Bachelor Daddy

Kathryn Adams is jailed for selling candy without a license. She is paroled on the grounds that she has to take care of her daughter, Baby Sandy. But Sandy is in the hands of Edward Everett Horton, Donald Woods, and Raymond Walburn, three brothers who are candy manufacturers. They hire Miss Adams to tend to Sandy.

Sigh.

There is a wealth of comic talent in this movie, including Franklin Pangborn, Jed Prouty, Hardie Albright, Mantan Moreland, and Bert Roach, most of whom are wasted because every once in a while there is the matter of the plot, which somehow involves Evelyn Ankers, to deal with, or Baby Sandy, who is the star of this movie, has to giggle and pull a lever. Baby Sandy's pictures were, apparently, successful, or perhaps they were produced so cheaply that theaters threw them on the screen as second features or even chasers. A chaser was a movie you put on the screen when you wanted the audience to leave so you could charge new people admission.

I am willing to concede that there were, and possibly still are, people who enjoy the syrupy glop that is Baby Sandy and her vehicles. But they were not that numerous or long-lasting. Time was running out on her when this was made. Despite the supporting cast, she only made two more movies. By the time she was four, she was a washed-up has-been. Only four years too late.

I am not fond of William Goldman's exhortation that no one knows anything. I believe there are people who have ideas which have some relevance to the subject of how to make a motion picture. But this movie is a powerful piece of evidence to support Goldman's statement.

When seen today, the appeal of Baby Sandy back in the day is quite confusing. After all, the child is just a child and her talents are underwhelming at best. Still, back in the late 30s and into the 40s, she had a brief and successful career. One of the child's last films was "Bachelor Daddy"...an insufferable film which is hard to like.

The story doesn't make a lot of sense....but here goes. Sandy's mother is in legal trouble and instead of telling the judge she has a baby at home, she gets the bright idea of sending a note to Mr. Smith at a bachelor's apartment asking him to take care of the child. But there are three Smiths and the trio don't call the police but care for the child. A bit later, the mother arranges for her release and moves in to the bachelor apartment with these three bachelors and becomes the nanny to her own child.

During the course of the film, you have lots of yelling and scenes with Baby Sandy pulling levers, pushing buttons, stealing candy and the like...but no real acting. This combined with some VERY annoying scenes (such as the movie theater and the elevator) make for a film which has little plot or acting and just a lot of adults running about trying to catch the brat. Not a fun film in any way despite the presence of some fine character actors such as Edward Everett Horton and Franklin Pangborn.

By the way, this film seems to be the inspiration for the 80s hit "Three Men and a Baby".