The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple
Synopsis of The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
In The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a classic screwball comedy. Through no fault of his own, artist and lady’s man Richard Nugent finds a teenage girl curled on his sofa. The teen’s sister is a judge who “sentences” thunderstruck Richard to date the girl until her schoolgirl crush wanes. Circumstances aren’t kind to Richard. But they certainly are hilarious!
Editorial review of The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer courtesy of Amazon.com
“You remind me of a man.” “What man?” “The man with the power….” Ah, so you remember the lovely nonsense of The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. This lighter-than-air comedy puts playboy writer Cary Grant in company with 17-year-old schoolgirl Shirley Temple, although he’s more interested in older sister Myrna Loy. (She’s as sober as a judge, and indeed is one.)
The Oscar®- winning script by future bestselling novelist Sidney Sheldon boasts fun ’40s slang, but the main draw is Grant’s willingness to play the fool. His gift for slapstick shines when his aging bachelor decides to act like an inane teenager in an effort to burst Shirley’s fanciful image of him. As usual, Grant seems to conspire with the audience (watch his double takes in the background) in making a somewhat standard movie into a giddy experience. Toss in deadpan Rudy Vallee as a sappy third wheel, and you’ve got a near-classic. –Robert Horton
Cast of characters
- Cary Grant (Suzy, The Bishop’s Wife) … Dick Nugent
- Myrna Loy (Another Thin Man, I Love You Again) … Judge Margaret Turner
- Shirley Temple (Our Little Girl) … Susan Turner
- Rudy Vallee (Unfaithfully Yours) … District Attorney Tommy Chamberlain
- Ray Collins (Summer Stock, The Big Street) … Dr. Matthew Beemish
- Harry Davenport (Gone with the Wind) … Judge Thaddeus Turner
- Johnny Sands (Aladdin and his Lamp) … Jerry White
- Don Beddoe (Blondie Meets the Boss) … Joey
- Lillian Randolph (That’s My Boy) … Bessie
- Veda Ann Borg (Mildred Pierce, Mother Wore Tights) … Agnes Prescott
- Dan Tobin (Woman of the Year, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) … Chester Walters
- Ransom M. Sherman (Gentleman’s Agreement) … Judge Treadwell
- William Bakewell (Romance on the High Seas) … Winters
- Irving Bacon (Blondie in Society) … Melvin – Police Turnkey
- Ian Bernard … Perry
- Carol Hughes (Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe) … Florence
- William Hall (Escape By Night) … Anthony Herman
- Gregory Gaye (Ninotchka, Black Magic) … Maitre d’Hotel