The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) is an American screwball comedy-romance directed by Irving Reis and starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple. The supporting cast includes Rudy Vallee, Ray Collins, Henry Davenport, Veda Ann Borg, Johnny Sands, and Lillian Randolph. The screenplay, written by Sidney Sheldon, won an Academy Award for Best Writing Original Screenplay. It was the only Academy Award nomination for the film.
Richard Nugent (Grant), a carefree and charming artist who
finds himself in legal trouble after being accused of corrupting a minor. The
accuser is the stern and elegant Judge Margaret Turner (Loy), whose younger
sister, Susan (Temple), has developed a fierce crush on Richard. Susan's
infatuation, sparked by his magazine photo, leads to a series of chaotic
misunderstandings that land Richard in Margaret's courtroom. In a fit of
frustrated fury and a desire to teach her sister a lesson, Margaret sentences
Richard to "rehabilitate" Susan by pretending to be her boyfriend
until her teenage crush fades away.
What could go wrong?
Irving Reis (1906 – 1953) was a radio program
producer and director, and a film director. Reis directed several notable and
popular films, including Hitler’s Children (1943), The
Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), and All My Sons (1948).
Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born
American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history.
Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a
superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies, including The
Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter
Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine
Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations for Penny
Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944).
Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only
Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).
He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To
Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959).
He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.
Myrna Loy (1905 - 1993) was an American film,
television, and stage actress. Loy was a trained dancer but decided to
concentrate on acting, appearing in silent films before becoming a major star
with the advent of sound. Perhaps Loy is most famous for playing Nora Charles
opposite William Powell in The Thin Man (1934) and its
subsequent sequels. Loy and Powell were one of the screen’s most popular acting
teams; they appeared in 14 films together. Loy starred opposite the top leading
men of the day, including Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Tyrone Power, and Cary
Grant. Some of her films include Wife vs. Secretary (1936), Libeled
Lady (1936), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Test
Pilot (1938), Too Hot to Handle (1938), The
Rains Came (1939), Love Crazy (1941), The
Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), and Mr. Blandings Builds
His Dream House (1948).
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| Cary Grant, Shirley Temple, and Myrna Loy |
Shirley Temple (1928 – 2014) was an American
actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat. Temple was Hollywood’s number-one
box-office star from 1934 to 1938. As the most famous child star of all time,
Temple achieved worldwide fame. Her films are still popular today. Some of
Temple’s movies during her child star period include Baby Take a Bow (1934), Bright
Eyes (1934), Captain January (1936), Stowaway (1936), Heidi (1937), Rebecca
of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), and The Little Princess (1939).
Her popularity as a top star at Twentieth-Century Fox ended with the release
of The Blue Bird (1940). The film was Fox’s answer to The
Wizard of Oz (1930), but it was a disaster with critics and, more
importantly, with audiences. She had some success as a teen star in films
like Since You Went Away (1944) and The Bachelor and
the Bobby-Soxer (1947). Temple turned to politics in the 1960s. She
was the United States Ambassador to Ghana (1974 – 1976). She was the first
female Chief of Protocol of the United States (1976 – 1977), where she was in
charge of President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration and inaugural ball. She was
appointed the United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989 – 1992) by
George H. W. Bush.
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer trivia
- At the time of filming, Shirley Temple was 18 and had been married for ten months. Cary Grant was 42 years old.
- Movie in-joke references to Shirley Temple appear in the film. Cary Grant is served a “Shirley Temple” drink in a soda shop. When Shirley’s character is packing in her room, she takes a Shirley Temple doll off the mantle of her fireplace in her bedroom.
- Myrna Loy was almost 23 years older than her younger “sister” in the film.
- This was the second of three movies starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy:
- Wings in the Dark (1934), and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse (1948).
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Discussion questions
- How does the film's title, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, reflect the central conflict and themes of the story? What does the term "bobby-soxer" reveal about the period in which the film was made?
- Analyze the character of Judge Margaret Turner. Is her decision to sentence Richard to "rehabilitate" her sister an abuse of power, a clever solution, or both? How does her professional role as a judge contrast with her personal role as an older sister?
- The film uses a significant age gap between the characters of Richard Nugent and Susan Turner for comedic effect. How do the performances of Cary Grant and Shirley Temple ensure that the relationship remains a lighthearted infatuation and never feels inappropriate?
- Beyond the central love story, what does the film say about the differences between generations and the expectations placed on young people and adults in the 1940s?
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