Father Is a Bachelor

Director: Norman Foster

Overview

Father is a Bachelor is a pleasant throwback to the "rural" comedies of the 1930s. William Holden plays Johnny Rutledge, a philosophical hobo to whom fishing is the only reason for living. Rutledge is forced to take a few jolts of responsibility when he crosses the path of five orphans. The kids decide to "adopt" Johnny and find him a bride--preferably small-town girl Prudence Millett (Colleen Gray). Charles Winninger steals the film from everyone--even those five urchins--as a medicine-show charlatan named Professor Mordecai Ford. One of the children is played by Billy Gray, of Father Knows Best fame.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/16/2010
UPC:	0043396355576
Original Release:	1950
Rating:	NR
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Language:	English
Sales rank:	41,903

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

William Holden	Johnny Rutledge
Coleen Gray	Prudence Millett,Jan Chalotte,Feb Chalotte
Mary Jane Saunders	May Chalotte
Charles Winninger	Prof. Mordecai Ford
Stuart Erwin	Pudge Barnham
Clinton Sundberg	Plato Cassin
Sig Rumann	Jericho Schlosser
Lloyd Corrigan	Judge Millett
Frederic Tozere	Jeffrey Gilland Sr.
Peggy Converse	Genevieve Cassin
Arthur Space	Lucius Staley
Warren Farlow	March,April
Tommy Ivo	Jeffrey Gilland Jr.
Hank Worden	Finnegan
Dooley Wilson	Blue
William Tannen	Willis
Ruby Dandridge	Maid
Tom Kingston	Bit
Al Thompson	Court Clerk
Eddy Waller	White
Arthur Morton	Composer

Technical Credits

Abby Berlin	Director
Norman Foster	Director
S. Sylvan Simon	Producer

Editorial Reviews

There's a reason that the handsome and undeniably talented William Holden wasn't a musical comedy star, and Father is a Bachelor shows us why. It's not because of Holden's voice, although presumably his singing was not adequate, as he is dubbed by Buddy Clark here; after all, plenty of screen stars have done well in musicals but have had their warbling dubbed by others. No, Holden's problem is that he's not comfortable with the conventions of a musical. He doesn't have the kind of soul that just naturally picks up and sings, and it's that freedom, ease and comfort that is necessary for someone to really make an impression in tuners. Holden also doesn't really seem to be trying to hard in terms of his dramatic chores here, either, and it's not hard to see why: this is a film the script of which is simply dreadful. Clearly, the star was not inspired by his material, leaving the quintet of kids and the wonderful Charles Winninger to run away with the picture. The kids do it mostly on youthful appeal, which many will find grating, but Winninger does it on talent and experience. The rest of Father isn't worth much, but Winninger is.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler