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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Bachelor Mother

This week I selected another film that takes place in or around the holiday season. Bachelor Mother (1939) starts Ginger Rogers and David Niven is a nice lighthearted romantic comedy and marks one of the first film post-Astaire outing for Rogers.

SYNOPSIS

In a case of mistaken identity, Polly Parrish (Rogers) first sees a stranger leaving a baby on the steps of an orphanage. Fearing for the safety of the abandoned baby, Polly picks it up as the orphanage door opens. Of course she is assumed to be the mother, which gets her her job back as a result of management’s sympathy to her “plight” as an unwed mother.

David Niven is his usual urbane self (with playboy tendencies) and Charles Coburn (as J.B. Merlin) has many scene-stealing moments as his father and owner of the department store at the center of the story.

Let me know if you have seen this film in the comments section below. Also be sure to check out Todd Mason’s blog Sweet Freedom for more overlooked titles.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Raffles (1939)

This week’s installment of Todd Mason’s ongoing series is in honor of one of my favorite actresses, Olivia deHavilland, who turned 96 on July 1st.

Raffles is no less than the FOURTH screen adaptation of the 1899 novel by E. W. Hornung, Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman. It should be said that this is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the 1930-Ronald Colman starrer (surely, Niven was given the role because he bore more than a passing resemblance to Mr. Colman). So who is to say if I had not seen this one first, what I would think.

In any regard, Raffles is a light romantic caper bolstered by the performances and interaction between the leads David Niven and Ms. deHavilland.

To say it is a minor film is not necessarily disparaging, especially when considering that it was released during “Hollywood’s Golden Year” of 1939, when another starring deHavilland reigned supreme; it was a small indie feature called Gone With the Wind. That said, I remember my enjoyment of this film quite fondly, as it always put a smile on my face 🙂

In our story, jewel thief, AJ Raffles (Niven) decides to give up his life of crime for the love of socialite Gwen (deHavilland), his high school sweetheart. This reformation is short-lived (of course) as he is tempted one last time.

It should also be noted that Dame May Whitty is featured in this film. Largely unknown by audiences today, she was a renowned stage actress who found a second life of sorts in the movies, with roles in such films as The Lady Vanishes, Mrs. Miniver and Suspicion.

 

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Enchantment (1949)

This week’s selection is romantic and sappy (sorry, folks). But sometimes you need a proper romantic weepie about star-crossed lovers to carry you away …

Enchantment (1949), is set in World War II London although through a series of flashbacks we are introduced to the story’s main protagonists (David Niven and Teresa Wright). The plot is a little bit of a challenge to explain but not because of its complexity. The construction means that it vacillates between the present and the past in its various acts. So, for a plot synopsis, I defer to the TCM Movie Database. However I will try to encapsulate the plot as I remember (in brief) below.

At the start of the film, we are at the height of ‘The Blitz” in present-day London. Sir Roland Dane’s (David Niven) American grandniece Grizel (Evelyn Keyes) has paid her uncle a visit; she is seeking lodgings as there is a housing shortage in the city. Prior to her arrival, Sir Roland (‘Rollo’) had been reminiscing about the lost love of his life, Lark (Teresa Wright). Now we have full on flashback action …

… at which time we discover that Lark was an orphan who came to live with the Dane family as their ward. As time passes, they grow up and, in typical Cinderella fashion, Lark is treated with grave indifference by Rollo’s family, especially Rollo’s sister, Selina (played by Jayne Meadows); all except for Rollo, that is. He has fallen in love with Lark and vice versa. Of course the family will have none of this and Selina devises a scheme that will separate the lovers forever. The plot works – sort of. Upon Rollo’s realization of his sister’s meddling, he leaves the house, swearing to never return so long as his sister lives.

The sequences of the past are interspersed with the scenes of the present day in which Rollo’s niece meets a handsome young pilot named Pax Masterson (Farley Granger), who by sheer coincide, is has ties to the past tale of lost love. I will leave it to you the audience to figure out his relationship to the House of Dane, or you can go about reading the synopsis I provided. But let’s just say that while the loves of the past are gone and never to return, there is a glimmer of redemption to be had in the present.

The story of a love long lost dominates the narrative; the present-day romance left me a little ‘meh.’ Also, shifting timelines may prove too much for some, but I say just go with it. And while I really like David Niven as a screen presence, he may have been a little too old for the role of the adult Rollo.

This is by no means a perfect film, but it is pure romantic melodrama and the leads are lovely and talented enough to keep you engaged.

The Past and the Present (left to right: David Niven, Teresa Wright, Evelyn Keyes and Farley Granger)

 

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