[5]
Cary Grant is playboy artist who attracts the unwanted attention of a lusty seventeen-year-old (Shirley Temple) after giving a lecture at her school. The girl’s sister, played by Myrna Loy, uses her position as a judge of the courts to force Grant to date Temple — but just until Temple’s fleeting adoration evaporates. While dating the teenager, Grant tries to pump up a high school basketball player (Johnny Sands) to win Temple’s affection, and in typical screwball fashion, Loy finds herself falling for Grant.
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a lighthearted story from a more innocent time. Can you imagine a movie coming out today in which an adult man is encouraged to date an underaged girl? (It’s worth noting that Temple was eighteen when she shot this film, and had already been married for ten months.) The film never reaches the comic heights of more memorable screwball comedies like The Awful Truth or Holiday, but through no fault of the charming and dutiful cast. Fans of Grant, Loy, or Temple are more likely to be entertained by this one, even if they spot the script’s outcome from a mile away. My favorite moments tend to feature supporting player Ray Collins as the court psychologist, a Cupid-like puppet master manipulating the plot to play matchmaker.
Directed by Irving Reis. With crooner Rudy Vallee as an antagonistic district attorney, and Harry Davenport as Loy’s cranky father.
Academy Award: Best Original Screenplay (Sidney Sheldon)