Bachelor in Paradise

1961 "THE TRUE CONFESSIONS and INTIMATE SECRETS of the world's greatest authority on LOVE"
6.3| 1h49m| en| More Info
Released: 01 November 1961 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A. J. Niles is the author of a series of 'Bachelor Books'. These books describe the romantic life of a bachelor in various cities of the world. But when he runs into trouble with the I.R.S. for back taxes, he needs to write another book fast, to pay them. His publisher decides a book about life in the American suburbs would be a hit and settles him into Paradise Village. One bachelor plus lonely housewives equals many angry husbands.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.
Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Applause Meter Bob Hope is AJ Niles, a writer notorious for having penned controversial books on the male/female relationship, and now finds himself exiled to Paradise, that being the name of the California suburban subdivision where he takes refuge. The character of Niles allows Hope full license to play out his comedic persona at its most familiar---the snide, self-satisfied deliveryman of one-liners meant to wither his target. Yes, this is Bob, the iconic performer of the Eisenhower 1950s, an entertainer whose shtick everyone in America was comfortable with. Even when buffoonery is called for, Hope projects arrogance and swagger; a case of the private man intruding into the public image. Lana Turner is Rosemary Howard the real estate agent who rents the house to Niles setting in motion a train of events that disrupt the whole community. Niles just can't help himself, anonymity is against his nature; he becomes the village Yentl, the meddling, intrusive busybody who dislodges the neighborhood's equilibrium and subsequently the lives of its residents. Lana Turner was once a cute, ingénue with acting potential until Hollywood manufactured her into a "glamour goddess." In this movie at age 40, Turner was well established as a self- conscious actress, plaster cast-stiff, without any real depth or emotive spontaneity in her performance. Every mannerism, ever walk is calculated for correct poise and posture. The make-up artists and hair dressers only accentuated this frozen appearance with painfully perfect application of cosmetics and a hair-do that could only be dislodged by a tsunami. There's not much to say about the storyline itself. Disgruntled with this "known libertine and seducer," the husbands sign a petition to evict the Casanova Niles from his home and oust him from the community. The females, excepting a few puritanical matrons, protest this and rally in his defense. Niles was only trying to help them make their marriages more exciting; he was a public servant, a benevolent family counselor. That tall pair of actors Paula Prentiss and Jim Hutton are once again teamed as a romantic couple, here a married one, who are the focus of Nile's ministrations. The movie is dated, a cultural commentary of the era. Unless you're a big fan of Bob Hope or are just interested in opening a time capsule from a world long buried, pass this one by. For being a historical curio, I give it a "3."
lchaim7 As some people who already posted reviews mentioned, the greatest value to me about this movie is being able to see a slice of what it was like in CA during the late 50s and early 60s. I love this particular era, so I guess I am biased. I also enjoy listening to the music that's heard throughout the movie, especially the slower-paced cool jazz-like tunes with xylophones.It's too silly to be taken seriously but if you like documentaries about American society, this film is very interesting and won't disappoint. I'm pretty sure that some neighborhoods like this in CA had bad neighbors and even dangerous ones, as hard to believe as that may be. A good example is when bikers during this period would buy homes in fairly new conservative neighborhoods like the ones depicted in this film. All kinds of sordid behavior occurred, and the neighbors had to put up with it for some time until police would finally kick them out. That and other undesirable reality was swept under the rug and hardly ever reported, but it did happen and it was very scandalous and shocking at that time-more than today. Not everything was as happy during this era as it seems in this film, but life was slower and there were fewer people in CA. The neighborhoods in this film are located in Panorama City and Woodland Hills, still very nice neighborhoods today. They're both located in San Fernando Valley, an area that is still in the higher end of the real estate market. Unfortunately, most neighborhoods that looked like this at that time have been transformed to ugly ghettos or concrete jungles with endless and boring strip malls. Even if the neighborhoods and life in the film seem to be exaggerated, it's still a contrast to today's life in CA. I'd rather live in that era than in the one today. There's a lot of negative that can be listed about that era, but there's also a lot of positive. People were held to higher standards and most people dressed a lot better than they do today. Even the colors seemed to be nicer, not just in the clothing that people wore but in the colors they chose for their cars. I also notice the artistic quality of the cursive shapes of the letters in marquees, advertisements and neon signs. The way buildings look today and their marquees look unappealing, very boring and very ugly. Of course, I'm biased because I have always liked almost everything about the particular era depicted in the film. It was like the beginning of the end of a fantasy that I unfortunately didn't get to experience because I was born in the the mid 60s. I think it was the apex of ideal happiness in CA. But I still remember some things about the late 60s that were distinct from the 70s and the ensuing decades. Unfortunately and ironically, life improved in many ways, it also degenerated after the early 60s; and that's why I think many people like me yearn for that era.
barry-woods For those of us who were around in the late fifties and early sixities, this walk down memory lane movie evokes a longing to be living back in those times again.The plot deals with Hope and Turner meeting in a new tract housing development in California. Who can forget these housing developments that sprang up, not only in California but near every major city in the United States.The new fashion was sprawling ranch style houses replete with built-in appliances, wall phones, pecky Cypress paneling and walls of sliding glass doors--to "bring the outdoors in".This "California" style housing became popular around the country in the early sixties and I lived in one. Few today can imagine the excitement that came, back then, moving into one of these wonder homes with double front doors and all the modern conveniences. In the early sixties such time saving high-brow devices, as the garbage disposal and the dishwasher, were years away from becoming the norm for middle class America. Having them raised you up one notch on the social ladder.For those not fortunate to have lived in the early sixties, this movie is a delightful and uncanningly accurate reflection of the times.It's not a great movie, but then again, it's not trying to cure cancer. It is what it is meant to be, a pleasant and enjoyable battle of the sexes comedy. Doris Day could easily have been interchanged with Lana Turner in this middle class farce.Bob hopes delightful quipping is ever present. No one else can deliver snappy asides like Hope. The meaning behind his subtle wise-crack remarks are largely lost on todays younger viewers.As other reviewers have stated, watching this film leaves us who lived in the sixties greatly longing for these days past.Color television was new and exciting, as were modern built in appliances, and spacious rambling ranch homes with California architecture were the dream homes of the middle class.You can just see the family gathering in the living room of one of these homes, around the new color TV, to watch the most recent space launching from Cape Canaveral.And that is exactly what we did.If you lived in the sixties, definitely get a copy of this film. Be prepared for waves of long forgotten memories to come flooding back. Waves of nostalgia will make you wish for those simpler, happy days again.If you never lived in the sixties, then by all means, you need to watch Bachelor in Paradise for a time travel trip to the past to watch and experience a unique time in our history.
lancekoz I just saw this for the first time, and I am just a bit too young to have ever seen Hope in his heyday. I don't quite understand how something written this weakly, and assembled this quickly (some of the shots have muffed words but are used anyway just to keep from retaking, I guess) could pass for national distribution. I love the settings and the cars and and the colors, and it does provide a good time machine for that. But the characters behave so sadly and everyone seems pretty unlikable except Bob. I recommend instead "Pillow Talk", which has more absurdity in the story, and the script demands more comedic action from the main actors, which makes it more satisfying as a comedy. It too has some great costumes and interiors, but in the New York of the sixties vein, not the California mode.