MovieChat Forums > Bachelor in Paradise (1961) Discussion > Droll comedy, but works better as a time...

Droll comedy, but works better as a time capsule

posted 14 years ago by parillamilt
7 replies | jump to latest

The comedy part of the movie is rather forgetable with Bob throwing out one liners that are so dry and subtle that they just don't register as comedy today. I'm sure 50 years ago, the audience were probably howling with laughter.

The real reason to see the movie is the slice of 1960 life. The cars, the houses, shopping and the way people lived the suburban lifestyle 50 years ago. Today, we think mid-century retro is cool, but in this movie we get to see all in context. The grocery store scenes were my favorite visual.

[–] rzid 14 years ago

"The real reason to see the movie is the slice of 1960 life."

I agree completely. I was born in 1961, I like to watch movies from this era to see what life was at the time of my birth. It was a very different world.

[–] Hoohawnaynay 14 years ago

I was also born in 1961. Things were prettier, simpler and more innocent. I'd go back to that year any day of the week. Today's world is depressing, harsh, vulgar and suburbia is not full of people this nice anymore.

[–] cnicknz 13 years ago

"Things were prettier, simpler and more innocent," only for well-off white suburbanites!

[–] mikekrit62 10 years ago

Thanks Trotsky!

Somebody like you seems to always have to give a sneer over an innocent comment.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 11 years ago

It's a very charming movie! Sure it's dated. It's dated 1961. Thankfully no one was using cell phones back then. Good thing the humor was more than just one bathroom joke after another.

I love the soundtrack, too.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] hka-3 10 years ago

I agree, much of the comedy is forgettable. At one point I was reminded of Adam Sandler movies and jokingly said, "Adam Sandler ruined that for you Bob (Hope), not the other way around." I really enjoyed looking at the cars, houses, neighborhood, etc. Some of the homes reminded me of my neighbor's houses when I was a kid.

I always love watching Lana Turner and Janis Paige. They still looked fantastic. Agnes Moorehead's appearance was a wonderful surprise and her courtroom scenes brought the quality of this film up a notch or two.

[–] rcareaga-1 10 years ago

The film was shot in the San Fernando Valle, scarcely a paradise even then--I was raised there--and today much of it a rundown polyglot slum. I caught it at fourteen at a matinee in Panorama City. There's a brief scene set in a shopping district during which at one point the camera pans over a vista that includes a vacant lot. That same lot was now (in 1966) occupied by the theatre in which I and my kid siblings sat watching "Bachelor in Paradise." It was a peculiar sensation.