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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Norman Krasna (screenplay)
Felix Jackson (story)
more
Release Date:
4 August 1939 (USA) more
Tagline:
Just ten baby fingers and ten baby toes--Troubles? Scandal?--Gosh--Nobody Knows more
Plot:
Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
Best Films - 1939
(From Alternative Film Guide. 10 May 2009, 1:26 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
The angst of Donald Duck? more (27 total)
Cast
(Complete credited 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) |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Little Mother (USA) (working title)
Nobody's Wife (USA) (working title)
She Said I Do (USA) (working title)
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
82 min (Turner library print)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Certification:
UK:U | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #5189)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
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. more
Quotes:
Freddie:
[referring to the baby] Where did it come from?
Polly:
I got it for Christmas!
[beat]
Freddie:
This Christmas or last Christmas?
more
Movie Connections:
References Love Affair (1939) more
Soundtrack:
Happy Days Are Here Again more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (27 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Bachelor Mother (1939)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Last two lines of movie | Sinuhe-5 |
| Terrible film | omarsholi |
| Debbie Reynolds Version | talise09 |
| Debby | castoftoapp |
Recommendations
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| The Miracle of Morgan's Creek | The Devil and Miss Jones | One Hour Photo | Heaven Can Wait | One Touch of Venus |
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
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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.