Bobbikins

The title alone is enough to repel, but this is an amiable, cutesy comedy that aims to please. The dubbing of Baby Steven Stocker is remarkably good, and the supporting cast is familiar and helpful. The two leads aren't very interesting, sadly. Jones is saddled with the concerned wife part and plays it so tightly that it removes the breeziness when she is on screen. It's all very predictable, with the usual Francis the Talking Mule routine of only one person hearing the title character speak and the resultant think-he's-nuts stuff that bedeviled Donald O'Connor and his mule. Then again, it's never made truly clear whether the infant is able to talk like an adult or that the whole thing is a delusion on the part of Bygraves' character. It's certainly contrived as to why the child refuses to speak to anyone else. It's almost like the ventriloquist who thinks his dummy is real. And somehow, in the midst of all this silliness, the film tries to sell the idea that making money is a bad thing and that it's better for Bygraves & Jones to continue to struggle as stage performers. Weird movie, even though it appears to be mild fluff.

What begins as an interesting idea for farce quickly falls apart under stalwart morality, with the notion that poor, hard-working folks are always happier and better off than the wealthy, miserable rich. Young man returns home to his wife and baby son after 18 months in the Navy, only to find that his toddler can talk like a grown-up (who only speaks to Pop) and gives spot-on stock market tips to boot! Of course, money rolling in means a loss of romance between the husband and wife, and only infant Bobbikins can save the day. Rather pointless, despite a cheery facade, intermittent songs, and a modest but amiable production. As the Mrs., Shirley Jones has to be tense, worried and motherly to everyone--appropriate for Jones' persona, but not an acting stretch; in the lead, Max Bygraves overworks his immature enthusiasm and maniacal laugh (very annoying), however the baby is adorable. Why can't these characters have wealth and happiness...or is there a movie rule which makes this unseemly? ** from ****

Times and tastes change, but Shirley Jones' warmth and professionalism hold up in this otherwise undistinguished baby-talk comedy. Here she's an American miss in London married to Max Bygraves, a popular mid-century British music hall entertainer whose style dates badly: Pudgy and charmless and with an irritating laugh, he's supposed to be an everyman but comes off like Garry Shandling without the edge. The talking-baby sequences aren't even faked well, the songs are execrable, and even at a trim 90 minutes you keep waiting for the plot to go through its predictable paces and just end. There are satirical targets -- the stock market, psychiatry, the Cold War -- but they're crudely, tritely mocked; and even the supposedly adorable title character is just another tot. Thank goodness for the delectable Barbara Shelley as a femme fatale, and for Shirley -- who, as evidenced by her recent appearance at the Oscars, just gets lovelier.

Bobbikins is the chatty offspring of a befuddled Max Bygraves, who was probably the big attraction for cinemagoers in early 60s Britain. He sings, he dances, he cracks limp jokes, and you have to be grateful that the Beatles forever changed the face of British pop music (Matt Monro notwithstanding). This film is eminently missable but it does feature a very early appearance of the enchanting Barbara Shelley and the supporting cast is excellent: a 34 year old Lionel Jeffries (already thoroughly bald!), Billie Whitelaw, and Michael Ripper all are on hand for trainspotters.

I thought the movie, starring Shirley Jones as the American mother in London of a toddler who talks like an adult to be harmlessly charming. Having a brother named Bobby, and another brother, reminded me of how grown adults still need to be coddled like Shirley Jones, conversely, coddled this toddler who talked like an adult! When I think of my middle brother, I can't help think of him at Joeykins (since his name is Joe), or my brother as, naturally, Bobbykins.

Just a laugh I get. You also have to check out Gregory Peck's over-the-top performance in The Boys From Brazil, with his turn chasing after 12 year olds (I won't give out the over-the-top plot) crying out, "Bobbbbby!" ...Reminds me of Shirley constantly referring to her precocious toddler as Bobbykins! Bobbykins is just a trifle, but in my opinion, a hoot.