Bachelor in Paradise | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Jack Arnold |
Written by | Vera Caspary Jack Arnold (uncredited) |
Screenplay by | Valentine Davies Hal Kanter |
Produced by | Ted Richmond (executive producer, uncredited) |
Starring | Bob Hope Lana Turner Janis Paige Paula Prentiss |
Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
Edited by | Richard W. Farrell |
Music by | Henry Mancini |
Color process | Metrocolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,989,000 [1] |
Box office | $3.5 million [1] |
Bachelor in Paradise is a 1961 American Metrocolor, CinemaScope romantic comedy film starring Bob Hope and Lana Turner. Directed by Jack Arnold, it was written by Valentine Davies and Hal Kanter, based on a story by Vera Caspary. [2]
It co-stars Paula Prentiss, Jim Hutton and Janis Paige. [2]
The film won three Laurel awards for Best Comedy, Best Comedy Actor (Hope) and song ("Bachelor in Paradise", music: Henry Mancini and lyrics: Mack David), which was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song. Bob Hope was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Strangely for a very American film, Bachelor in Paradise had its World Premiere at the Coliseum Theatre in London's West End on November 2, 1961, with a personal appearance from Bob Hope (although Hope himself was born in Britain).
A.J. Niles is a provocative best-selling author who discovers that he has a large tax debt owed to the IRS, due to being ripped off by his accountant, Herman Wapinger. He goes undercover under the alias "Jack Adams" in a California suburban community called, "Paradise Village", to research a new book about the wives and lives there. Niles is pursued by a flirtatious married woman named, "Dolores", while falling in love with a woman, Rosemary, who rents her house to him. Wapinger is found, Niles' cash is returned to him, and he reveals his true identity on national television. The husbands in Paradise Village all file for divorce, believing their wives are all having affairs with Niles. In divorce court, Niles reveals that he is in love with Rosemary and asks her to marry him. Everyone lives happily ever after.
The script was based on an original story for the movies by Vera Caspary – a 70-page document. [3]
The film was Bob Hope's first with MGM. He was persuaded to star in it by head of production Sol Siegel. [4] The film marked Lana Turner's first romantic comedy in a number of years. [5]
George Marshall was originally signed to direct. [6]
Paula Prentiss and Jim Hutton were signed off the back of their success together in Where the Boys Are . MGM put them in three films: this, The Horizontal Lieutenant and The Honeymoon Machine and pushed them as a new William Powell and Myrna Loy. [7]
Filming took place in May 1961.
MGM was impressed by the film and signed Jack Arnold to direct for them for five years. [8]
Before the film was released they requested Hal Kanter to start writing a sequel, An Armful of Girls, with Hope as a married man chased over Europe by titled ladies. [9] This was never made.
The Los Angeles Times called the film "frequently diverting". [10]
The New York Times said the movie "has enough sharp gags to make [Hope's] recent TV spectaculars unspectacular even though the romantic antics on which it is all pegged are somewhat less than inspired. This pleasantly varicolored 'Paradise' may not be heavenly but its mild fun and frolics should keep a viewer reasonably happy." [11]
According to MGM records, the film earned $2.5 million in the US and Canada and $1 million elsewhere but ultimately lost $344,000. [1]
The title song for the film was nominated for an Oscar. It was performed by Ann-Margret at the Oscar's ceremony, and reception to this greatly boosted her career. [12] [13] [14]
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and coloratura soprano.
Paula Prentiss is an American actress. She is best known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are (1960), What's New Pussycat? (1965), Catch-22 (1970), The Parallax View (1974), and The Stepford Wives (1975).
Turhan Bey was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans. After his return to Austria, he pursued careers as a photographer and stage director. Returning to Hollywood after a 40-year hiatus, he made several guest appearances in 1990s television series including SeaQuest DSV, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 as well as a number of films. After retiring, he appeared in a number of documentaries, including a German-language documentary on his life.
Where the Boys Are is a 1960 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It was written by George Wells based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. The screenplay concerns four female college students who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale. The title song "Where the Boys Are" was sung by Connie Francis, who also co-starred in a supporting role.
Joseph Herman Pasternak was a Hungarian-American film producer in Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood "Golden Age" of musicals at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producing many successful musicals with female singing stars like Deanna Durbin, Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell, as well as swimmer/bathing beauty Esther Williams' films. He produced Judy Garland's final MGM film, Summer Stock, which was released in 1950, and some of Gene Kelly’s early breakthrough roles. Pasternak worked in the film industry for 45 years, from the later silent era until shortly past the end of the classical Hollywood cinema in the early 1960s.
Dana James Hutton, known as Jim Hutton, was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, starting with Where the Boys Are. He is the father of actor Timothy Hutton.
Man's Favorite Sport? is a 1964 American screwball comedy film starring Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss and directed and produced by Howard Hawks. Hawks intended the film to be an homage to his own 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and unsuccessfully tried to get the original stars to reprise their roles.
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a 1962 American fantasy film directed by Henry Levin and George Pal. The latter was the producer and also in charge of the stop motion animation. The film was one of the highest-grossing films of 1962. It won one Oscar and was nominated for three additional Academy Awards. The cast included several prominent actors—including Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm, Jim Backus, Barbara Eden and Buddy Hackett.
This is a list of films directed or produced by Roger Corman.
Sol C. Siegel was an American film producer. Two of the numerous films he produced, A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
This is a selection of films and television appearances by British-American comedian and actor Bob Hope (1903-2003). Hope, a former boxer, began his acting career in 1925 in various vaudeville acts and stage performances
Abandoned is a 1949 American crime film noir starring Dennis O'Keefe, Gale Storm and Jeff Chandler.
Made in Paris is a 1966 American romantic-comedy film starring Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna, Edie Adams, and Chad Everett. The film was written by Stanley Roberts and directed by Boris Sagal.
Looking for Love is a 1964 romantic musical-comedy film starring popular singer Connie Francis.
Escape from Zahrain is a 1962 American Panavision adventure film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Yul Brynner. The film is based on the novel Appointment in Zahrain by Michael Barrett (1960).
Follow the Boys is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Connie Francis, Paula Prentiss, and Janis Paige, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Shot on location on the French and Italian Riviera, Follow the Boys was MGM's second film vehicle for top recording artist Francis following Where the Boys Are (1960). While Francis' role in the earlier film had been somewhat secondary, she had a distinctly central role in Follow the Boys playing Bonnie Pulaski, a newlywed traveling the Riviera.
Return to Peyton Place is a 1961 American drama film in color by De Luxe and CinemaScope, produced by Jerry Wald, directed by José Ferrer, and starring Carol Lynley, Tuesday Weld, Jeff Chandler, Eleanor Parker, Mary Astor, and Robert Sterling. The screenplay by Ronald Alexander is based on the 1959 novel Return to Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and is a sequel to their earlier film Peyton Place (1957).
The Horizontal Lieutenant is a 1962 American romantic comedy war film, based on the 1961 novel The Bottletop Affair by Gordon Cotler who was a Japanese interpreter for US Army Intelligence during World War II. It is a military comedy about an unfortunate army intelligence lieutenant who finds himself isolated on a remote island army outpost during World War II. It stars Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss and was directed by Richard Thorpe.
Your Cheatin' Heart is a 1964 American fictionalized biographical-musical directed by Gene Nelson and starring George Hamilton as country singer Hank Williams. It co-stars Susan Oliver and Red Buttons.
An Innocent Affair is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Lou Breslow and Joseph Hoffman. The film stars Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Rita Johnson, Louise Allbritton and Alan Mowbray. It was released on October 15, 1948 by United Artists. In the United Kingdom, the film was released under the title Don't Trust Your Husband.