Bobbikins

British comic Max Bygraves plays a song-and-dance man who comes home from an 18-month stint in the navy to his American wife (Shirley Jones) and his toddler son and tries to get back into show business. When he does a good deed for a fellow entertainer, his son reveals to him that he can actually talk like an adult, but that he'll only talk to him and not his mother ("you know how women talk, it won't be long before everybody knows I can talk") and his dad uses his son's ability to play the stock market and get rich.

Bygraves' brash, loud, over-the-top character wears thin quickly, and his sudden bursting into a squealing, high-pitched, almost mad- scientist laugh makes his character even more annoying. Jones and Bygraves don't connect at all--you wonder what a sweet, gentle, girl like Jones' character could possibly see in a loud-mouthed, braying, not particularly bright idiot like Bygraves--and the scenes where Bobbikins talks aren't done very well at all. Jones warbles a few songs but they're syrupy, juvenile and forgettable.

The young boy who plays Bobbkins is adorable, but other than he and Shirley Jones--and a small but funny bit by Lionel Jeffries as a greedy stockbroker--there's really no reason to watch this picture.

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.

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 ****

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.

I love this cute little movie! It surprisingly to me, is actually a British product. Somehow, it seems to have a spirit of some of the great Christmas classics, such as "It's A Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol", though it really has nothing to do with Christmas at all. Far from a perfect movie, it definitely has it's flaws. The worst to me is the Father's crazy high pitched laugh. But, the movie as a whole kind of neutralizes this irritant. The toddler is adorable, as is Shirley Jones. Beautiful and young, and her voice is lovely in the songs she sings. One last note, this is a musical, but, it really doesn't seem like it, until someone starts singing. The musical numbers are placed well, and are few, and far between. Never heard of this movie before, but in my first viewing, it strikes me as one of those " special" classics, that they just don't make any more. Recommend to those who feel as I.