The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Encyclopedia
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 American screwball comedy film
Screwball comedy film
The screwball comedy is a principally American genre of comedy film that became popular during the Great Depression, originating in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s. It is characterized by fast-paced repartee, farcical situations, escapist themes, and plot lines involving...
directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay was written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
, and Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
in a story about a teenager's crush on an older man. The film was a critical success. Sheldon won an Academy Award for the screenplay.
Plot
Seventeen-year-old Susan Turner (Shirley TempleShirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
) develops a crush on Richard Nugent (Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
), a sophisticated bachelor who gives a lecture on art at her high school. Susan's uncle, a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, believes Richard is an innocent bystander, but manages to persuade him to play along with Susan until the infatuation ends. He reluctantly agrees. When his efforts to shake her off fail, he throws himself into the charade hoping Susan's older sister Margaret (Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
) will put an end to the affair. The film ends with Nugent and Margaret falling in love and Susan returning happily to her high school sweetheart, Jerry (Johnny Sands).
Cast
- Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
as Richard Nugent, a sophisticated bachelor - Myrna LoyMyrna LoyMyrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
as Margaret Turner, a judge - Shirley TempleShirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
as Susan Turner, her teenage sister - Rudy ValleeRudy ValléeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
as Tommy Chamberlain, an attorney - Ray CollinsRay Collins (actor)Ray Bidwell Collins was an American actor in film, stage, radio, and television. One of Collins' best remembered roles was that of Lt. Arthur Tragg in the long-running series Perry Mason.- Biography :...
as Dr. Matt Beemish, a psychiatrist and Margaret and Susan's uncle - Harry Davenport as Judge Thaddeus Turner, Margaret and Susan's great uncle
- Johnny Sands as Jerry White, Susan's teenage boyfriend
Critical reception
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
thought the film "most agreeable" with high praise for the four principal performers, the direction and screenplay.
The film's screenplay (Best Original Screenplay) won an Academy Award for Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...
, who went on to create I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
, Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart is an American television series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also moonlighted as amateur detectives. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg...
and to be a novelist, Master of the Game
Master of the Game
Master of the Game is a novel by Sidney Sheldon, first published in hardback format in 1982. Spanning six generations in the lives of the fictional MacGregor/Blackwell family, the critically acclaimed novel debuted at number one on the New York Times Bestseller List...
(1982), The Other Side of Midnight
The Other Side of Midnight
The Other Side of Midnight is a novel by American writer Sidney Sheldon published in 1973. The book reached No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. It was made into a 1977 motion picture of the same name, directed by Charles Jarrott. The cast included Marie-France Pisier, John Beck, Susan...
(1973) and Rage of Angels
Rage of Angels
Rage of Angels is a 1980 novel by Sidney Sheldon. The novel revolves around young attorney Jennifer Parker, as she rises as a successful lawyer after being framed for threatening the chief witness against a Mafia boss by mistakenly giving him a dead canary with a broken neck which in turn leads to...
(1980).
Radio adaptation
A Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
adaptation starring Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
aired on June 13, 1949. It was also dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the May 10, 1948 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.The show had a long run, lasting...
with Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple.
Influence
Some of the patter from the film ("You remind me of the man." "What man?" "The man with the power." "What power?" "The power of hoodoo." "Who-do?" "You do." "Do what?" "Remind me of the man." "What man?" and so forth) was slightly modified ("The Man" was replaced with "The Babe") and used by David BowieDavid Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
in the song "Magic Dance
Magic Dance
"Magic Dance" is one of the featured songs performed by David Bowie in the 1986 Jim Henson movie, Labyrinth. It is also credited as "Dance Magic" in some instances....
" from "Labyrinth". It was also used by the Atomic Fireballs
Atomic Fireballs
The Atomic Fireballs is a Detroit band led by vocalist/songwriter John Bunkley. The group was formed during 1996 and is composed of Bunkley on vocals, James Bostek on trumpet, Tony Buccilli on trombone, Duke Kingins on guitar, Shawn Scaggs on double bass, Eric Schabo on tenor sax, Geoff Kinde on...
in their biggest hit "Man With the Hex".
External links
- The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer Review at The Ultimate Cary Grant Pages
- Radio adaptation of The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer June 13, 1949 on Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
; 60 minutes, with Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and Shirley TempleShirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
(MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
)