Linda Embusteira

Six stars may be pushing it a bit in the rating of this film. "Pretty Baby" has a clever plot device - the use of the female lead, Patsy Douglas, of an actual doll wrapped in a blanket to give the impression she has a baby. This is to get her a seat on the subway system.

This is 1950, so women have been "liberated" and male chauvinism is a thing of the past. Where men formerly gave up their seats to women on buses and trollies, the liberated women now fend for seats with the men. Betsy Drake's Douglas is all for the progress that has been made, but she would have preferred that some of the old manners hadn't been thrown out with women's "liberation."

The scenes with Patsy's doll baby and a few others have some comedy. But there's nothing here to evince rollicking laughter. Edmund Gwenn is very good as the grumpy Cyrus Baxter. Some may think that Gwenn is out of his usual character (i.e., his Kris Kringle from "Miracle on 34th Street"), but Gwenn was an accomplished actor who played diverse roles - including some grouchy or distasteful characters.

The other leads, Zachary Scott as Barry Holmes and Dennis Morgan as Sam Morley, are okay up to a point. But Morley's falling for Patsy just isn't believable. There's nothing in the screenplay to even give a hint of romantic inclination on Morley's part - although there is on Patsy's part initially. All of his encounters have been with a fumbling, accident-prone Patsy. He has been upset with her and even though a plot twist leads to her keeping her job, there's nothing romantic until the very end when Morley just suddenly falls for Patsy. It actually came across as a dumb, poor ending as though the writers couldn't think of anything better.

And that gets to Betsy Drake. While she made a few comedies, she had a certain innocence yet intelligence about her persona. So, one tends to like the characters she plays. But she definitely is not a laugh-inducing comedienne. Nor does she have a personal that suggests or invites romance.

As I said, it's a stretch to give this six stars, but most people should enjoy the film and may find it somewhat amusing.

Thin little comedy that takes a clever premise and tries to stretch it to 90-minutes. Betsy Drake is a 40-hour a week drudge cranking out office mimeos, so we don't begrudge her a little trickery getting a seat on the crowded subway. But then, charmed by her fake baby and motherhood, mean old tycoon Edmund Gwenn decides to break character and befriend the simple working girl. Now she's stuck with keeping up the pretense lest she anger her powerful benefactor, leading to a number of semi-comedic predicaments.

Certainly, Drake and Gwenn don't lack for sparkle. The trouble is the humorous situations seldom get the comedic bounce they need. As a result, the set-ups tend to fade into the narrative itself. I suspect director Windust simply lacks the right touch for comedy, which I also suspect is harder to do than drama. Then too, the usually lively Dennis Morgan appears oddly distracted, while the usually villainous Zachary Scott shows he's not entirely out of place.

Anyway, the movie's a good glimpse into the coming consumer age through the medium of an advertising agency. And catch how sensitive the norms of the period are to unwed motherhood. In fact, take away the unwed part, and much of the story would collapse. From these standpoints, the movie's a good foreshadowing of the 1950's as a whole—though it's likely the charming Drake didn't fit the coming age of Marilyn's, Jayne's, and Mamie's. Too bad, because as the deserving working girl in this film she's darn near perfect.

Overall, the movie manages some clever set-ups, a few chuckles, but most of all, a good glimpse of its time period.

"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.

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.

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.