The Bachelor Party
Encyclopedia
The Bachelor Party is a 1953 teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky
which was adapted by Chayefsky for a 1957 film.
for The Philco Television Playhouse
on October 11, 1953. Delbert Mann
directed the following cast:
Helen ...............................Kathleen Maguire
Charlie..............................Eddie Albert
Kenneth............................Bob Emmett
The Bookkeeper................James Westerfield
The Bachelor.....................Joseph Mantell
The Groom........................Douglas Gordon
Julie..................................Anna Minot
The Bartender....................Ely Segall
The Bar Hag.......................Elaine Eldridge
The Young Fellow...............Walter Kelly
The Girl.............................Bettye Ackerman
The Fiancée.......................Olive Dunbar
, with Don Murray
, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden
and Carolyn Jones
. Jones was nominated for the 1958 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a party girl who is actually very lonely. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes.
Charlie finds his loyalty to his wife tested during the evening, and he almost has an affair with a young woman (Carolyn Jones) he meets at a bar. Walter, in despair about his situation, wanders off during the evening. Arnold becomes drunk and ambivalent about getting married, and he breaks off the wedding only to change his mind after he sobers up and Charlie gives him a lecture about the benefits of married life. This, in spite of the fact that in the beginning of the story, Charlie had been regretting his marriage and had gone to the party with a serious intention of committing adultery. We last see Eddie at a bar, striking up a conversation with an older unattractive woman. In the end, Charlie decides that married life is the way to go, and that his struggle to build a home with his wife is worthwhile, and better than the empty and lonely existence of his friend Eddie, whom he used to envy.
award, and one award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival
:
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....
which was adapted by Chayefsky for a 1957 film.
Television
Chayefsky's teleplay was produced by Fred CoeFred Coe
Fred Coe , nicknamed Pappy, was a television producer and director most famous for The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1948-1955 and Playhouse 90 from 1957 to 1959...
for The Philco Television Playhouse
The Philco Television Playhouse
The Philco Television Playhouse, a live television anthology series sponsored by Philco, was telecast from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the NBC series was seen on Sundays from 9:00pm to 10:00pm...
on October 11, 1953. Delbert Mann
Delbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
directed the following cast:
Helen ...............................Kathleen Maguire
Charlie..............................Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
Kenneth............................Bob Emmett
The Bookkeeper................James Westerfield
James Westerfield
James A. Westerfield was an American actor.Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he starred in more than 50 films during his lifetime...
The Bachelor.....................Joseph Mantell
The Groom........................Douglas Gordon
Julie..................................Anna Minot
The Bartender....................Ely Segall
The Bar Hag.......................Elaine Eldridge
The Young Fellow...............Walter Kelly
The Girl.............................Bettye Ackerman
Bettye Ackerman
Bettye Ackerman was an American actress primarily known for her work on television.Ackerman was born in Cottageville, South Carolina and grew up in Williston in Barnwell County in southwestern South Carolina, one of four children. She graduated from Columbia College in South Carolina in 1945 and...
The Fiancée.......................Olive Dunbar
Film adaptation
The 1957 film was directed by Delbert MannDelbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
, with Don Murray
Don Murray (actor)
Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...
, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
and Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
. Jones was nominated for the 1958 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a party girl who is actually very lonely. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes.
Characters and story
Charlie Samson (Don Murray) is a hard-working married bookkeeper, struggling to advance himself by attending night school to become an accountant. He and four other of his bookkeeper coworkers throw a bachelor party for one of them, Arnold Craig (Philip Abbott), who is about to get married. After the party, they decide to go bar-hopping. Charlie is Arnold's best man. Other coworkers attending the party including the older married man, Walter (E.G. Marshall), who has an unspecified health problem, and Eddie (Jack Warden), a happy-go-lucky bachelor. The night becomes a turning point for all five men.Charlie finds his loyalty to his wife tested during the evening, and he almost has an affair with a young woman (Carolyn Jones) he meets at a bar. Walter, in despair about his situation, wanders off during the evening. Arnold becomes drunk and ambivalent about getting married, and he breaks off the wedding only to change his mind after he sobers up and Charlie gives him a lecture about the benefits of married life. This, in spite of the fact that in the beginning of the story, Charlie had been regretting his marriage and had gone to the party with a serious intention of committing adultery. We last see Eddie at a bar, striking up a conversation with an older unattractive woman. In the end, Charlie decides that married life is the way to go, and that his struggle to build a home with his wife is worthwhile, and better than the empty and lonely existence of his friend Eddie, whom he used to envy.
Cast
- Don MurrayDon Murray (actor)Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...
as Charlie Samson - E.G. Marshall as Walter
- Jack WardenJack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
as Eddie Watkins, the Bachelor - Philip AbbottPhilip AbbottPhilip Abbott was an American character actor and occasional voice actor.Abbott was a secondary lead in several films of the 1950s and 1960s. Miracle of the White Stallions...
as Arnold Craig - Larry BlydenLarry BlydenLarry Blyden was an American actor and game show host, best known for his appearances on Broadway and as the host of the game show What's My Line?-Personal life:...
as Kenneth - Patricia SmithPatricia Smith (actress)Patricia Smith Lasell was an American actress who appeared in film and television roles from the early 1950s through the 1990s.-Career:...
as Helen Samson - Carolyn JonesCarolyn JonesCarolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
as The Existentialist - Nancy MarchandNancy MarchandNancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
as Mrs. Julie Samson
Awards
The Bachelor Party was nominated for one Oscar, one BAFTABritish Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
award, and one award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival
1957 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*André Maurois *Jean Cocteau *Maurice Genevoix *Georges Huisman *Maurice Lehmann *Marcel Pagnol *Michael Powell *Jules Romains...
:
| Group | Award | Won? |
|---|---|---|
| 30th Academy Awards 30th Academy Awards The Oscar for Writing Based on Material From Another Medium was awarded to Pierre Boulle for The Bridge on the River Kwai, despite the fact that he did not know English. The actual writers, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson were blacklisted at the time and did not receive screen credit for their work... |
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Carolyn Jones Carolyn Jones Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses... |
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| BAFTA Award British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
Best Film from any Source (USA) BAFTA Award for Best Film This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards... |
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| 1957 Cannes Film Festival 1957 Cannes Film Festival -Jury:*André Maurois *Jean Cocteau *Maurice Genevoix *Georges Huisman *Maurice Lehmann *Marcel Pagnol *Michael Powell *Jules Romains... |
Palme d'Or Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du... |