Bundle of Joy

"Bachelor Mother" was a delightful movie, but one can imagine why a musical, in color, remake would crop up. Debbie Reynolds as Polly Parrish was a good choice, and wound up carrying the movie. Eddie Fisher, as the junior Merlin, was not such a good choice. Many other actors at the time would have been far better. Had someone like Donald O'Connor had the role, it could have been an unmitigated success. Too bad Fisher got the job.

Overall, the movie is delightful. The basic plot, of a sales clerk in a large department store who winds up with a baby that's not hers, but that no one believes is not hers, is an excellent set-up for comedy. This one does a good job. "Bachelor Mother" does a better job. And an even better one may pop up in the future.

gaynor wild

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.

This film is and will always be one of the unsung classics of the RKO Studio. A musical remake of "Bachelor Mother", "Bundle of Joy" is a funny, heartwarming tale of mistaken identity and blossoming love.

The only downside of this movie is the fact that it has Eddie Fisher in it. He should have stuck to singing as he is the most excruciatingly bad actor I have ever seen.

Overall, I give this movie 41/2 out of five stars.

I might be considered biased in my view because my twin brother Don and I played the baby in Bundle of Joy. We were only a year old, and lived in the San Fernando Valley area of L.A. when we were picked out of approximately 200 sets of twin boys to be the baby in the movie. Over the years, I have heard my mom and other relatives tell many stories of the filming of this movie, and being VIP guests at the premier movie opening in Hollywood. I have, of course, seen the movie countless times over the years, and still like to watch it and laugh at the cute smiling babies we once were. My mom had to be on the set with us whenever we were filming, by state law. She has told us that Debbie Reynolds was a truely remarkable actress and treated us extremely well. Adolphe Menjou treated us like his own grand kids. Unfortunately, she also said that not everyone in the movie industry was so nice, and our parents decided not to sign a contract with RKO Pictures which would have allowed us to be in more films. Oh well, our short movie career aside, we both have grown up and are very happy in our own careers. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes light-hearted films with happy endings!

During the merry Christmas season, perky department store salesgirl Debbie Reynolds (as Polly Parish) is fired because so many of her customers return their ware. She passes an orphanage and picks up a cute baby. Everyone assumes Ms. Reynolds is the baby's mother. This helps Reynolds get her job back, from singing store owner's son Eddie Fisher (as Dan Merlin), who also gives Reynolds a raise. Soon, the handsome crooner is harmonizing with the cute clerk. This musical re-make of "Bachelor Mother" (1939) is fairly well-suited to the real-life married couple, who simultaneously produced their own "Bundle of Joy" (Carrie Fisher)...

A major recording star upon the film's release, Mr. Fisher was so popular he survived the initial onslaught of "rock and roll" - but was about to fall. Fisher last hit the "Top Ten" in 1956. It didn't help that "Bundle of Joy" was lacking in hit single material, with Fisher's "Some Day Soon" barely cracking the record charts in early 1957. Reynolds was a much better actress, and reached her greatest popularity after she and Fisher divorced. Unfortunately, this is it for the popular twosome's musical comedy film career. They look good and sing sweetly together - their "Lullaby in Blue" sung to their "Pretty Baby" was brimming with potential.

******** Bundle of Joy (12/12/56) Norman Taurog ~ Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Tommy Noonan, Adolphe Menjou