Sent to clean the basement, Joe finds some photos that make him fondly recall his bachelor days. The circumstances of his proposal and marriage are muddled and he thinks he might have done b... Read allSent to clean the basement, Joe finds some photos that make him fondly recall his bachelor days. The circumstances of his proposal and marriage are muddled and he thinks he might have done better. Then an ex-girlfriend visits.Sent to clean the basement, Joe finds some photos that make him fondly recall his bachelor days. The circumstances of his proposal and marriage are muddled and he thinks he might have done better. Then an ex-girlfriend visits.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Photos
- Organist at Wedding
- (uncredited)
- Alice Peckinpah McDoakes
- (uncredited)
- Ellie Mae Smith
- (uncredited)
- Wedding Guest
- (uncredited)
- Military Police Sergeant
- (uncredited)
- Doctor
- (uncredited)
- Military Police Sergeant
- (uncredited)
- Best Man at Wedding
- (uncredited)
- Judge
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
After Joe and his wife have a scrap, Joe goes into the basement and looks through his old mementos from his bachelor days. As he does so, he reminisces about these good 'ol days and you see his relationship with the woman who would later become Mrs. McDoakes. What follows is insane--often quite funny but occasionally the laughs come so fast you almost wish they'd slowed the thing down a bit. Either way, it is funny and better than the average McDoakes film. I'd say more about what exactly happens, but you just have to see it to believe it!
"So You Want to Be a Bachelor" is a dud. Unfortunately the writer seemed to have no imagination or creativity for things that might be funny here. Instead, the looking back on getting hooked and marriage takes up most of this film's 10 minutes. But none of it is the slightest bit funny. There's not a funny line in the picture, and the antics are ho-hum. I would bet that everyone who watches this film will be able to guess the ending. Yet, it's the only thing that might get a smile.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) wants to sleep on the couch but wife Alice makes him go to the basement to get it cleaned up. Once there he finds some old photos and starts to daydream about when he was single and what caused him to marry Alice. This short starts off a little slow but it quickly picks up once the actual wedding takes place. We finally get to see how the two got together and it makes for a couple pretty good laughs, although in some ways you wish they'd spent a little more time coming up with something better. One plus is that the actual wedding has some very funny stuff including an interruption that almost prevented the marriage. How it plays out was pretty smart and manages for a good smile. As usual O'Hanlon hits all the right marks as does Phyllis Coates as his wife. The final pay-off is predictable but mildly amusing.
Phyllis Coates plays O'Hanlon's wife, as she did more often than any other actress. She got the role the hard way: she was married to Bare. Although they had been divorced a couple of years by this point.... well, perhaps it beat paying alimony. Miss Coates is better remembered for playing Lois Lane opposite George Reeves' Superman. She died in 2023 at the age of 96.
Did you know
- Quotes
Alice Peckinpah McDoakes: Joe McDoakes, is there anything you do in a hurry?
Joe McDoakes: Yeah - I get tired in a hurry.
- ConnectionsFollowed by So You Want to Be a Plumber (1951)
- SoundtracksI Know That You Know
(uncredited(
Music by Vincent Youmans
Played during the opening credits and at the end
Details
- Runtime10 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1