Uma Esperança Nasceu em Minha Vida

Directed by Norman Taurog, this Musical remake of Bachelor Mother (1939) by Felix Jackson, with a screenplay by Robert Carson, Norman Krasna, and Arthur Sheekman, doesn't come close to the charm or quality of the original. It was primarily made to capitalize on the Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds marriage and her pregnancy, which would produce future actress and writer Carrie Fisher.

But like their marriage, the film fails because of Eddie Fisher, who didn't really have an acting talent that was anywhere near as capable as his singing ability. Of course, Bachelor Mother (1939) had both Ginger Rogers and David Niven. At least the supporting cast in this one, which includes Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan, Una Merkel, Melville Cooper, Mary Treen, and Edward Brophy (among others), was up to the challenge, helping the movie (combined with Reynolds's pluckiness) salvage an average (vs. below average) rating from this reviewer.

Since I provided a full synopsis of the original for its review (find it on IMDb.com), I won't rehash it here. This remake doesn't stray very far from the source material except for the added (and rather uninspired) musical numbers, even the characters names were kept. Fisher plays Dan Merlin, son of store-owner J.B. 'John' Merlin (Menjou), who falls for Polly Parish (Reynolds) after she'd been mistakenly thought to be the single mother of a foundling she'd found on the steps of an agency (where Treen works). Noonan plays a co- worker of Polly's, Freddie Miller, who'd love to be her guy as much as he'd like to be promoted. Merkel plays Polly's understanding landlord Mrs. Dugan, Cooper plays the Merlin's butler named Adams, and Brophy plays one of the dance contest judges.

This film is and will always be one of the unsung classics of the RKO Studio. A musical remake of "Bachelor Mother", "Bundle of Joy" is a funny, heartwarming tale of mistaken identity and blossoming love.

The only downside of this movie is the fact that it has Eddie Fisher in it. He should have stuck to singing as he is the most excruciatingly bad actor I have ever seen.

Overall, I give this movie 41/2 out of five stars.

Glossy and tuneful--if terribly contrived--remake of a just-adequate Ginger Rogers comedy from 1939 ("Bachelor Mother", itself a reworking of "Little Mother" from 1935). Salesgirl, fired at Christmastime from her department store job for "over-selling", finds an abandoned baby on the steps outside a foundlings home but can't get anyone to believe the child isn't really hers. The spotlight this time is equally on Debbie Reynolds (doing sprightly, decent work as the bachelor mother) and then-husband Eddie Fisher (leering at the camera while playing a singing junior-executive). Supporting roles are colorfully filled, production and song numbers are decent, though the script lands us smack in the middle of Risqué 101, with misunderstandings "Three's Company" would envy (She has a baby but not a husband?! And who's the father?). Worth-seeing for Debbie, who sings and dances--and rolls her eyes with expert exaggeration when it's time to change a diaper. **1/2 from ****

I might be considered biased in my view because my twin brother Don and I played the baby in Bundle of Joy. We were only a year old, and lived in the San Fernando Valley area of L.A. when we were picked out of approximately 200 sets of twin boys to be the baby in the movie. Over the years, I have heard my mom and other relatives tell many stories of the filming of this movie, and being VIP guests at the premier movie opening in Hollywood. I have, of course, seen the movie countless times over the years, and still like to watch it and laugh at the cute smiling babies we once were. My mom had to be on the set with us whenever we were filming, by state law. She has told us that Debbie Reynolds was a truely remarkable actress and treated us extremely well. Adolphe Menjou treated us like his own grand kids. Unfortunately, she also said that not everyone in the movie industry was so nice, and our parents decided not to sign a contract with RKO Pictures which would have allowed us to be in more films. Oh well, our short movie career aside, we both have grown up and are very happy in our own careers. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes light-hearted films with happy endings!

The movie is a fluff piece, but I enjoyed watching Debbie and Eddie when they were America's sweethearts in a more innocent time, pre-scandals and pre-drug problems. Unlike many, I find Eddie Fisher to be a beautiful singer. He really can hit those high notes, and his voice has a particularly angelic quality in the higher range.

I didn't see a lot of chemisty between the leads; maybe it's hard to project chemisty when you're going home to your marital abode after the shoot. But the studio wanted to cash in on their status as everyone's cutest couple at the time.

I thought the supporting cast was fine too, and the comic subplots worked.

How did they get those babies (twins) to act so beautifully. They were charming.