As a time capsule of early 60s So Cal it's amazing
As a movie "Bachelor in Paradise" is not great. Perhaps it's better than most Bob Hope movies of the period, but as an historical document of a time and place, that is, the tract home developments of Southern California of the early 1960s, this film is nostalgic joy for baby boomers who grew up in the valley. The film captures what it was like better than a more serious film could. And though it's not great, it's not a bad movie either, particularly if you can appreciate Hope's physical grace Woody Allen found so appealing (and tried to copy), and enjoy Hope's distinctive verbal delivery. If that's the case and you're a child of the 60s, you'll likely have a good time.The story is simple. Writer, A. J. Niles (Hope), who has been writing about the the sex lives of bachelors around the world, finds himself stuck back in the U.S. because his accountant ran off with his money and he's in hock big time to the IRS. In order to make a quick buck, he's forced to move into a small community of tract homes called 'Paradise Village' and write a book about how the Americans make love. Of course his name is Adam. He lives in Paradise Village. He meets a single woman there played by Lana Turner. Why her name is Rosemary instead of Eve, I don't know, but romance ensues.
I grew up in Canoga Park, and am very familiar with the type of neighborhoods, super markets and people that inhabited that world back in 1962. Canoga isn't exactly like the town Paradise Village is supposed to be located in, but it's close enough. Seeing those rows of brand new pastel-painted painted homes with identical lawns and freshly planted trees puts me in a time machine blasted back decades.
Yet, it's more than just the location that documents this place in time. It's the way people dress, the attitudes they have about sex and steamy European movies, the places people considered 'romantic' - a Polynesian restaurant, for example - and the way supermarkets were filled almost entirely with housewives, that give context to this period of Southern Californian history. What people considered funny back then, may not be funny as originally intended, but the gags are so much of their time the statement they make about the developing middle class certainly is amusing. When Jim Hutton (very funny in this movie) comes home, he notices his wife (Paula Prentiss) has put a birdcage over his youngest kid's head so he won't eat anything dangerous. Hutton is not shocked at all. It's a strategy they apparently both agree on.
Another example is when Hope tries out his new washing machine and overloads it with soap. The entire house becomes engulfed in soap foam. A dog gets lost in the suds. Hope calls the fire dept. When they arrive they ask, "Where's the fire?" and Hope says, "Would you have come if I yelled 'soap'?" You get the idea.
The music score by Henry Mancini backs up the period nicely. The score never was released at the time, but is available now through FilmScore Monthly, and for Mancini lovers, this is a good one. The film even uses the first three notes of the main theme for the doorbell of Hope's house.
MILD SPOILERS START NEXT PARAGRAPH FOR THIS FILM AND "PUNCH DRUNK LOVE"--
Coincidentally, I saw "Bachelor in Paradise" and then watched Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love," a day later. I'm a big fan of Anderson and love "Punch Drunk." Parallels between the two films stood out. Both take place in the So Cal valley (also where director Anderson grew up). Both stories are about men who are overwhelmed by women. Adam Sandler has 7 sisters who overwhelm him in PDL. Hope deals with a neighborhood of females who overwhelm him in BIP. The main characters in both are victims of theft, and the theft is what gets them in trouble and motivates the plots. Both are considered sexual perverts by others in the story. Both are pretending to be someone they are not, finding themselves in love while initially trying to avoid getting involved. Hope & Lana Turner and Sandler & Emily Watson fall in love in a Polynesian setting about mid-point through the film. And both have key scenes that take place in super markets.
END SPOILERS
"Bachelor in Paradise" was directed by Jack Arnold, best known for the science fiction films he made in the 50s - "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Incredible Shrinking Man" among them. But Arnold had a way with comedy as well. His "The Mouse That Roared" is probably the best movie satire on living with the 'bomb' other than Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove." "Bachelor in Paradise" is a wonderful showcase of a time and place long gone. If baby boomers watch it from that perspective, they might have a fine time reliving their childhood. Hope fans won't be disappointed either.
score 8/10
kirksworks 8 March 2011
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2396003/34961
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