The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

Directed by	Irving Reis
Produced by	Dore Schary
Written by	Sidney Sheldon
Starring	Cary Grant Myrna Loy Shirley Temple
Music by	Leigh Harline
Cinematography	Nicholas Musuraca Robert De Grasse
Editing by	Frederic Knudtson
Distributed by	RKO
Release date(s)	September 1, 1947
Running time	95 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 screwball comedy film starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple. Sidney Sheldon was awarded the 1948 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this film in his first and only Academy Award nomination during his career in Hollywood. The film was directed by Irving Reis and was one of the few non-film noir outings for noted cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Margaret Turner (Myrna Loy), a judge, is the legal guardian of her 17-year-old sister, Susan (Shirley Temple). Richard Nugent (Cary Grant) is an artist who first shows up as a defendant in Margaret's courtroom, having been involved in a bar fight. Later he gives a lecture about art at Susan's high school (to the thunderous applause of the female students), and Susan falls for him. She claims to want to interview him for the school paper, but clearly she just wants to get to know him better. She asks him if he thinks she'd make a good model, and he just says whatever he can to politely excuse himself. That's all the encouragement Susan needs, and later (after arguing with her sister about him) manages to get into his apartment to wait for him. She falls asleep on his couch, and he doesn't see her when he first arrives. After he changes into a robe, fixes himself a drink, and sits down to read, she wakes up, and before he knows what's going on, the authorities begin pounding on his door. Cut to a scene of Richard sitting in a jail cell, explaining what happened to his lawyer.

However, Margaret and Susan's uncle, court psychiatrist Dr. Matt Beemish (Ray Collins), has a plan to help both Richard and Susan. He believes Richard is an innocent bystander, and wants Susan to get over her crush. (He also believes Richard would make a good husband for Margaret, though of course he doesn't say this to anyone.) Beemish persuades Margaret, her boyfriend Assistant District Attorney Tommy Chamberlain (Rudy Vallee), and the judge who would have tried Richard's case to drop the charges if Richard agrees to date Susan until her infatuation for him wears off. Facing the possibility of up to 20 years in prison, he very reluctantly accepts. At this point, the hilarity truly begins to ensue.

At first, Richard tries to get Susan back together with her ex-boyfriend, Jerry White (Johnny Sands), but Jerry decides to be mature about the situation and accept Susan and Richard's relationship. Eventually Richard throws himself into the pretense whole-heartedly, in the hopes of upsetting Margaret and her great-uncle, Judge Thaddeus Turner (Harry Davenport) enough to end the arrangement. By this point, Tommy is becoming more worried about Richard stealing Margaret than in the fake relationship with Susan. Justifiably, as Richard and Margaret do begin to fall for each other (though neither of them wants to admit it) and everything becomes more complicated. But that's okay, because helpful Uncle Matt always has a plan. He convinces Susan her infatuation with Richard is childish and can't work out (though it's hard to imagine what he could have said to dissuade the headstrong girl). He also sees to it that Margaret and Richard unknowingly board the same plane, and keeps Tommy from interfering.

[edit] Cast

Cary Grant as Richard Nugent
Myrna Loy as Judge Margaret Turner
Shirley Temple as Susan Turner
Rudy Vallee as Assistant D.A. Tommy Chamberlain
Ray Collins as Dr. Matt Beemish
Harry Davenport as Judge Thaddeus Turner
Johnny Sands as Jerry White