Bachelor Mother (1939)
Bachelor Mother // dir. Garson Kanin // USA
I love watching movies that are important to my friends. When you really love movies, the titles you pick as your favorites are so deeply and intrinsically personal. Sharing this with others can sometimes feel like an act of faith or trust. I know, sometimes, I personally can feel a bit anxious when I recommend a top-tier favorite to a friend (what if they hate it, and I have to end the friendship???), but that also may be me turning media I love into extensions of my personality. I don’t care to dig into that right now. Let’s move on.
As you have probably discerned, I watched this movie tonight because it is one of my friend’s favorite movies. And, if you know anything about this movie—then you can probably already guess that the friend in question is the undisputed Bachelor Mother champion and scholar Raquel Stecher.
Raquel is friend of over a decade, and a very dedicated and interesting film writer. You can catch her at Quelle Movies or at Out of the Past or as the critic’s quote on the literal DVD cover of The Wedding Guest (a 2018 Dev Patel film which have I repeatedly referred to as When Devs Cry, but have appeared on zero DVD covers).
Raquel loves Bachelor Mother. And, Raquel is so confident in her love of this film that, unlike my terror when I make someone watch say Newsies, she freely encourages its viewing to everyone. Here’s where it gets wild.
She memorably, for years now, has facilitated people seeing Bachelor Mother by literally giving them a DVD copy of it.
Let me paint a scene for you real quick.
I stayed with Raquel when I visited Boston last year. I would 10/10 recommend this experience. There was a framed photo of Norma Shearer on my bedside table, she cooked me delicious food, and we watched the women’s World Cup while I made heart eyes at my Swedish girlfriend Lina Hurtig, but anyway—I digress. Ahem.
At some point, during my visit, Raquel showed me her film collection. I sheepishly noted I had still not seen Bachelor Mother, and she rolled out a drawer with a few extra copies she keeps around, and just handed me one.
This is the kind of generosity and desire to share that I quite associate with Raquel, and there really is something so tangibly wonderful about having a piece of art you love so much that you just want more people to experience it. <3
I had intended to watch it last week as a “party on the other side of the country” celebration for Raquel’s birthday, but then I stayed up too late making gifs for that Better a Widow post, and one thing led to another *gestures wildly; makes pies* and here we are days later.
they’re both literally making the 🙄 at me
It was absolutely worth the wait, and I am so glad I got to see this December-set movie during the appropriate season. MAXIMUM IMPACT.
Honestly, I thought I knew the plot—and really I did know the plot in its most literal sense—but I was absolutely unprepared for the plot of this film.
my god.
All things considered, this is a somewhat terrifying child-abandonment plot that proves fully that there is no concept too dark to be turned into a charming 1930s screwball comedy if you have the right performers.
Bachelor Mother has the right performers.
Ginger Rogers is perfection itself at every point of this film. Where is her dang Oscar? (yeah yeah I know who has it, but) I was so fully engaged with her from the first second we meet her losing her seasonal job right before Christmas with a form letter. (who among us, amiright) As always with Ginger, she is such a big presence: here she’s fun, clever, quick-thinking, and pragmatic.
I absolutely loved the dance contest scene. It’s so absurd with David Niven, and his butler, and the baby looking on as Ginger distractedly dances through the motions while attempting to get second place and the $50 prize. And the distracted motions are absolutely stunning feats of athleticism and grace. The punchline to her attempt to win second place is just so perfectly in tune with this film’s sensibilities. *chef’s kiss*
I feel like this aforementioned looking on image is demanding that I turn it into an aggressively niche meme about soccer or something that will have extremely limited crossover appeal but at which I will chuckle lightly.
Also, look at that baby. So contented. So cute. So wise. That baby’s eyes say, I have seen Ginger Rogers dancing, and it is good.
Also, I will be laughing until the end of time at Charles Coburn’s dramatic pronouncement that he KNOWS that baby is his grandson because they look exactly alike. I mean, I see it. If you gave me a line-up of babies and asked me to pick out Charles Coburn’s grandson—I would very likely choose this one.
Again, Ginger Rogers was really well-cast here, because I think with nearly any other actress, I would have spent the entire time worried about the baby and the baby’s ultimate physical and emotional welfare. But, somehow, Ginger makes you believe implicitly that she will be a strong and caring advocate for this baby, and things will turn out okay! <3
This film feels like a holiday fairy tale where Moses is plucked from the Nile not by Pharaoh’s daughter, but a working class woman just trying to live and enjoy her life where she can. Her allies like her landlady, who offers to watch the baby while Ginger is at work, are also working class and they form such a caring and supportive community.
Ultimately, it’s a story about no one being left alone or behind, and about chosen families. It’s also about Ginger Rogers dancing.
Thank you Raquel for sharing something important to you with me! <3
You can read what Raquel has to say about the depiction of NYE in this film (in my opinion, one of the most delightful NYE on film), and about why she owns and gives the film so freely.
