Movie · 1947 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 35m · NR · English
Curator score: 4.2/10 (17.2K ratings)
Rollicking Romantics!
Overview
Teenager Susan Turner, with a severe crush on playboy artist Richard Nugent, sneaks into his apartment to model for him and is found there by her sister Judge Margaret Turner. Threatened with jail, Nugent agrees to date Susan until the crush abates.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.2/10
IMDb: 7.2/10
Letterboxd: 3.40/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 59
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Irving Reis
Production
RKO Radio Pictures
Cast
Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallee, Ray Collins, Harry Davenport, Johnny Sands, Don Beddoe, Lillian Randolph, Veda Ann Borg, Dan Tobin, Ransom M. Sherman, William Bakewell, Irving Bacon, Ian Bernard, Carol Hughes, William Hall, Gregory Gaye, Bobby Barber, Brandon Beach
Where to watch
TCM
Curator Review
Verdict
A brisk, polished screwball comedy with strong star chemistry and a few genuinely sharp comic set pieces, but the premise is dated and the age-gap setup can be hard to ignore. If you enjoy classic Hollywood banter and Cary Grant at full charm, it’s worthwhile; if the central conceit bothers you, it may not land.
Best for
fans of classic screwball comedy
viewers who like Cary Grant’s polished comic persona
people interested in postwar Hollywood romance-comedy
audiences who can separate craft from an uncomfortable premise
Skip if
you’re sensitive to age-gap romantic premises
you want a modern-feeling romance
you need the comedy to feel fully timeless
you dislike old Hollywood gender politics
Overview
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a tidy, fast-moving studio comedy that lives on timing, charm, and the friction between its three leads. Cary Grant is in effortless mode, Myrna Loy brings poise and dry authority, and Shirley Temple gives the film its engine of chaos as a teenager whose crush refuses to behave like a crush should.
Worth noting
The movie’s biggest strength is its screwball momentum: misunderstandings stack up, social roles get twisted, and the dialogue keeps snapping back with just enough wit to make the absurd setup go down easier. It’s not one of the era’s absolute classics, but it has enough grace and comic confidence to stay entertaining.
Bottom line
That said, the premise is very much of its time, and the film asks you to accept a relationship dynamic that can feel uncomfortable now. For viewers open to classic Hollywood as a historical artifact, it’s a lively, well-acted example of the form; for others, the central conceit may outweigh the pleasures.
Top Letterboxd reviews
demi adejuyigbe · 449 likes
Imagine where society would be if every actor had the vaudevillian comedy chops/commitment that Cary Grant has. Hollywood is sick and the only vaccine is more falling himbos!
nora (2.5★) · 194 likes
just thinking about how shirley temple was already married for the first time when she made this and gave birth a year later and then retired at age 22 like 3 years later. and she was in prague during both the prague spring and the velvet revolution. i realize this is not related to this movie at all, i just think her life was wild.
keli · 135 likes
i too imagine cary grant in a suit of armour every time i see him
Liam McNeal (3.5★) · 127 likes
"You remind of a man.""What man?""Man with the power.""What power?""Power of hoodoo.""Hoodoo?""You do.""Do what?""Remind me of a man..."
I watched this film because of the quote above. While it's certainly not one of the early greats, nor is it especially memorable, it's still rather entertaining. To be honest I've never been fond of Cary Grant and always found him to be very monotone, and in this film he was still monotone. But aside from that, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a clever, decent film.
theriverjordan (3.5★) · 125 likes
It doesn’t quite jive to the zaniness of its own name, but “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” dances with an extra bit of grace beyond its own age.
Irving Reis’ postwar comedy dabbles in the newly rebellious and independent teenage class… by having one of them fall in love with an older man. It’s a somewhat wincing way of explaining generational discord; you hate me so much, you’re obsessed with me.
While the conceit itself is less than a charmer,… more
1955 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 45m · NR · Curator 4.3/10 (115.2K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, TCM, Darkroom, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
For a different take on desire, temptation, and mid-century comic unease.
Topics
classic Hollywood, screwball, romantic comedy, postwar era, banter, farce, gender dynamics, teen infatuation, studio comedy, lighthearted chaos