The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer (1947)

[myrnaloyisdope]

I just rewatched this the other night, and was pleasantly surprised that I still found it hilarious.

It's so light and frivolous, a typical Hollywood picture, but it's so much fun that it doesn't matter if there's anything else going on underneath the surface.

Cary Grant is fantastic, particularly the scene where he acts like a teenager, it's just so ridiculous I can't help but love it. You can tell he's just having fun with everything, and he is impeccable as always.

Myrna Loy is solid in a supporting role, even if she doesn't get a lot of the good lines. But she has a couple of cute moments.

I thought Shirley Temple was actually quite good too, anyone know why she stopped acting shortly after? She certainly had the potential to make it as an adult actress.

Aside from the pure fun of it all, I thought it was interesting that the film focused primarily on teenagers. I have no idea if it is an accurate depiction or not, but it's the earliest film I can think of that shows high school life, and tries to capture teenage fads and lingo. Teenagers typically get ignored in films before the 50's, it's as if there are children and adults but nothing in between.

Highest recommendation.

[charliechaplinfan]

I was so keen to watch this movie I had to order the region 1 from America. Once I found out how easy it was to order region 1 movies, well I ordered a few more.

I thought Shirley Temple a little overshadowed by Grant and Loy but then they are two of the best actors of their generation and brilliantly adept at handling comedy. In Shirley's defence I've recently seen a couple of Deanna Durbin movies and apart from Deanna's singing there wasn't anything to choose between the two for me in terms of acting.

The comedy is good in this one, it reminded me a little of Monkey Business when Cary got to play a child. He's so good at the sports day, was it a sack race he was in? I can't quite remember, I just remember laughing an awful lot. Cary Grant was in his early forties in this film but he so easily slides into the role of teenager.

I agree, a film worth seeing

[stuart.uk]

I'm not sure you could make The Batchelor And The Bobby-Soxer now. Though a delightful film, it's hard to image a modern day Judge sentencing a mature man to go socalise with her young teenage sister, who has a crush on him, even if she was an adult. It wouldn't be seen as politically correct

[charliechaplinfan]

I suppose many movie plots would fall by the wayside if we accounted for political correctness. I think it's part of what keeps some films feeling fresh.

[Ollie]

This is another film where the supporting cast makes it re-watchable for me - this is one of those "anywhere anytime" kind of film in our collection. Ray Collins setting up Rudy Vallee at the end - just great. "And tomorrow, you can be Mr. District Attorney and have all the Assistants running around for you!"

Watching some of Temple's last efforts - SINCE YOU WERE GONE and here in BACHELOR - makes me wonder "Who let her stop?!! Put a gun to the girl's head - make her do more, More, MORE."

She's obviously gone on to greater glories, but if the studios weren't inventive enough to grow their scripts into Shirley Temple roles, all of us lost out because of their myopia. She was probably most wise to move away from poor thinkers like that.