Bachelor Flat
| Bachelor Flat | |
|---|---|
 Title card from film | |
| Directed by |
Frank Tashlin Budd Grossman |
| Produced by | Jack Cummings |
| Written by |
Budd Grossman (play and screenplay) Frank Tashlin (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Tuesday Weld Richard Beymer Terry-Thomas Celeste Holm |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Hugh S. Fowler |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox |
Release dates | January 12, 1962 |
Running time | 91 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,495,000[1] |
Bachelor Flat is a 1962 American comedy film starring Terry-Thomas, Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer and Celeste Holm. Filmed in CinemaScope in Malibu, the film is a revised version of director Frank Tashlin's own Susan Slept Here of 1954.[2]
Plot
A charming British anthropology Professor Bruce Patterson (Terry-Thomas) has to live with Helen Bushmill (Celeste Holm), his fiancée. Helen is away traveling, and has failed to tell him that she has a seventeen-year-old daughter Libby (Tuesday Weld), who shows up at her mother's home unaware that Helen is engaged. Meanwhile he has to resist the advances of the neighbourhood ladies who barge in unexpectedly. At the same time, Patterson must deal with the continual invasions of his cynical neighbor, and law student, Mike (Richard Beymer), who soon develops a crush on Libby. Intertwined in the story is Mike's persistent dachshund, determined to bury the professor's prize possession of a rare dinosaur bone.
In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich, Tashlin said he included the dachshund as a satire on CinemaScope due to the dog's shape.[3]
Cast
- Terry-Thomas as Bruce Patterson
- Tuesday Weld as Libby Bushmill
- Richard Beymer as Mike Polaski
- Celeste Holm as Helen Bushmill
- Francesca Bellini as Gladys
- Howard McNear as Dr. Bowman
- Ann Del Guercio as Liz
- Roxanne Arlen as Mrs. Roberts
- Alice Reinheart as Mrs. Bowman
- Stephen Bekassy as Paul
- Margo Moore as Moll
Critical reviews
Variety called it a "frivolous, farcical concoction" and credits much of the great comedy to the supporting cast. They praise Terry-Thomas' "comic intuition and creativity" saying it is also "responsible for most of the merriment." However, they say "neither Weld nor Beymer seems comfortably at home in farce, and the strain often shows through," and that Celeste Holm is "stuck regrettably in a rather bland role." The critic adds: "The dachshund, incidentally, is an accomplished low comedienne."[4]
Eugene Archer in the New York Times did not find favor with the film, stating that Terry-Thomas "is at the mercy of the writer-director who usually turns out Jerry Lewis' broadest japes," referencing director Tashlin as the "responsible party." He also calls the plot "flimsy" and that Terry-Thomas "seems perplexed" in his performance. He concludes that "viewers with a tolerance for brash vulgarity and a fitful pace" will most likely show "astonishment, resignation and, eventually, mild amusement."[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p. 253
- ↑ "Bachelor Flat Review by Fernando F. Croce". Cinepassion.org.
- ↑ Bogdanovich, Who the Devil Made It? 1998 Ballantine Books
- ↑ "Bachelor Flat review". Variety. January 1, 1961.
- ↑ Archer, Eugene (January 13, 1962). "Screen: Bachelor Flat:Terry-Thomas Cast in Hollywood Comedy". New York Times.