks

Rock-a-Bye Baby
(1886) (uncredited)
Music by Effie I. Canning
Variations often in the score

User Reviews

The angst of Donald Duck?

How many of us can sympathize with this? Your job is hanging precariously, your social life is not what it could be, and customer service won't let you return a malfunctioning Donald Duck toy without a receipt in triplicate.

This is the irresistible comic situation for the forgotten classic "Bachelor Mother". A young, urbane department store worker happens to run across a baby left on a social office's doorstep. Under the circumstances she is confused as the mother of the baby. She flatly denies this but no one will believe her including her boss, a wealthy, prim David Niven. Following a comedy of errors reminiscent of a Shakespeare play these two are thrown together and Niven is then assumed to be the baby's father by his own father, the inimitable Charles Coburn. The movies dances dizzyingly from one comic scenario to another, including a scene where Niven misdirects Rodgers to rub baby food into the baby's navel, and the cathartic comic moment where Niven, the store manager disguised a customer, demands to have his Donald Duck toy returned, to no avail.

Niven: "What is wrong with our Sales Return desk?"

Rodgers: "They don't return anything!"

Filled with scintillating wit, bubbling chemistry and a feel-good plot it is the perfect comedy to enjoy over and over again.