mike48128 From veteran director Norman Taurog, and far better than his later Elvis movies. A cute romp with Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.The songs are just O.K. and quite short. It's a nice Technicolor confection. Both Debbie and Eddie do very well singing and dancing, and play well to the camera. The "book" portion of the movie follows the "Bachelor Mother" plot almost scene-for-scene. The storyline should by now be very familiar, as it has been filmed 3 times. An underpaid and overworked Dept. store clerk finds a baby "on a doorstep" and everybody assumes that she is the baby's unwed mother. This allows her to keep her job when she is about to be fired, at Christmastime. Single parenting is so commonplace today, but it was a terrible scandal and disgrace decades ago. Ironically, Debbie was pregnant with Carrie during the filming. Enjoyable if you can sit through those innocuous and predictable songs. Who are "John's parents"? It's hinted that maybe Dan Miller Jr.(Eddie Fisher) actually is the father. The baby looks a lot like him. Is Roxanne Arlen, the blonde bombshell with the pixie haircut, the mom? The character she plays is "bone-headed" enough to leave a baby on the doorsteps of the Arlen Foundling Home. We are never really told, but it's a distinct possibility, and it's all left up-in-the-air. Worth your time and quite likable. A good supporting cast as well. The soundtrack needs to be "re-processed" and contains occasional "noise and chatter". (Therefore, not fully restored.)

jacobs-greenwood Directed by Norman Taurog, this Musical remake of Bachelor Mother (1939) by Felix Jackson, with a screenplay by Robert Carson, Norman Krasna, and Arthur Sheekman, doesn't come close to the charm or quality of the original. It was primarily made to capitalize on the Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds marriage and her pregnancy, which would produce future actress and writer Carrie Fisher.But like their marriage, the film fails because of Eddie Fisher, who didn't really have an acting talent that was anywhere near as capable as his singing ability. Of course, Bachelor Mother (1939) had both Ginger Rogers and David Niven. At least the supporting cast in this one, which includes Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan, Una Merkel, Melville Cooper, Mary Treen, and Edward Brophy (among others), was up to the challenge, helping the movie (combined with Reynolds's pluckiness) salvage an average (vs. below average) rating from this reviewer.Since I provided a full synopsis of the original for its review (find it on IMDb.com), I won't rehash it here. This remake doesn't stray very far from the source material except for the added (and rather uninspired) musical numbers, even the characters names were kept. Fisher plays Dan Merlin, son of store-owner J.B. 'John' Merlin (Menjou), who falls for Polly Parish (Reynolds) after she'd been mistakenly thought to be the single mother of a foundling she'd found on the steps of an agency (where Treen works). Noonan plays a co- worker of Polly's, Freddie Miller, who'd love to be her guy as much as he'd like to be promoted. Merkel plays Polly's understanding landlord Mrs. Dugan, Cooper plays the Merlin's butler named Adams, and Brophy plays one of the dance contest judges.

mark.waltz Many of the classics of the 1930's and 40's were being remade in the 1940's to get films back into the theater and away from Uncle Miltie, Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo and Ed Sullivan. Utilizing color photography and the various wide-screen processes, these films may have seemed like a good idea at the time, and in a few cases, it worked. However, many failed, especially if they were attempts to outshine the classic screwball comedy.One of the most blatant examples of that was "Bundle of Joy", an update of "Bachelor Mother". Practically everything is the same with the exception of added songs, included to promote recording star Eddie Fisher as an actor, and failing miserably. To push the publicity window, his real-life then wife (Debbie Reynolds) was cast as the fired department store clerk who finds an abandoned baby. While Reynolds is a great replacement for Ginger Rogers, Fisher is no David Niven, and that is the factor which turns this attempt to remake champagne into beer.A colorful environment is welcome here, but the script only points out the sitcom elements of the story that back in 1939 seemed fresh and new. The film isn't bad as a whole, but in reflection of what had been, it is definitely a missed opportunity. Adolph Menjou is great fun in the Charles Coburn part, while Nita Talbot seems ripe for Eve Arden roles as Reynold's pal. Fisher sings wonderfully, turning "All About Love" into his one highlight, but failing miserably as an actor, showing no chemistry with his wife on-screen (sort of like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, ironically, in most of their post "Virginia Woolf" pairings) and lacking in the comic timing of David Niven.

Neil Doyle If it wasn't for the professional ease DEBBIE REYNOLDS displays in almost any role she plays, BUNDLE OF JOY would rank among the most forgettable romantic comedies of all time.And this is true, even though she's surrounded by pros like TOMMY NOONAN (as an ambitious but overly flirtatious floor-walker) and ADOLPHE MENJOU (as a man who wishes he was the grandpa of the cute baby boy). And in the middle of this mess, is a weak performance by EDDIE FISHER, clearly in need of comic timing and finesse, especially since the lines he's given to speak are slightly short of ridiculous. His department store musical number at the film's start is an embarrassment to watch, clumsily staged and performed.Director Norman Taurog is to blame for not being able to put any life into this retread of a GINGER ROGERS/David NIVEN/CHARLES COBURN film called BACHELOR MOTHER. The story is not the only handicap. The songs are third rate, even though Fisher and Reynolds deliver them in an appropriate style. Only one of them is a remotely catchy tune called "How I Love My Pretty Baby".Obviously this is the kind of story of mistaken identifies that someone like Norman Krasna could write in his sleep (too bad he wasn't summoned to help with the script), but it's played in such uninspired fashion by Fisher and most of the cast (including the usually reliable Adolphe Menjou, Melville Cooper and Bill Goodwin), that it falls flat in injecting any real wit or humor into the contrived situations.Summing up: Debbie deserved better than this. Both she and Fisher appear to be completely clueless as to what a dud this really is.