Pretty Baby

Some big minor names in this... dennis morgan, betsy drake. When patsy is promoted to work with the big boss, she tries to keep up. But he talks and dictates so fast, she can't keep up. Can her wits help her keep her job? She is clever, but is she clever enough? A chance encounter helps her get ahead! A running gag where every time morley starts spelling a name or address, he gets interrupted. About an hour in, it just gets silly and absurd, almost a three stooges scene. Some fun minor roles.. bill frawley as the detective (lucy!) and barbara billingsly (leave it to beaver!). Also frank cady as the landlord (from green acres!). It's silly but fun. Directed by bretaigne windust. Zachary scott was so good at playing the bad guy...he died young at 51. He had done a couple things with joan crawford. Check out the trivia sections on this film and for betsy drake; she and cary grant eloped at the very start of filming this movie. Another interesting connection: billingsly has a small role here, but goes on to star in leave it to beaver; windust actually directed one episode of beaver, but also died young at 54.

"Pretty Baby" is a frustrating film. Although it has some very funny and sweet moments and is probably worth seeing if you like old films, again and again the movie fails to really capitalize on these moments. It's sort of like all the pieces to this puzzle just not quit fitting together.

Patsy (Betsy Drake) is a ditsy and somewhat annoying lady. She is terrible at her job and it isn't surprising when she's fired from the advertising agency where she works. However, what her bosses don't realize is that she has a man who is very smitten with her. No, he's not attracted to her specifically but he thinks she's a terrific mother and is raising a wonderful baby. There is a problem with this...she isn't a mother and doesn't have a baby. What actually happened is that in order to get a seat on the subway, she wrapped a doll up like a baby...knowing that men will give up their seats to a 'mother'!

So what about this man? Well, he's Cyrus Baxter (Edmund Gwenn)...the advertising agency's top client. And, he's taken with the lady because when they talk on the subway, he asks about her 'baby' and she tells him she named it 'Cyrus Baxter Douglas'. Why this name? Well, she panicked and chose the name of the guy so important to her company...not knowing the man on the train IS Cyrus Baxter! Now, he wants to be her benefactor and this nasty old man suddenly begins to behave like a nice old man!

As for her job, when the bosses realize that Baxter LIKED Ms. Douglas, they hire her back and give her a raise AND a promotion. What's next for these folks? See the film.

The film is filled with wonderful moments...particularly when grouchy old Mr. Baxter takes a paternalistic attitude towards her and the 'baby'. But again and again, the film starts touching you...and then manages instead to not quite seal the deal. The tender, sweet or funny moments often are punctuated with folks yelling at each other...which severely impacts on the overall story.

A thoroughly enjoyable piece of fluff. Nothing to deep just a well cast, well acted hour and thirty two minutes of entertainment. I just stumbled across this film and hand't checked to see what it was about or who was in it. I'm glad I didn't though; based on the description I might have skipped this little gem. Dennis Morgan and Zachary Scott were both great, as was Betsy Drake. But as usual Edmund Gwenn stole the show. I'm surprised they could find stars to work with him; he always effortlessly stole the show in anything he was in. I recently saw him in" Them"; a low budget sci-fi film and he added weight that part as well. This story starts out with a simple inadvertent dissection by young women that just wants a seat on the subway. That simple act winds up complicating her life, like she never anticipated. And others wind up draw in by their own assumptions. This is a prime example of late forties, early fifties comedy. And is a dramatic demonstration of how much the world has changed in just fifty years. People watching this film from the viewpoint of someone born after 1960 won't recognize the morals or values in this film. But this really is the way most people were like back then; for the most part. So it's a humorous character study, and another glimpse of time gone by.

Sam Morley loses his secretary Peggy to marriage. Patsy Douglas (Betsy Drake) is a horribly clumsy replacement. The 22 year old gets sent back down. She takes a doll pretending to be her baby to get a seat on the subway. Her advertising agency's biggest client ruthless Cyrus Baxter (Edmund Gwenn) happens to be riding on the train next to her. Patsy claims to have named the baby Cyrus after Baxter while Baxter pretends to be nightwatchman Smith. Baxter is so taken with the story that upon learning it, Sam and Barry Holmes quickly give the recently-fired Patsy a raise. Confusion reigns.

Patsy is such a weird character. Betsy Drake doesn't seem like a comedian to pull it off but her natural sincerity really sets this off. She may have gotten the job due to her husband Cary Grant but she's actually weirdly funny in her unreal antics. The confusion is worthy of the craziest screwball comedies. The romance is a little stuck on. If only Cary Grant joined his wife. That part is a little clunky.

Delightfully absurd comedy in which Betsy Drake plays Patsy Douglas, a secretary working for an advertising agency. Their most important account is Baxter's Babyfoods, and since Patsy has noticed that women carrying babies get given seats on the subway, one night she steals the discarded doll that has been used in the advertising display, in order to get a seat on her way home. It just happens that Cyrus Baxter (Edmund Gwenn) owner of Baxter's Babyfoods, is travelling on the same train. This leads to unforeseen complications, and Patsy finds herself having to play the role of single parent to her 'baby'. Then thing start to get really complicated. The whole thing is very silly but great fun.