Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958)

An average television repairman must care for the newborn triplets of his former hometown sweetheart, now a famous movie star, so her career will not suffer.

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writers:

Frank Tashlin (screen story and screenplay), Preston Sturges (screenplay "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek")

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Maxwell, Connie Stevens

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jerry Lewis	...	Clayton Poole
Marilyn Maxwell	...	Carla Naples
Reginald Gardiner	...	Harold Hermann
Salvatore Baccaloni	...	Gigi 'Papa' Naples (as Baccaloni)
Hans Conried	...	Mr. Wright
Isobel Elsom	...	Mrs. Van Cleeve
James Gleason	...	Doc Simpkins
Ida Moore	...	Miss Bessie Polk
Gary Lewis	...	Young Clayton
Hope Emerson	...	Mrs. Rogers
Alex Gerry	...	Judge Jenkins
Mary Treen	...	Nurse
Judy Franklin	...	Young Carla Naples
Connie Stevens	...	Sandra Naples
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Sanders	...	Danny Poole (scenes deleted)

Storyline

About the only thing kept in this film from Preston Sturges original story for "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is a girl that gets drunk, gets married, gets pregnant and doesn't even remember any of it. A major difference is that "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" was a classic comedy and "Rock-a-Bye Baby" isn't. This time out, Clayton Poole is a small town TV repairman who is still in love with his former hometown sweetheart, Carla Naples, who is now a famous movie queen. When Carla becomes pregnant due to a hasty marriage in Mexico, which she has forgotten about, the studio tells her a baby will ruin her career so she turns to Clayton, the only person she can trust, and he agrees to care for the baby when it is born. Carla gives birth to triplets and Clayton finds he must get married before he can adopt them. He marries Sandy, Carla's younger sister who has always loved him. The press learns about Carla's triplets and she tells reporters she is secretly married to Clayton. Clayton, ...

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Plot Keywords:

two sisters | movie star | italian american family | triplets | star | 

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Taglines:

He's The "Mother" of The Year!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 July 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Babysitter

Filming Locations:

Colonial Street, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

York Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed at Universal's back lot, Mrs Van Cleeve's House was the one used for The Munsters a few years later.

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Quotes

Sandra Naples: Carla's first movie is coming on The Late Late Early Late Show.
Clayton Poole: The Creature From The Lower Tar-Pits? You're kidding! Oh boy, I saw that sixteen times remember? Doc Simpkins had to give me special massages.

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Connections

Remake of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943)

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Soundtracks

Dormi-Dormi-Dormi (Sleep-Sleep-Sleep)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Salvatore Baccaloni and Jerry Lewis

User Reviews

Pleasant but a bit uneven.

I have seen most of Jerry Lewis' comedies and I wasn't surprised that I liked this film, as it was made during a period in which most of his best films were made--the late 1950s (don't ask me what I think of the ones from the late 60s and 70s...yick). However, I must confess that while I liked the film overall, it was very uneven and about as many gags worked as flopped. As for me, I actually preferred many of the moments when Jerry wasn't trying to be funny-- such as one of the musical numbers where Jerry and the babies' grandfather sing a nice little duet.

The plot to this film is kind of weird. Clayton Poole (Lewis) used to date Carla Naples (Marilyn Maxwell) but now Carla has gone on to better things. She's now a big Hollywood star and her career is about to take a hit because she's pregnant and her husband died after only a day...and no one knows about the marriage. So, to avoid any sort of scandal, she plans on dumping the baby off on Clayton. However, she is surprised when she ends up having triplets. Yet, oddly, Clayton agrees to raise the kids even though they aren't his and he spends most of the rest of the film with the three adorable little girls. But, some rich biddy without kids decides to go to court to try to take the kids away, as everyone back in the 1950s KNEW that a man cannot raise a child by himself. What's next?

The film has lots of jokes that simply fall flat. The ones with the babies tended to work better because they were gentler and seemed less forced. As for the music, Jerry sings a lot of tunes (several of which were poorly chosen, as they were out of his musical range) and his acting is very nice. Overall, a cute little film that Lewis fans will love and others will at least tolerate.