Bachelor Mother

Bachelor Mother (1939) is an American romantic comedy film directed by Garson Kanin, and starring Ginger Rogers, David Niven, and Charles Coburn. The screenplay was written by Norman Krasna from an Academy Award-nominated story by Felix Jackson (a.k.a. Felix Joachimson) written for the 1935 Austrian-Hungarian film Little Mother. With a plot full of mistaken identities, Bachelor Mother is a light-hearted treatment of the otherwise serious issues of child abandonment.

It was remade in 1956 as Bundle of Joy, starring Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, and inspired the Bollywood film Kunwara Baap.

Plot
Polly Parrish is a salesgirl at the department store John B. Merlin and Son in New York City. Hired as temporary help, she receives her dismissal notice as the Christmas season comes to a close. Returning home, she sees a stranger leaving a baby on the steps of an orphanage. Fearing exposure to the cold will harm the baby, Polly takes it inside. The orphanage staff believe Polly is the mother and insist she can continue to care for her child with their help. She leaves the baby, but not before accidentally revealing where she works.

The orphanage director searches out David Merlin, the playboy son of the store's owner J.B. Merlin, and explains a woman abandoned her child because his store laid her off, requesting he re-hire her. David arranges for Polly to get her job back, with a permanent position and a raise, while promising a Christmas present will be delivered to her home later in the evening. The gift turns out to be the baby, delivered by the orphanage attendants.

Polly made arrangements with Freddie, a stockboy at the store, to enter a dance competition, so she takes the baby to David's home and leaves the child with his butler. After being thrown out of the dance competition with the baby, an enraged David is forced to wait for Polly's return. When she does, he threatens that she must take care of the child properly, or find herself fired, denied a recommendation, and blacklisted by every employer in the city.

Mrs. Weiss, Polly's landlady, provides baby equipment and offers to take care of the boy when Polly is at work. Unable to convince anyone that she is not the mother, and threatened by David with loss of her job if she does not assume that role, Polly gives up, names the baby "John", and starts raising him.

David continues to check in on Polly and John. David's involvement with Polly turns into fondness, and he finds himself reaching out to interact with her more and more, bringing her and John gifts, stopping for visits, and talking together. Freddie's misconception of the situation between David and Polly is worsened when his own seniority warrants his promotion, which he mistakenly credits to Polly putting in a good word for him with David.

New Year's Eve arrives, and David has no date. To save face, David turns to Polly. He orders clothes to be sent from the store and takes Polly to a party, playing a prank on the other guests that she cannot speak English and David must act as her interpreter. David spends the party pouting and jealous that this ruse does not prevent Polly from receiving male attention. The pair leave and have a romantic evening, dampened only by the recollection of John, whose existence makes David hesitate. Although David is falling for Polly, he is not ready to commit to a woman with a baby.

An embittered Freddie attempts to blackmail David by sending an anonymous note to David's father, J.B., saying that David has a secret child. J.B. is delighted with this news. He has long desired for David to settle down and provide him with a grandson. J.B. stalks his son until he sees David meet up with Polly and John.

Polly is mirthful to realize the tables are turned and David is now in the same position she was: His father is convinced John is David's baby, and will not believe any of David's protests to the contrary.

J.B. demands David marry Polly, and threatens that if David does not, J.B. will use legal means to seize custody of his supposed grandchild. David rushes to warn Polly about the threat and insist she produce John's real father (whom he has long been jealous of) to prove to J.B. that David is not the father. David ends up hurting and insulting Polly when he derides his father's demand that he marry her as ridiculous, as he does not relish the idea of a "ready-made family". He regrets his words, but Polly makes him leave.

Polly is anxious over J.B.'s threat to bring in lawyers and investigate, since she has grown to love John and this will expose that she is not his mother. She decides to flee, but the landlady proposes an alternative solution. Polly visits J.B. with her landlady's adult son posing as her husband. A crushed J.B. is about to accept he misunderstood the situation, when David rushes in, dragging Freddie, whom David has bribed into saying is John's father.

Freddie breaks and declares David the father, David attacking the landlady's son in jealousy, and J.B. now convinced David is the father, Polly disappears and tries to flee with John.

Distraught and terrified he lost Polly and John forever, David goes after her. When he finds her, David confesses his love and declares to J.B. that he is John's father, and intends to marry Polly that night.

Production
The film was a remake of the 1935 Hungarian film Little Mother from Joe Pasternak and Henry Koster which was never screened in the US.

In November 1938 RKO announced Little Mother would star Ginger Rogers. It would be the first film produced at the studio by Buddy de Sylva. The film replaced Perfect Honeymoon and She Married for Money in Rogers' schedule at RKO.

Louis Hayward was originally announced as the male lead. Then RKO announced Cary Grant would play the role. A few days later RKO announced Grant was replaced by James Ellison. In January 1939 RKO announced Garson Kanin, who had impressed with A Man to Remember, would direct and Norman Krasna was writing the script. A few days later the studio said the male lead was played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In March RKO said Fairbanks Jr would make The Sun Never Sets at Universal instead and his role would be played by David Niven who had been borrowed from Sam Goldwyn.

The film had a number of titles. RKO disliked Little Mother and the Hays Office had objections to alternatives they proposed, Bachelor Mother and Baby Trouble. Garson Kanin wanted to call it Baby Makes Three but producer Buddy De Sylva overruled him.

Box office
The film was a big hit and earned RKO a profit of $827,000.

Adaptations to other media
Bachelor Mother was adapted as a radio play on several occasions, including five broadcasts of The Screen Guild Theater: the first starred Laraine Day, Henry Fonda and Charles Coburn (February 1, 1942); the second starred Ann Sothern and Fred MacMurray (November 23, 1942); the third starred Ginger Rogers, Francis X. Bushman and David Niven (May 6, 1946); the fourth starred Lucille Ball, Joseph Cotten and Charles Coburn (April 28, 1949); the fifth starred Ann Sothern and Robert Stack (April 20, 1952). It was also adapted as an hour-long play on Lux Radio Theater with Ginger Rogers and Fredric March (January 22, 1940) and on Screen Director's Playhouse with Lucille Ball and Robert Cummings (March 8, 1951).