''Father Is a Bachelor'' is a 1950 American musical

romantic comedy 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 ...

film directed by Abby Berlin and

Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

. It stars

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

and

Coleen Gray Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ...

Plot

Carefree vagabond Johnny Rutledge is stuck in a small town when his

medicine show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European mountebank shows and were common in the Unit ...

employer and friend Professor Mordecai Ford is arrested. He befriends a young girl named May Chalotte and her older brothers January ("Jan"), February ("Feb") and twins March and April. Jan received word six months before that their parents had died in a riverboat accident, but has not told anybody but Feb, and now Johnny, fearing they would be sent to an orphanage. Johnny makes it clear that he is adamantly opposed to taking on any responsibilities, but somehow finds himself becoming their "uncle" anyway. He works on a farm during the week and sings and waits tables on Sunday in a restaurant owned by Jericho Schlosser to provide for the children. When Prudence Millett, daughter of the local judge, comes to inquire why the boys are not in school, Johnny is forced to claim he is their uncle. A romance begins to blossom, despite his strong aversion to being tied down. (He had worked to drag himself out of poverty to half-ownership of a paper mill, only to have his partner abscond with all the company funds, so he gave up being a responsible citizen.) When wealthy, unloved Jeffrey Gilland Sr. orders Johnny to keep his disreputable children away from his son Jeffrey Jr., Johnny scuffles with him and gets arrested. Prudence posts his bond, but his troubles are not over. Plato Cassin, Gilland's lawyer, finds out about the children's parents and blackmails Johnny into agreeing to marry one of his older, spinster sisters, Genevieve and Adelaide, in order to keep the kids. (Adelaide wins a game of

quoits Quoits ( or ) is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike (sometimes called a hob, mott or pin). The game of quoits encompasses several distinct var ...

for the privilege.) Plato convinces Prudence that Johnny was using the children to love her. After thinking it over, Johnny decides to run away with the now-released Professor Ford. May overhears and invites people to her birthday party the next day, intending it to be a going-away party for Johnny. Meanwhile, Johnny dissuades Gilland's young son from running away himself. At the party, a grateful Gilland drops the charges against him. When May asks why Prudence cannot be her aunt instead of Adelaide, the young woman is quite willing, having seen how far Johnny is willing to go for the children. Johnny tells Adelaide that he loves Prudence. She proves to be a sport and the two women gamble for him. Professor Ford offers what he, Johnny and Jan believe is Johnny's two-headed coin. Prudence wins the toss. Later, Johnny is shocked to learn that they accidentally used a regular coin. Professor Ford leaves town, leaving Johnny with his new family.

Cast

as Johnny Rutledge *

as Prudence Millett * Mary Jane Saunders as May Chalotte *

Charles Winninger Charles J. Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals. Life and career Winninger was born in Athens, Wisconsin, the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninger ...

as Professor Mordecai Ford * Stuart Erwin as Constable Pudge Barnham *

Clinton Sundberg Clinton Charles Sundberg (December 7, 1903 (some sources say 1906) – December 14, 1987) was an American character actor in film and stage. Early years Sundberg was born in Appleton, Minnesota. He graduated from Hamline University in St. Pau ...

as Plato Cassin * Gary Gray as Jan Chalotte *

Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains i ...

as Jericho Schlosser * Billy Gray as Feb Chalotte *

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

as Judge Millett * Frederic Tozere as Jeffrey Gilland Sr. * Peggy Converse as Genevieve Cassin * Lillian Bronson as Adelaide Cassin

Songs

Johnny sings a number of songs in the film, including "

Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" is a 1905 popular song with music written by Harry Von Tilzer and lyrics by Andrew B. Sterling. History "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" has been recorded many times and is now considered a pop standar ...

" in blackface in the opening scene. His singing was dubbed by

Buddy Clark Buddy Clark (born Samuel Goldberg, July 26, 1912 – October 1, 1949) was an American popular singer of the Big Band era. He had some success in the 1930s, but his career truly blossomed in the late 1940s, after his return from service in Worl ...

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

called the film a "saccharine, paper-thin little romance" in his ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review.

References

External links

* * * * {{Norman Foster 1950 films 1950 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films Films about orphans Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Abby Berlin Films directed by Norman Foster 1950s English-language films 1950s American films