Oh, Pulleasseee! Arlene Francis, born in 1907, is the mother having a baby, stuck in traffic and the old broad at the time of the making of this movie, in 1963, was 56-years old! Give me a break. They couldn't find a woman even capable of having a child but they had to use an old, old looking Arlene Francis? Really! Wow. That's a goof! :~ )
In the United States, between 1997 and 1999, 539 births were reported among mothers over age 50, with 194 being over 55." -- Wikipedia
Many of those were most likely due to advancements in medicine. Hypothetically since Mrs. Fraleigh's husband was a doctor, it's possible he had access to methods in the 1960s which helped his wife get pregnant.
A goof? They'd tried to get Jeanette MacDonald for the role; she would have been sixty at the time.
shareI also remember thinking Arlene looked old when I first saw the movie.
However on viewing it now at my age, 65, she looks like she is in late 40s.
Come on, pioneer women had babies into their 50s for sure!! Not all of their pregnancies survived but women have been having babies as late as age 50 forever!
If menopause is later, a surprise baby is very common.
I had no problem with anything in this movie except the twin beds!
Um... it's not a "goof." The whole thing was supposed to be that this was a semi-miraculous late-in-life pregnancy. (Which does happen in real life, but not very often.)
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