Myrna Loy is a judge who sentences Cary Grant to Shirley Temple in "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer," also starring Rudy Vallee, Johnny Sands, Ray Collins, and Veda Ann Borg. Grant is Richard Nugent, an artist who gets into some trouble and comes before Judge Turner (Loy). He leaves court and heads for a high school to give a lecture, only to encounter Judge Turner's 17 going on 35-year-old sister, Susan, played by Shirley Temple. Like the rest of the girls in the audience, Susan thinks Richard is dreamy but takes things a step further. She corners him in a room for a school paper interview and asks important artistic questions such as, "Are you married?" and "Have you ever been in love?" To get rid of her, Richard agrees to paint her portrait as America. When he returns home that evening, Susan is waiting in his apartment. Moments later, Richard is in jail, the Judge having figured out where her niece has gone. The court psychiatrist (Collins) talks the Judge into letting Susan get Nugent out of her system. It doesn't sit well with Richard, or Susan's quasi-boyfriend (Sands).
Grant's comic timing and mastery at underplaying is evident here as he reluctantly dates Susan, even dressing down and switching cars with her boyfriend to disillusion her. The scene at the picnic, when he tries his hands (and legs) at several events is hilarious. Toward the end of the film, he takes Judge Turner to dinner; before long, the entire cast is at the table talking and arguing as the waiters continually sing "Happy Birthday" to one customer after another, and a diner at another table tries to retrieve Rudy Vallee's chair for his own party - it's a great scene. Loy is sophisticated and glamorous which belies her judge-like decorum in the courtroom, where she's all sternness and intelligence. Temple is very funny as she tries to appear older and calls Grant "Dickie." Her pseudosophisticated talk and haughtiness are amusing, but Temple is at her best when she's being what she is - a teenager. Johnny Sands is positively adorable as her boyfriend Jerry. His bio says he got fan mail until the day he died - I can believe it.
This is such a delightful movie, with a wonderful script by Sidney Sheldon and marvelous performances. The next time you're feeling blue, remember: "You remind me of a man!" "What man?" "The man with the power!" "What power?" "The power of whodo!" "Whodo?" "You do!" "What?" "You remind me of a man!"
Grant's comic timing and mastery at underplaying is evident here as he reluctantly dates Susan, even dressing down and switching cars with her boyfriend to disillusion her. The scene at the picnic, when he tries his hands (and legs) at several events is hilarious. Toward the end of the film, he takes Judge Turner to dinner; before long, the entire cast is at the table talking and arguing as the waiters continually sing "Happy Birthday" to one customer after another, and a diner at another table tries to retrieve Rudy Vallee's chair for his own party - it's a great scene. Loy is sophisticated and glamorous which belies her judge-like decorum in the courtroom, where she's all sternness and intelligence. Temple is very funny as she tries to appear older and calls Grant "Dickie." Her pseudosophisticated talk and haughtiness are amusing, but Temple is at her best when she's being what she is - a teenager. Johnny Sands is positively adorable as her boyfriend Jerry. His bio says he got fan mail until the day he died - I can believe it.
This is such a delightful movie, with a wonderful script by Sidney Sheldon and marvelous performances. The next time you're feeling blue, remember: "You remind me of a man!" "What man?" "The man with the power!" "What power?" "The power of whodo!" "Whodo?" "You do!" "What?" "You remind me of a man!"