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Bundle Of Joy was a musical remake of one of RKO Studio's brightest comedy hits from it's hey day, Bachelor Mother. Taking the roles that Ginger Rogers and David Niven had back in 1939 are the Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston of 1956, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

Reynolds was an established musical star who was loaned out from MGM to RKO in the studio's waning days for this film. Someone decided that putting Reynolds together with her husband, pop singing star Eddie Fisher was a natural.

If musicals were still in vogue, this could have for Eddie Fisher been something like Higher and Higher was for Frank Sinatra which incidentally was also an RKO film. Bundle of Joy alas was not given any songs as good as what Sinatra had in Higher and Higher.

Frank's role there did not call for any great acting and neither does Fisher's here. Eddie's a likable enough fellow, the son of the head of a department store who has the idea that Reynolds is an unwed mother.

How he got that idea? Like in Bachelor Mother where Ginger Rogers did the same thing, Reynolds is on her lunch break and sees an abandoned baby on the steps of a foundling home. Taking such pity on it, she takes it with her. Probably this being Christmas time definitely helped in the sentiment department.

Before long everyone just assumes it's her kid, no matter what she says and does so she has to go with the flow.

RKO did give Eddie and Debbie a nice supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou as his father and Una Merkel as her landlady. Tommy Noonan almost steals the film as Debbie's officious co-worker.

Bundle Of Joy is a good enough film to spend some time during the holiday season watching. Which I did and am not sorrier for the experience.

Poor Debbie should've realized Eddie was a jerk and their marriage was doomed, when his ego demanded top billing ahead of her... in his very first movie. (And it's no surprise that Eddie's only other movie appearances were in Liz Taylor films, once they got together.) If this non-actor couldn't concede his then-wife was a bigger movie star and deserved to be billed before him, clearly the guy didn't respect or love her as much as he loved himself.

The only reason to see "Bundle Of Joy", is as a Debbie Reynolds fan and completist. She's pretty much always fun to watch. But, even though I like Debbie more than Ginger Rogers (who stars in the original movie), "Bachelor Mother" is vastly superior to this remake. The original is laugh-out-loud funny. David Niven is, needless to say, a much better actor and infinitely more charming than Eddie Fisher. I notice they cut some of Niven's best scenes, I assume because Fisher couldn't deliver the witty dialogue.

Even as a fan of musicals, there's not much point watching this. The songs are pretty forgettable. I don't mind musical remakes when you get quality numbers, such as in High Society, the musical version of The Philadelphia Story. Not the case here. I don't see anything very special about Eddie's singing. And that insufferable smirk on his face! His expression never changes.

I guess there are other reasons to watch this movie. Morbid curiosity to witness the lack of chemistry between Debbie and Eddie, and his total non-charisma. Or a need to watch a baby-centric storyline played by two people who were about to become parents (of Carrie) in real life. Behind-the-scenes film-buff stuff may provide some small entertainment. But certainly no joy.

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 ****

"Bachelor Mother" was a delightful movie, but one can imagine why a musical, in color, remake would crop up. Debbie Reynolds as Polly Parrish was a good choice, and wound up carrying the movie. Eddie Fisher, as the junior Merlin, was not such a good choice. Many other actors at the time would have been far better. Had someone like Donald O'Connor had the role, it could have been an unmitigated success. Too bad Fisher got the job.

Overall, the movie is delightful. The basic plot, of a sales clerk in a large department store who winds up with a baby that's not hers, but that no one believes is not hers, is an excellent set-up for comedy. This one does a good job. "Bachelor Mother" does a better job. And an even better one may pop up in the future.

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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.