Main Cast: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson, E.E. Clive
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Ginger Rogers slipped off her dancing shoes to play one of her best comic roles as Polly Parish, a salesgirl at a large department store. Single and with no steady beau, Polly leads a quiet life until she discovers a baby left at her doorstep. While puzzled by this development, Polly feels for the child and decides to adopt the baby. However, most of her co-workers raise their eyebrows at Polly's new status as a single mother, believing that she's actually the mother. The owner of the store where Polly works, J.B. Merlin (Charles Coburn), is taken aback, and his son David (David Niven), who has a reputation as a ladies' man, is dispatched to lead Polly back to the straight-and-narrow. Bachelor Mother was remade in 1956 as Bundle of Joy, a vehicle for then-married Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Although she would win an Oscar the next year for Kitty Foyle, Ginger Rogers gives one of her finest performances in Bachelor Mother, a lightweight but charming piece of fluff that's hard to resist. The basic premise -- woman finds baby on doorstep and can't get anyone to believe she is not its mother -- has rich comic possibilities, and while the screenplay doesn't dig deeply into them, it does deliver on the expected series of comic misunderstandings. It also has a number of set pieces -- including the New Year's Eve party in which Rogers is instructed to pretend she is Swedish and David Niven's attempt to return a Donald Duck toy -- that should provoke generous amounts of laughter in most viewers. Garson Kanin directs smoothly; there's nothing distinctive about his work here, but that's much less important than the fact that he keeps the tone of the film consistently light and airy, never letting this soufflé deflate. His cast aids him immeasurably. Rogers has rarely been funnier, more engaging or more attractive, and she carries the film with an assurance and an ease that few could pull off. David Niven is delightful, combining urbanity and befuddlement to good effect, and Charles Coburn is a joy. Technical credits are fine, although the continuity is rather slipshod. Too slight to be a classic, Bachelor Mother is the kind of "little" movie that produces a warm glow among its audience. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers) is a salesgirl at the department store John B. Merlin and Son in New York City who has just been told that since the Christmas season is ending she is going to be dismissed. During her lunch break, she sees a stranger leaving a baby on the steps of an orphanage. Fearing the baby is going to roll down the steps, Polly picks it up as the door is opened, and is mistakenly thought to be the mother.
David Merlin (David Niven), the playboy son of the store's owner, J.B. Merlin (Charles Coburn), is sympathetic to the "unwed mother" and arranges for her to get her job back. Mrs. Weiss (Ferike Boros), Polly's landlady, offers to take care of the boy when Polly is at work. Unable to convince anyone that she is not the mother, Polly gives up and starts raising the child.
David's involvement with Polly gradually turns into love, but he keeps the relationship a secret from his father, fearing his reaction. When he finds that New Year's Eve has arrived and he has no date, David turns to Polly. He orders clothes to be sent from the store and takes her to a party. Although David is falling for Polly he does not relish the idea of a "ready made family."
J.B. finally finds out about the child; he assumes that David is the father and no one can convince him otherwise, especially when, in a bit of bad timing, Polly and David each produce a different man whom they claim is the father. To his son's surprise, J.B. is delighted (he had been impatiently waiting for David to settle down and provide him with a grandson). In the end, David decides that he is in love with Polly and baby John. He tells his father that he is the father of the child and plans to marry Polly, all the while believing Polly is the child's mother.[2]
