The foundling mother
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The foundling mother |
| Original title | Bachelor Mother |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 83 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Garson Kanin |
| script | Norman Krasna |
| production | Pandro S. Berman for RKO Pictures |
| music | Roy Webb |
| camera | Robert De Grasse |
| cut | Henry Berman |
| occupation | |
| |
Die Findelmutter (OT: Bachelor Mother ) is an American comedy film with Ginger Rogers from 1939. The film is a remake of the German production Kleine Mutti from 1935.
action
The fun-loving Polly Parrish is employed as a temporary saleswoman in Merlin's department store over the Christmas period. On the way from work, she sees a woman about to abandon her baby in front of an orphanage. However, passers-by get the wrong impression that Polly is the baby's mother. All protests are in vain, the authorities declare Polly the birth mother. The news causes a scandal at work, as Polly has neither a legal father nor a marriage certificate to show. The son of the company owner, David Merlin, falls in love with Polly, who is now developing real feelings for the baby. Things get complicated when David's father J. B. Merlin is forced to assume that his son is the birth father of the child. Several complications later, David and Polly marry and plan to legally adopt the baby.
background
After a total of ten films together on the side of Fred Astaire , Ginger Rogers aimed for a solo career. Despite some success, preferably in light comedies, Rogers' box office traction was not yet strong enough for the studio to be willing to meet their demands for dramatic roles. It was producer Pandro S. Berman who had the idea in mid-1939 to remake the German film Kleine Mutti from 1935 with Ginger Rogers. The actress wasn't particularly impressed at first. For one thing, she finally wanted to make a name for herself with highly dramatic roles. In addition, Rogers found the basic premise of an unmarried woman mistaken for the mother of a child morally questionable. Only after persistent persuasion did Rogers take on the role. The studio first tried to win Cary Grant or Douglas Fairbanks Jr. for the male lead before David Niven was accepted. The film proved to be very popular at the box office and was by far the most successful production of the year for RKO with a profit of more than 950,000 US dollars.
The studio filmed the story in 1956 under the title Bundle of Joy with Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher . At the same time, a number of radio plays were produced that took up the idea.
Awards
At the Academy Awards in 1940 , the film received a nomination in the category:
- Best Original Screenplay - Felix Jackson
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the foundling mother was a "good-natured, cheerful routine comedy".
Web links
- The Findelmutter in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The foundling mother at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The foundling mother at two thousand and one