Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

bkoganbing Father Is A Bachelor marked the end of what William Holden termed his 'Smiling Jim' roles. His next film would be for Paramount and would be Sunset Boulevard which forever changed his screen image. This film was done for his other studio master, Columbia.When it was decided that Columbia would have next call on his services for Father Is A Bachelor, Holden must have brought over the script from Paramount because if there ever was a Bing Crosby picture that Bing didn't do, this was it. This actually might have been a classic had Crosby done this over at Paramount.Bill Holden for the one and only time in a film sang although not with his voice. The voice of Buddy Clark who was one of the great radio singers back in the day and rival of Bing Crosby was the voice that Holden used. Holden/Clark sang about eight numbers all public domain stuff. Had it been done at Paramount Burke-Van Heusen or Livingston- Evans would have done an original score for Crosby.Buddy Clark was heard posthumously coming out of Bill Holden's mouth. He was killed in a private plane crash in the fall of 1949. Clark was also the singing voice of Jack Haley in Wake Up And Live and he had one of the most pleasant voices to listen to ever.The story has Holden singing in black-face the opening number in a medicine show run by Charles Winninger. One of the crowd recognizes Winninger as a guy who bilked a few customers a time or two before. Though the black-face is demeaning to black people it actually serves a purpose in the plot because after Holden has wiped off the burnt cork, no one recognizes him and he's free while Winninger is in the slam.But he doesn't stay free for long because the free and easy Holden gets involved with a family of five orphans who are trying to stay together and avoid an orphanage or being divided up with several families.Coleen Gray is Holden's love interest in this film, she's the daughter of Lloyd Corrigan the judge who Winninger is before. Stu Erwin is the sheriff and the orphans are Gary Gray, Billy Gray, Wayne Farlow, Warren Farlow, and Mary Jane Saunders. Sig Ruman has a nice part as the owner of a beer garden who employs Holden as a singing waiter. The biggest crisis in the film comes from the closest thing to a villain in the piece, sleazy lawyer Clinton Sundberg. He finds out that Holden is really no kin to those kids and he offers him a choice, marry one of old maid sisters either Peggy Converse or Lillian Bronson, either one doesn't make any difference to him. It's quite a pickle Holden's got himself in.Father Is A Bachelor is a nice family entertainment film, but it was also the kind of film Holden was trying to get out of doing and succeeded magnificently in his next work. Besides though Holden was good, he certainly was poaching on the territory of Der Bingle.

Sonetto At the moment I'm watching "Father is a Bachelor" on TCM. I think it is a movie well worth issuing on DVD ... its audience potentially is great ... especially for those parents who would want their children to see an appealing film without gratuitous violence and sex as can be the case even in today's PG films. Who makes decisions about which films to reissue? I would like to find out. One person who previously commented mentioned the person who dubbed the singing. Both the singer and William Holden made it look very real, the singer by matching his vocal quality to Holden's speaking voice and Holden by perfectly matching his mouth and facial expressions to the music. A charming and sweet movie. Not the norm for this star, whose roles hardly ever involved children but were dramatic and sometimes violent. Then there are the children portrayed in the film ... not the pseudo-sophisticated worldly, overly made-up kids that today are often shown as far wiser than their parents. I can truly appreciate those qualities in a movie.

David (Handlinghandel) This movie has many charms. It has a fine cast. William Holden, in an atypical role, is fun as the dreamer who sings many standard songs. (It opens with him singing in black-face, though. That is always shocking when encountered today. And I wonder if it wasn't viewed as somewhat inappropriate even in 1950 when this was released.) Coleen Gray makes a charming love interest for Holden. And Charles Winninger is always a welcome presence.The supporting cast is excellent too. Stuart Erwin gets low billing but what a fine actor he as! And the two spinster sisters who are interested in Holden are nicely cast also.It is indeed a pleasure to see Columbia pictures other than the Capra films and those with Judy Holliday (whom I love) turn up. A few with Jean Arthur have been around in the VHS/DVD era but none to compare with the great number to which we were treated in the 1960s and seventies when local TV stations showed old movies.However, the print of this one was terrible. At first I thought it was a nighttime scene. But it wasn't. It was very, very dark.I am delighted at the Columbia movies trickling out again. Now, what about the Republic movies other than the ones that star John Wayne?

Gemini730 I`m a huge William Holden fan and I enjoyed this film very much.I like the nostalgic American mid-west turn of the century time setting of the film.Bill Holden has great interaction with the children-his true gentle sweetness when singing "In The Gloaming" as a lullabye to the little girl shines through.The scene with Bill trying to sew the little girl a dress from a pattern is hysterical.Buddy Clark did a wonderful job of dubbing his voice to match Bill Holden`s-if I didn`t know better,I would swear it was Bill singing. A nice family film with great sentimental, turn of the century songs with a wonderful, funny, sweet performance from Bill Holden.Its a shame Columbia has never released this on video or DVD.I obtained my copy from a private collector.