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Bachelor Mother (1939) vs. Bundle of Joy (1956)

posted 10 years ago by nammage
3 replies | jump to latest

I've seen them both and nothing against Debbie Reynolds but the Ginger Rogers one is far more superior. The first one seems to deal more in the comedic role, which, for this type of story seems the better way to go but this version seems to try to bank on the musicality of Fisher and Reynolds and fails completely. Plus Niven was great in the original along with Coburn, who seems great in everything.

This one rarely interested me. That's the thing with remakes, at times. Or most times. Sometimes the originals should be left alone. Of course, I wonder if I'd feel the same if I saw this one first, instead?

Nah...

-Nam

I'm on the road less traveled...

[–] hka-3 10 years ago

I saw Bundle of Joy last year. I watched Bachelor Mother tonight. I like both films but definitely preferred Bachelor Mother.

[–] gema6 9 years ago

I agree with both of you, the original is much better. It had a spectacular cast. Debbie Reynolds was wonderful, but Eddie Fisher couldn't act. Plus, knowing what a letch he was doesn't help. If they had stayed married until he died, and he was never a cheater, people might have a better opinion of him.

I usually try to take a movie at face value, and not dislike it due to the personal life of the actors. In this case, due to it being a vehicle for both Debbie and Eddie, it's hard not to remember what will soon happen and have that color the movie.

[–] doowop14 7 years ago

I've stated this in another thread but.....While everybody focuses on the different performances between Ginger Rogers and Debbie Reynolds, to me, the glaring difference is between David Niven and Eddie Fischer. Fischer's performance in this film was dreadful. I don't recall having seen him in any other films but if this one was representative of his acting ability, it's little wonder why he didn't do very many films. In addition, while an accomplished actor, Adolph Menjou didn't represent John Merlin nearly as well as Charles Coburn in the original.