''Bachelor in Paradise'' is a 1961 American

Metrocolor Metrocolor is the trade name used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for films processed at their laboratory. Virtually all of these films were shot on Kodak's Eastmancolor film. Although MGM used Kodak film products, MGM did not use all of Kodak's proc ...

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

starring

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

and

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...

. Directed by Jack Arnold, it was written by

Valentine Davies Valentine Loewi Davies (August 25, 1905 – July 23, 1961) was an American film and television writer, producer, and director. His film credits included ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), ''Chicken Every Sunday'' (1949), '' It Happens Every Sprin ...

and

Hal Kanter Hal Kanter (December 18, 1918 – November 6, 2011) was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley (in '' Loving You'' and ''Blue Hawaii''), for both feature films and televis ...

, based on a story by

Vera Caspary Vera Louise Caspary (November 13, 1899 – June 13, 1987) was an American writer of novels, plays, screenplays, and short stories. Her best-known novel, '' Laura'', was made into a successful movie. Though she claimed she was not a "real" myste ...

. It co-stars

Paula Prentiss Paula Prentiss (née Ragusa; born March 4, 1938) is an American actress. She is best known for her film roles in '' Where the Boys Are'' (1960), ''What's New Pussycat?'' (1965), ''Catch-22'' (1970), '' The Parallax View'' (1974), and '' The Stepf ...

Jim Hutton Dana James Hutton (May 31, 1934 – June 2, 1979) was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, ...

and

Janis Paige Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922) is an American retired actress and singer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she b ...

. The film won three Laurel awards for Best Comedy, Best Comedy Actor (Hope) and song ("Bachelor in Paradise", music:

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

and lyrics:

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

), which was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song. Bob Hope was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Strangely for a very American film, ''Bachelor in Paradise'' had its World Premiere at the

Coliseum Theatre The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...

in London's West End on November 2, 1961, with a personal appearance from Bob Hope (although Hope himself was born in Britain).

Plot

A.J. Niles is a provocative best-selling author who discovers that he has a large tax debt owed to the IRS, due to being ripped off by his accountant, Herman Wapinger. He goes undercover under the alias "Jack Adams" in a

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

suburban community called, "Paradise Village", to research a new book about the wives and lives there. Niles is pursued by a flirtatious married woman named, "Dolores", while falling in love with a woman, Rosemary, who rents her house to him. Wapinger is found, Niles' cash is returned to him, and he reveals his true identity on national television. The husbands in Paradise Village all file for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, believing their wives are all having affairs with Niles. In divorce court, Niles reveals that he is in love with Rosemary and asks her to marry him. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Cast

as Adam J. Niles (Jack Adams) *

as Rosemary Howard *

as Dolores Jynson *

as Larry Delavane *

as Linda Delavane *

Don Porter Donald Cecil Porter (September 24, 1912 – February 11, 1997) was an American stage, film and television actor. On television, he played Peter Sands, the boss of Ann Sothern's character on ''Private Secretary'', and Russell Lawrence, the wi ...

as Thomas W. Jynson *

Virginia Grey Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and a number of radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s. Biography Grey was born on March 22, 1917, in Edendale, Calif ...

as Camille Quinlaw *

Agnes Moorehead Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900April 30, 1974) was an American actress. In a career spanning four decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1974, page 286. Moorehead was th ...

as Judge Peterson *

Florence Sundstrom Florence E. "Flo" Sundstrom (February 9, 1918 – June 25, 2001) was an American actress who had an active career in theatre, television, and film. A prominent character actress on Broadway from 1936-1959, she notably created the roles of Bell ...

as Mrs. Pickering *

John McGiver John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 – September 9, 1975) was an American character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975. The owl-faced, portly character ac ...

as Austin Palfrey * Clinton Sunberg as Rodney Jones * Alan Hewitt as Attorney Backett *

Reta Shaw Reta Shaw (September 13, 1912 – January 8, 1982) was an American character actress known for playing strong, hard-edged, working women in film and on many of the most popular television programs of the 1960s and 1970s in the United Sta ...

as Mrs. Brown *

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

as Himself

Production

Lana Turner, Bob Hope and Janis Paige, 1960

The script was based on an original story for the movies by Vera Caspary – a 70-page document. The film was Bob Hope's first with MGM. He was persuaded to star in it by head of production

Sol Siegel Sol C. Siegel (March 30, 1903 – December 29, 1982) was an American film producer. Two of the numerous films he produced, ''A Letter to Three Wives'' (1949) and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954), were nominated for the Academy Award for ...

. The film marked Lana Turner's first romantic comedy in a number of years.

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

was originally signed to direct. Paula Prentiss and Jim Hutton were signed off the back of their success together in ''

Where the Boys Are ''Where the Boys Are'' is a 1960 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It was written by George ...

''. MGM put them in three films: this, ''

The Horizontal Lieutenant ''The Horizontal Lieutenant'' is a 1962 American romantic comedy war film, based on the 1961 novel ''The Bottletop Affair'' by Gordon Cotler who was a Japanese interpreter for US Army Intelligence during World War II. It is a military comedy abou ...

'' and ''

The Honeymoon Machine ''The Honeymoon Machine'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Jack Mullaney, and Dean Jagger, based on the 1959 Broadway play ''The Golden Fleecing'' by ...

'' and pushed them as a new

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...

and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

. Filming took place in May 1961.

Reception

MGM was impressed by the film and signed Jack Arnold to direct for them for five years.

Proposed Sequel

Before the film was released they requested Hal Kanter to start writing a sequel, ''An Armful of Girls'', with Hope as a married man chased over Europe by titled ladies. This was never made.

Critical

The ''Los Angeles Times'' called the film "frequently diverting". The ''New York Times'' said the movie "has enough sharp gags to make ope'srecent TV spectaculars unspectacular even though the romantic antics on which it is all pegged are somewhat less than inspired. This pleasantly varicolored 'Paradise' may not be heavenly but its mild fun and frolics should keep a viewer reasonably happy."

Box Office

According to MGM records, the film earned $2.5 million in the US and Canada and $1 million elsewhere but ultimately lost $344,000..

Ann-Margret

The title song for the film was nominated for an Oscar. It was performed by

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...

at the Oscar's ceremony, and reception to this greatly boosted her career.Frank Miller, "Bachelor in Paradise", ''Turner Classic Movies''
accessed 15 December 2014

References

External links

* * *
''Bachelor in Paradise''
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

''Spotlight'' by Frank Miller * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelor In Paradise 1961 films 1961 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Jack Arnold Films set in California Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Henry Mancini Films based on works by Vera Caspary 1960s American films