Bachelor Flat

This is such a wonderful little, "feelgood" film. Terry Thomas is just wonderful and so is Tuesday Weld. All the different characters work so well together. There are about 5 or 6 different storylines, all interwoven. This film is just the sort of film to relax with at the end of a hard workweek. Even the dog has a storyline!! If you are looking for a little film that will have you smiling at the end, I highly recommend this one.

Mike Pulaski (Richard Beymer) narrates in the beginning that the British have been stealing American chicks ever since the War of Independence. He is both jealous and an admirer. He's a carefree hound-dog living in a trailer on the beach. His neighbor Prof. Bruce Patterson (Terry-Thomas) is both his friend and his mentor. Patterson's upcoming marriage to Helen Bushmill (Celeste Holm) is breaking the hearts of all his female students and many female acquaintances. He is surprised by Libby Bushmill (Tuesday Weld) who shows up out of nowhere. Helen had failed to tell him about her daughter.

I am of two minds about Terry-Thomas. On the one hand, he is far from Indiana Jones and I don't get all the female attention. On the other hand, it prevents him from developing any chemistry with his female pursuers especially Libby. Ultimately, Tuesday Weld steals the movie. The teenage performer has a great surprising voice. Quite frankly, her character should be the lead although this is strictly a male fantasy comedy with plenty of slinky babes. It has some moments of fun which elevates its light weight quality.

Bachelor Flat is one of those well done early 60's lightweight comedies that is not a great standout, but a movie one cannot help but like. Terry Thomas is superb as the steadfast British professor trying to keep his stiff upper lip heritage intact in a youthful environment of early southern California culture. Thomas is very well supported by the rest of cast who play off against the professor's stiff British bearing. The true delight to this movie is when Thomas shows his ability to play off against this British bearing with comedy antics that predate anything comedy group Monte Python would do so well later. Tuesday Weld is also quite good as the "wayward teenager" along with Richard Beymer who does a very competent job of playing the professor's young neighbor and friend. I found this movie quite charming in it's own way, and everyone ends up doing the right thing. I would recommend it for anyone who needs a nice diversion from the often heavy handed and simplistic comedies of today.

Prf. Patterson goes through 'trouble' of dealing with the beautiful women that throw themselves at him & his surprise step daughter who returns home to pretend to be a juvenile.

The very British talents of Terry-Thomas and the American comic genius of director Frank Tashlin produced a rather indifferent comedy in Bachelor Flat. Only in the last 10 minutes of the film do we see Terry-Thomas in his usual rakish, devilish character.

As his neighbor Richard Beymer says he's got a problem that every American male would like to have, he has to beat women off with a stick. Even though he's engaged to Celeste Holm who is in Paris and has rented him, her beach house the women just keep coming on to him. Especially the coeds at the college where he teaches paleontology.

One thing that Holm forgot to tell him is that she has a teenage daughter of her own from a previous marriage. And when Tuesday Weld drops in to the beach house for an unexpected visit that sets in motion a whole chain of events.

Bachelor Flat scored well at the box office due to current teen favorites Weld and Beymer. But Tashlin and Terry-Thomas have both done far better work. Even the good sight gag of a large dinosaur bone that Beymer's dachshund keeps trying to steal and bury worked a whole lot better in Bringing Up Baby. The film is all right, but everybody in the cast has done better work.