Am a big classic movies fan, but this one really disappointed. Was often slow at points, focusing on a character's face when truly nothing was happening. In one scene when Ginger was being told the baby was hers, she could only freeze and not say a word. This happened about three or four times, within a minute and the joke really wore off! She was much better in Kitty Foyle just a year later, what a turn around as she was pretty dire and wooden in this one!
shareWow, I couldn't disagree more. It's no His Girl Friday or Bringing Up Baby, but this is one of those films you can't help but fall for. I also agree with whomever mentioned Niven's role seemed to be written with Grant in mind, particularly that business in the store with the duck.
shareWonderful movie! Not as good as His Girl Friday or My Man Godfrey, but better than Bringing Up Baby. How can anybody not love this movie? ANY close-up of Ginger Rogers is a plus!
John 3:16
I agree it was a lovely film :) I loved when she hit his exgf with a low zinger at the New Years Party !
shareI was very pleasantly surprised that this movie was such a treat ... I had never seen it before, but definitely will look for it again. Rogers, Niven, and Coburn are terrific ... yeah, there are plot holes and some writing mishaps along the way ... but it's a very fun, light comedy.
shareI've liked this film for years! It's funny, even a little bitchy at times, and I find the subject matter interesting, especially for the time. What's more, it has one of the simplest, yet most effective last lines I've ever heard :-)
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Laura, it's getting away from us again!
I couldn't disagree more. This movie is a riot. What you're observing is called "play of emotions." It's how people communicate non-verbally and it often speaks volumes.
shareRight; the play of emotions on Ginger Rogers' face shows she was great with both drama and comedy.
"The truth 24 times a second."
your in the minority!
This is a great little, cute movie!
I really liked this film, too. David Niven was charming as always (who wouldn't have wanted to run off and get married to him) - and Ginger was great and Coburn - well, he's always fun in a film.
I had not seen it before tonite - and I was kinda falling asleep during the first 20 minutes - but as soon as the spark between Niven and Ginger started...well, I was captivated and woke right up. It was a fun film...and yes, years ahead of itself in the "unwed mother" concept.
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C'mon, if you have time to post here, you also have time to play at www.HumorMeOnline.com
this was one of the funniest films i'd seen in a long time. i was doing a home project and had AMC on and then became engrossed in it laughing out loud (especially toward the end) which i rarely do in films. thought it was much better than kitty foyle (which i also watched last night) which was kinda sad and ... well ok, but this one was brilliant!
http://www.BrainyBlonde.com
I couldn't agree more; it really deserves a nice DVD release. I didn't think there was a single dull moment and all of the performances were perfection--a little gem!
shareMe too! I couldn't sleep one night and accidentally stumbled on this film on AMC. I was laughing out loud for many parts of the movie too. I enjoyed it and I would love to have this if it's available.
shareCount me in also. Loved this movie. So much going for it. Would watch this over any of the trash produced today.
shareLoved this movie. So much going for it. Would watch this over any of the trash produced today.
Yes, I also agree that this movie is wonderful and awesome. I absolutely LOVED this movie and it is definitely NOT a disappointment. I first watched it when I was around 13 years old when it came on PBS Channel 13 in New York during one late/early evening over the weekend.
Every time it would come on PBS or TCM (when I finally found out about TCM), I would always, always watch it. It's one of my all time favorite romantic comedy movies from the 1930's.
I loved the plot of the film, how Niven and Rogers slowly fell in love, and how Ginger slowly learned to love little Johnny with all her heart. And the jokes, humor, and funny parts in the movie never failed (and to this day never fails) to make me laugh, lol.
I'm 23 now and I'd STILL take Bachelor Mother over any romantic comedy movie made in this day and age. And no, macguffinlassie... I CANNOT imagine Brad and Angelina in David and Ginger's roles. Never in a million years because nowadays they don't make movies like they did during the Golden of Age Hollywood.
Bachelor Mother is a wonderful, classic movie that will continue to stand the test of time to all those who love it and other old classic films, like me.
Now, if we could only buy it on DVD...
shareLol... I know, right? However, I should think that Turner Classic Movies' website should have Bachelor Mother on DVD, no?
I haven't researched this myself, but I know that they do have a lot of classic movies on DVD that you can purchase from their website. But I'm not going to lie, some if not most of the DVD's they sell are a bit pricy. I can understand why, but still.... In this economy, you have to save every penny and dollar you have.
Unfortunately and sadly, I haven't had the TCM channel at home for several years now, since I can't afford cable, dish, or satellite. So, I've resorted to watching anything that I can find on YouTube, lol.
I've found Bachelor Mother and watched it. It's still as wonderful as ever and as wonderful as the times I've seen it on TV. The user posted the entire movie up and you can check it out if you feel so inclined to.
The only problem I have with seeing Bachelor Mother on YouTube is that it's the colored version of the film, not the black and white one. (I tried to look for the black and white version, but it looks like only the colored version is available... for now hopefully).
Now, I can understand why they would want to color some black and white films--providing that it's going to make the film look even better than it is in black and white, etc. In that case, I feel that by all means they should do that.
However, when I saw the colored version of Bachelor Mother, I really felt and still feel that it was a mistake for them to color it. To me, Bachelor Mother looks better in black and white.
Nevertheless, I loved it all the same despite this change.
"Let every man be master of his time." -- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Yecch, COLORIZED. I HATE it!
I hope your finances improve--things are bad now for many of us, myself included. As to pricey, between the list price and the shipping, it adds up to more than I want to pay, which is why I always wait for sales or buy used (Amazon often has some good deals on both counts). If I feel it's too much, I just do without.
I have Bachelor Mother saved to my DVR, so buying it isn't critical although I'd like to free up the disk space.
LOL. Thanks; I hope things will improve, too, but it's kind of hard to judge nowadays. I pray that all of our finances can improve soon. It's not fair that we have to scrap and save, which forces us to put off wanting something that we like and like to get, i.e. Bachelor Mother, other classic movies, etc.
I definitely agree. I rarely buy things from online because of the total cost the items add up to. The only time I do is when I can't get things like silent or classic movies from regular stores like Costco, Walmart, etc., especially the silent ones.
When my finances were fairly okay last year, my step-dad and I were able to get 6 Rudolph Valentino films from online for my mom's birthday. We totally surprised her; she was so shocked, but very happy, lol. It was really nice that we could afford to do that at the time.
But yeah, I hear ya. I'm like you: if it's too much, I don't even think about getting it. Lol... I hear ya; while I have plenty of disk space, I try not to use so much of it, worrying that I would not have any in the long run, lol.
And even though I do want to get Bachelor Mother right now along with the Fred and Ginger collection, I don't really /need/ it that badly. It'll still be available when I /can/ be able to buy it, lol. So for now, I'm just content watching Bachelor Mother and many other classic and silent films on YouTube, lol.
"Let every man be master of his time." -- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
cant you burn the DVR image to a DVD?
Anyway, I actually Like colourisation. Turner was very good at it, before Jimmy Stewart got all ballistic about it.
It is like: WHich do you prefer? Star Wars Episode IV as it was originally shown in 1977? Or do you like the "Special Edition"? In some ways I like the Special Edition, but I do enjoy the original from time to time.
I remember seeing a few Van Johnson colourised moovies back in the late 80s and I liked them, I thought Turner did a great job choosing the colours.
And so it depends on my mood, sometimes I'd like to see a coulorised version. But I gave not seen a colourised moovie for over 10 years.
We're off-topic now but black-and-white films aren't just color films with the color removed, i.e., they're not incomplete or insufficient because they're not in color. They're shot with the use of light and shadow in mind, effects that are completely lost by slapping "color" on them. In addition, colorized films don't look like color films, they look like "colored" films. I've made my living in two different industries with my eye for color; colorized films are horrible to me, even with the newest technology. I can ALWAYS tell.
As for actors getting ballistic, why not? It wasn't the intention of the director to shoot the film in color (or maybe it was but color stock wasn't available, there were budget constraints, etc.); it should remain as shot. Do you see charcoal drawings hanging on museum walls that have been colorized because someone thought they should be "updated" for contemporary appreciation?
I'm not a fan of the Star Wars series but I'd be the first to object if it were "black-and-whited" as an "improvement."
All I know is i enjoy this movie and every few years I still enjoy watching one of my all time favorite actresses Ginger, In fact in any movie she shines. As a teen I had a crush on her when I saw her for the first time during a dance with Astaire to Berlin's "Cheek To Cheek". NickyD
shareI totally don't know how ou got that impression about how Ginger plays this film.. Remember, she is the "Straight Man" in this film... David Niven is actually the comedic lead, which is unusual for him as I state in my Review in the comments section.
Look at it that way... And watch it again, I betcha you change your mind.
Kitty Foyle was arguably Rogers' worst movie of her career. The ONLY reason it won her an Academy Award is the subject matter was very liberal (i.e. women's suffrage.) Yes, Hollyweird was well established by this time and, if you were "normal", you were not welcomed by the Academy. Rogers, a well-known Republican, was given the award for playing a role that glorified liberal causes. Period.
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Remember When Movies Didn't Have To Be Politically Correct?
Whaaat? Kitty Foyle may have been a controversial novel, but the film was considerably toned down. Kitty loved her father and was proud of her heritage. In the end, she rejected "living in sin" and married the kind doctor. Where do you see that liberal causes were glorified?
Ginger did a wonderful job portraying the title heroine. She showed that she could fare just as well in a drama as in light romantic comedies and musicals. The public loved Ginger Rogers at that time and wanted her to succeed. The movie may not hold up as well today as those that are considered classics, but Ginger's acting in it does.
You Sir...Are a Cad!!
sharethis was the first ginger rogers non musical film that i've seen and i was really impressed, i thought she was really good against niven and although the plot seems a little silly today in the 30s when it was made it would have been much more plausible
share
Have to agree with the OP. I had never seen this film before, although I
am well-versed on classic film and Rogers herself. The plot was beyond
ridiculous. First of all, the fact that neither employee at the foundling
home would believe Rogers when she gave a completely honest and
sincere explanation is absurd. Secondly, the notion that all would go to
this kind of trouble - hiring and firing her - is beyond dumb. And Rogers
herself seemed to not really care ONE WAY OR THE OTHER if she's to take
on the responsibility of raising this child or not!! What's worse, it's
really unsatisfying to not find out the real circumstances of the birth
mother in the end. Who was the old lady? A generally unfunny, overlong
(even at 82 minutes) piece of forgettable fluff. "Bringing Up Baby?"
Hardly.
Oh, I didn't realize that comedy isn't supposed to be absurd, that it's always supposed to have resolution, and is supposed to be totally relevant 70 years after it was filmed! I just KNEW that I was supposed to find the solid nitrogenous waste that's produced today funny and shun the old stuff but I didn't know WHY--thanks for clearing that up!
share First, in ALL good comedy writing - regardless if it's today or 70 years
ago - there is a sense of reality to the situation at hand, or it doesn't
work. Where things go wobbly, the comedy covers. There was NOTHING funny
about this movie whatsoever. And I never compared the often inane
comedy of today to the classics. YOU did. And it had nothing to do
with my post. Again, "Bringing Up Baby", while admittedly absurd, is
both funnier (by a long shot) and even makes more sense than this dead
horse. Get over it.
"Sense of reality..." I seem to recall one of the funniest episodes of Cheers involved Norm trying to hustle Rebecca, who's hidden in her boss's bedroom, out of the house on the basis that he's had a life-long dream to carry a rich guy around in his arms (she finally escapes down a ladder). VERY plausible. I guess it's not as funny as I thought.
I, for one, particularly enjoy the "sense of reality" found in Some Like It...I mean, it's so likely that either Jack Lemmon or Tony Curtis--much less both of them--could pass as women, especially in bathing suits. I guess it was that same "sense of reality" that earned it the #1 slot on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs. Oh, and let's not forget Arsenic and Old Lace--another "sense-of-reality-grounded" tour de force. Thanks for your profound insight--I'm so happy to have found a reason to rethink my sense of humor!
Yes, please rethink it. As for "Cheers", I never watched it, so I
can't comment. And I don't care for "Some Like it Hot", as I don't
think either one of those two men are remotely believable. But I
don't like "Tootsie" either. "Arsenic and old Lace" isn't a fave.
I adore Ms. Rogers, but "Bachelor Mother" was both farfetched and
completely unfunny. The writing was so weak, she didn't seem to
care - one way OR the other - whether the baby was with her or not.
Absurd. It also would've tied things up if the REAL mother was
located. It also could've developed the "story." The writers
simply couldn't be bothered.
Couldn't disagree more on both points. This is one of Ginger's better movies and I really didn't like Kitty Foyle at all. The only reason she was given the Academy Award for this film is that she is a Republican and the libs in the Academy wanted to help sway her for being involved with a film that had a topic they championed. Kitty Foyle was one of Ginger's worst movies.
Remember When Movies Didn't Have To Be Politically Correct?