Rating: 
Summary: Amiable, Slight
Review: A rather uninspired but harmless enough movie that goes around the world and back again to establish its goofy premise. Cary Grant gets many chances to show off his flair for physical comedy, Shirley Temple is no less grating as a young adult than she was as a child, and Myrna Loy (who I watched this for) is in the movie a lot, but never given very much to do. Grant fans will probably enjoy this one, but fans of Loy can find vehicles that better display her talents. Grade: B-
Rating: 
Summary: Deft Grant Comedy!
Review: A real gem of a comedy with Loy a judge, Grant a teacher and Temple a young "Grant chasing" girl. Wonderfull performances by Ray Collins as a Shrink, Rudy Valle as the ast. D.A. and Dan Tobin as Grant,s lawyer. Loy was never better.
Rating:
Summary: priceless
Review: All grown up, Temple along with Grant who plays a speaker at her school whom she starts to have a crush on but ends up liking the mother is full of fun. I love these old movies and am glad that I can truly appreciate good film making...
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing...
Review: Although this movie is not one of Cary Grant's best comedies, it is pretty harmless and quite amusing. By the time The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer was made, screwball comedy was winding down. Since screwball comedies were Grant's main area of expertise, he then had difficulty finding good scripts to do and was often forced to settle with somewhat inferior romantic comedies like this one (he still did make some other excellent films afterwards). But, as I said earlier, although this lacks the originality and sparkle of some of his earlier films, it is not bad. By today's standards it is excellent - and as an added bonus it contains no obscene language or inappropriate scenes. Like all Grant's films it is tasteful, innocent and good entertainment for the whole family. Essentially, this movie is a lighthearted romantic comedy that describes what happens when a debonair artist (Cary Grant) is stuck with a teenage girl chasing him (Shirley Temple). As an added bonus, the teenage girl's older sister (Myrna Loy) is also around. This movie has many funny situations, especially one where Grant is forced to participate in a childish series of races at a local fair. The acting is quite good, and, all in all, this is an amusing, cute movie.
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Screwball ... and Plot
Review: An excellent screwball comedy by Cary Grant and his favorite costar, Myrna Loy, with an allstar support cast. I find several reasons for the appeal of this thoroughly enjoyable film. One is the lovely escapism of the setting: sunny, charming, bucolic, post-World War II suburban California, populated with attractive folks you'd like to meet succeeding at life (even when they goof up). This is American Society happy with itself, working harmoniously and supportively, before everyone went their own ways in the mid-60s -- this is family, without a trace of alienation, and deep down inside we'd all like to live that way. On the personal level, the main attraction is our desire to see Cary get caught up in a real jam -- one that causes him to redefine his immature character -- and give us some real laughs as he fights his way to a resolution of his win-or-lose-it-all conflict. No actor has ever surpassed Cary's persona of the elegantly befuddled smoothie. On a technical level, we enjoy the movie because the script is engaging and perfectly suited to each character. We aren't treated to brisk, warm, articulate scriptwriting like this anymore. But perhaps the real glue that holds this film together for the viewer is the integrity of the plot, for while lighthearted, it is not trivial in principle. Ever present within this little gem is the story of the quintessential playboy having his superficial lifestyle -- which he is VERY content to continue -- catch up with him. We are fascinated at the spectacle of a member of "The In Crowd" having to buckle down and contribute to life (that means work) like the rest of us, instead of simply coasting by on their superior, God-given talents. Cary plays a talented artist cruising through life in this fashion, noncommittally "doing his thing" and inadventantly causing trouble for the average folks he enocunters, by his disregard for convention ... until Life taps him on the shoulder and insists that he join society and grow up. Coupling this plot premise with our instinctive desire to see the heroic Cary wrestle his way out of a preposterous circumstance that he's created for himself keeps the viewer entertained throughout the story. The cast is magnificent, and the pace is elegantly screwball, never missing a beat, yet not too fast for the humor to feel real. It's great entertainment, and it stands up to multiple viewings better than almost any comedy I can pull off the shelf. Now ... when will it find its way onto DVD? There's no excuse for a classic like this to miss the digital platform!
Rating:
Summary: "I couldn't help overhearing. I had my ear to the door."
Review: Far from Grant's worst (THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION) and definitely not his best (THE AWFUL TRUTH) THE BACHELOR & THE BOBBY-SOXER just kinda sits somewhere in the middle, well, maybe just a little higher than the middle. The cast is strong, the script a little forced, but the direction by Irving Reis is flat and uninspired. If Howard Hawks, Preston Sturges or Leo McCarey had directed this same movie it would be a masterpiece.
After a brief encounter, teenager Shirley Temple has fallen deeply in love with the older but dashing Cary Grant. So deep in fact that she sneaks into his apartment while he's gone. Grant returns a few minutes before the law does and next thing you know Grant is ordered by the court to hang out with Temple until she falls out of love with him! See what I mean by the script being forced.
Anyway, that's a long and confusing set-up just to see Grant in a difficult situation, but it's almost worth it cause some really funny stuff happens next. What most people seem to remember is when Grant turns the tables and actually acts like a crazy talking teenager "Hi. Mello greeting, yookie dookie!" But my favorite scene is when Grant takes Judge Myrna Loy to dinner at a fancy club and before long everybody in the cast is sitting at their table arguing. Rudy Vallee even has his chair stolen at one point!
Woman: "Now there's a guy who never goes out of a girl's mind. He just stays there...like a heavy meal."
Man: "Oh yea. Then what am I like?"
Woman: "Orange juice."
THE BACHELOR & THE BOBBY-SOXER is worth watching (a few times) and has some good screwball scenes, but it just never reaches that lunatic pace that made THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, BRINGING UP BABY and LOVE CRAZY such timeless classics.
Dick - Cary Grant (THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY)
Margaret - Myrna Loy (THE THIN MAN, LOVE CRAZY)
Susan - Shirley Temple (FORT APACHE, SINCE YOU WENT AWAY)
Tommy - Rudy Valee (THE PALM BEACH STORY, UNFAITHFULLY YOURS)
Beemish - Ray Collins (TOUCH OF EVIL, CITIZEN KANE)
Thaddeus - Harry Davenport (GONE WITH THE WIND, THE OX-BOW INCIDENT)
Rating:
Summary: Myrna Loy and Cary Grant at their best.
Review: Having just watchched this picture, it is one of my favorites. If you are a fan of Myrna Loy in the "Thin Man" movies, you will love her in this funny, charming picture. Make sure you watch for the "Man with the power" scene.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I really enjoyed this show, it was a riot.
~You Remind Me Of A Man~
Rating:
Summary: "The Power of Whoo-doo!"
Review: I rented this movie and watched it last night--hadn't seen it in close to thirty years since I was a little girl--and nearly freaked from the deja-vous experience of hearing the "You remind of a man/what man?/the man with the power/what power?/ the power of whoo-doo". And my older sister knowingly said, "Yes, TutorGal, this is where that comes from." I used to chant and chant that as a kid! So much for memory lane; now down to business about "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer." The movie has a bit of a slow start, with pretty static direction, up until the point when high school student Shirley Temple sees ladykiller artist Cary Grant at high school assembly delivering a lecture. Pow! she sees him as a knight in shining armor and is off to corral him. She doesn't know of course that big sis judge Myrna Loy has just had him in her courtroom and has formed a low opinion of his reputed womanizing. Shirley even finds a way to gain access to the unknowing Cary's apartment, where he then unjustly gets slammed with a jailbait charge. Hey, where's this going? Well, Myrna and her assistant DA beau Rudy Vallee decide that the only way for Shirley to get over Cary is for him to date her and probably bore her with his adult ways. And of course, nothing works out like anyone has planned, least of all smug Myrna. As I wrote above, the movie really picks up after about 15-20 minutes and then becomes quite hilarious, with Rudy Vallee particularly good as an eccentric WASP, the sort of thing he does so well . Cary appears to be genuinely enjoying himself, and Shirley has certainly grown to be a real cutie. Myrna's okay, but nothing spectacular this time around. Make a date to watch "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" and see the whoo-doo first hand!
Rating:
Summary: "The Power of Whoo-doo!"
Review: I rented this movie and watched it last night--hadn't seen it in close to thirty years since I was a little girl--and nearly freaked from the deja-vous experience of hearing the "You remind of a man/what man?/the man with the power/what power?/ the power of whoo-doo". And my older sister knowingly said, "Yes, TutorGal, this is where that comes from." I used to chant and chant that as a kid! So much for memory lane; now down to business about "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer." The movie has a bit of a slow start, with pretty static direction, up until the point when high school student Shirley Temple sees ladykiller artist Cary Grant at high school assembly delivering a lecture. Pow! she sees him as a knight in shining armor and is off to corral him. She doesn't know of course that big sis judge Myrna Loy has just had him in her courtroom and has formed a low opinion of his reputed womanizing. Shirley even finds a way to gain access to the unknowing Cary's apartment, where he then unjustly gets slammed with a jailbait charge. Hey, where's this going? Well, Myrna and her assistant DA beau Rudy Vallee decide that the only way for Shirley to get over Cary is for him to date her and probably bore her with his adult ways. And of course, nothing works out like anyone has planned, least of all smug Myrna. As I wrote above, the movie really picks up after about 15-20 minutes and then becomes quite hilarious, with Rudy Vallee particularly good as an eccentric WASP, the sort of thing he does so well . Cary appears to be genuinely enjoying himself, and Shirley has certainly grown to be a real cutie. Myrna's okay, but nothing spectacular this time around. Make a date to watch "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" and see the whoo-doo first hand!
|
