B is for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

B is for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, a black and white film from 1947 that won Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards for screenwriter Sidney Sheldon.

Richard “Dick” Nugent (Cary Grant) is an artist who charms the ladies, often causing fights among the other men involved with them. He ends up in the court room of Judge Margaret Turner (Myrna Loy) who allows him to walk out without sentencing him. Unbeknownst to her, he is scheduled to give a speech at the high school of her sister Susan (Shirley Temple). Susan is immediately infatuated with the suave and debonair Richard, and believes she has fallen in love with him, misreading his interactions with her.

When Susan shows up at his apartment ready to be his model, it causes all sorts of drama when Margaret finds her there. Richard wants nothing to do with this precocious 17-year-old, but is talked into dating her by Margaret and District Attorney Tommy Chamberlain (Rudy Vallee) so that she’ll get him out of her system.

Susan’s boyfriend Jerry White (Johnny Sands) is bereft at her sudden change of heart, and Richard tries his best to get them back together. This is a comedy after all, and there are many laugh out loud moments. One night Richard and Margaret arrange a meeting at an elegant restaurant and dance spot, and people keep showing up and joining them. It felt like a comedy routine: how many people can you get around a table at one time? Quick witty dialogue among the participants ensues, and it is very well acted.

Shirley Temple didn’t act very much after this film. My husband commented that 1947, those years between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, was an interesting period. There are some awkward moments of male dominance toward women (the uncle threatening to spank the wayward Susan for example), but on the other hand, Judge Turner is a woman with a very important role in society.

Something that irritated me was that Richard’s artwork is never shown. His easel and workspace is more of a suggestion, and I believe it was just painted scenery in the background. He could have been any number of creative men; artist seems to have been picked out of a hat. He doesn’t even look like an artist: not starving, not bedraggled (always wearing a suit), and his speech to the students doesn’t even have to do with art.

Where Cary Grant shines is in the slapstick kind of comedy he was so good at, like when he is at a picnic and is coerced into competing in some physical races, including sack racing, and an obstacle course.

Sidney Sheldon was an accomplished writer penning novels, screenplays and TV shows, his biggest hits in the 1960’s on TV were The Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie. His The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a cute film, and if nothing else, will leave you laughing.

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer trailer