Bachelor Bait

Stu Erwin is fired from his job as clerk at the marriage license bureau. Based on his years of observing people in love, he goes into the matrimonial agency business. He is a roaring success andsoon acquires a partner in shyster Skeets Gallagher, but never realizes he loves his adoring secretary, Rochelle Hudson.

I rarely enjoy Erwin as a lead in his comedies; his slow-witted hick does not amuse me. Here, however, under George Stevens (directing his first feature at RKO), he's enjoyable amidst a cast that includes good roles for Pert Kelton, Grady Sutton, Berton Churchill, and Clarence Wilson. Stevens even sneaks in a brief, uncredited talking role for his father, Landers Stevens.

According to studio records, this movie was not a success. It booked a loss of $6,000. Stevens would do better by his backers.

"Bachelor Bait" is a fun and well executed little picture, kind of a gentle B+ level movie. It has good dialogue, well thought-out direction, sharp set decoration and lighting, and a fun cast of characters delivering their lines nicely. With all that, however, it somehow doesn't have anything really great going for it. But it is generally enjoyable and I am glad to have seen it. If you are a film buff of the era, you probably will be glad, too.

Stuart Erwin plays William Watts, a clerk at the Marriage License Bureau who loses his job then starts a matrimonial agency. Watts is an affable guy with an unerring intuition for matching singles.

This good-natured film feels like it was adapted from a short story. The characters are enjoyable and the plot has a pleasant denouement.

Watts' right-hand gal, Cynthia Douglas, is played charmingly by Rochelle Hudson. While Erwin is the cornerstone of the comedy, Hudson is the linchpin that secures the romance.

Some excellent supporting characters help to make this film a pleasant diversion.

William Watts (Stuart Erwin) is the pushover clerk at the Marriage License Bureau. His boss fires him after a misunderstood overheard conversation. He starts a dating-marriage matching business. He immediately gets a lot of letters from men. He falls for his secretary Cynthia Douglas (Rochelle Hudson) but sets her up with a wealthy client.

I thought the opening start is interesting. I am going with the bumbling pushover character. He gets fired and the story starts losing me. I'm not that intrigued with his romantic potential which never heats up. The comedy never gets that funny. It runs out of steam.

The dialog is much sharper than you'd think; it's genuinely funny. Of course, some of it may be funny only in context: when one character asks what another would say, the Stuart Erwin character replies, "Peanuts, almonds, walnuts. . . "--getting around the prohibition about saying "Nuts!" while letting the audience in on the joke. Stuart Erwin is all right as the Average Joe, and although something's clearly lost for modern audiences in watching Rochelle Hudson's facial expressions (like Botox before Botox existed), the secondary characters are good. Pert Kelton ramps up her tough-talking sidekick schtick to become a tough-talking antagonist who'd be a perfect candidate for the matrimonial bureau except that one of the qualifications is that the ideal girl hasn't been touched by human hands. "You've got me there," she cracks. Watch for Berton Churchill's posing for a picture as a crime-fighting (all right, bumbling) district attorney; his expressions are priceless.