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:

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

Movie Connections:

References Gunga Din (1939)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

Lovely, funny, and enjoyable

I recently caught this movie on TV one Saturday morning, and was it ever a delight! The story is based on a series of comedic errors, but unlike more recent films, the top-notch acting leads you to believe that yes, it could really happen that way! (I'm used to films veering way too far into the slapstick so that I'm just rolling my eyes and suspending my belief -- here I was just chuckling away.)

Ginger Rodgers and David Niven give fabulous performances, and the head of the Foundling Home plays his part without flaw. I finished the film with a warm, happy glow that I carried into the day. I will enjoy revisiting it in the future.