Bundle of Joy (1956)

Truly Dreadful Film

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Seeing 'Bundle of Joy' in tribute to the late Debbie Reynolds, who lightened up the screen in so many of her films even in lesser ones, it turned out to be a film that isn't bad as such but it isn't particularly good either.Essentially an unnecessary musical remake of 'Bachelor Mother', the best thing about 'Bundle of Joy' is Reynolds herself in yet another charming and perky performance. Adolphe Menjou is amusing and brings crusty authority to his role as Eddie Fisher's character's father, and Tommy Noonan steals every scene he's in. The baby is simply adorable and every bit the bundle of joy that Reynolds is.Production values are handsome enough, and the film is very nicely photographed. The songs are likable too if not timeless classic status.However, Eddie Fisher is a disaster of a leading man, his only saving grace being that he has a good singing voice. Otherwise, he completely lacks charisma and charm, ironically generates little chemistry with Reynolds (for a married couple!) and even less with Menjou. As nice as the songs are and regardless of how well sung they are, the way they're staged lack energy and range from the indifferent to the fairly embarrassing (the opening number's staging being particularly risible).Apart from the odd sweet and amusing moment, the script is generally too silly and too laboured, and very flimsy and less than loving in the more romantic parts. The story lacks energy and lightness of touch, too often coming over as dull and saccharine with flat comic timing. Norman Taurog's direction is suggestive of somebody who didn't have faith in the material.Overall, loved Reynolds and a few other elements but generally didn't fill me with joy. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I love musicals and had never heard of this one. After watching some of it. I no longer wonder why.I love Debbie Reynolds but even she can't improve this film.The film begins with a terrible song and singer, and then Debbie and an odd sounding woman - who I thought at first was Lauren Bacall - start singing and it's dreadful! I've heard of Eddie Fisher but this is the first film of his I've seen.. He's not a natural, his acting is poor, really poor. It seems as though his lines are stuck near the camera. The songs aren't good and his singing is dreadful.Unlike Singing in the Rain, Guys and Dolls etc this film is very dated. This a gift but its off to the charity shop.

Many of the classics of the 1930's and 40's were being remade in the 1940's to get films back into the theater and away from Uncle Miltie, Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo and Ed Sullivan. Utilizing color photography and the various wide-screen processes, these films may have seemed like a good idea at the time, and in a few cases, it worked. However, many failed, especially if they were attempts to outshine the classic screwball comedy.One of the most blatant examples of that was "Bundle of Joy", an update of "Bachelor Mother". Practically everything is the same with the exception of added songs, included to promote recording star Eddie Fisher as an actor, and failing miserably. To push the publicity window, his real-life then wife (Debbie Reynolds) was cast as the fired department store clerk who finds an abandoned baby. While Reynolds is a great replacement for Ginger Rogers, Fisher is no David Niven, and that is the factor which turns this attempt to remake champagne into beer.A colorful environment is welcome here, but the script only points out the sitcom elements of the story that back in 1939 seemed fresh and new. The film isn't bad as a whole, but in reflection of what had been, it is definitely a missed opportunity. Adolph Menjou is great fun in the Charles Coburn part, while Nita Talbot seems ripe for Eve Arden roles as Reynold's pal. Fisher sings wonderfully, turning "All About Love" into his one highlight, but failing miserably as an actor, showing no chemistry with his wife on-screen (sort of like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, ironically, in most of their post "Virginia Woolf" pairings) and lacking in the comic timing of David Niven.

Glossy and tuneful, if terribly contrived, remake of a just-adequate Ginger Rogers comedy vehicle from 1939 ("Bachelor Mother", itself a reworking of "Little Mother" from 1935). Salesgirl, fired at Christmastime from her department store job for 'over-selling', finds an abandoned baby on the steps outside a foundlings home but can't get anyone to believe the child isn't really hers. The spotlight this time is equally on Debbie Reynolds (doing sprightly, decent work as the bachelor mother) and her then-husband Eddie Fisher (leering at the camera while playing a singing junior-executive). Supporting roles are colorfully filled, production and song numbers are decent, though the script lands us smack in the middle of 101 'risque' misunderstandings (she has a baby but not a husband?! And who's the father?). Worth-seeing for Debbie, who sings and dances--and rolls her eyes with expert exaggeration when it's time to change a diaper. **1/2 from ****