| Genre: Comedy, Romance Directed By: Jack Arnold Written By: Hal Kanter, Valentine Davies, Vera Caspary In Theaters: 1 Nov. 1951 On Disc/Streaming: 15 Dec. 1993 Runtime: 109 minutes Studio: MGM | Cast: Bob Hope as Adam J. Niles Lana Turner as Rosemary Howard Janis Paige as Dolores Jynson Jim Hutton as Larry Delavane Paula Prentiss as Linda Delavane Don Porter as Thomas W. Jynson Virginia Grey as Camille Quinlaw Agnes Moorehead as Judge Peterson Florence Sundstrom as Mrs. Pickering John McGiver as Austin Palfrey Clinton Sunberg as Rodney Jones Alan Hewitt as Attorney Backett Reta Shaw as Mrs. Brown Vin Scully as Himself |
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.
Lana Turner plays Rosemary Howard.
In the spring of “61, Miss Turner returned to her former studio, MGM, to pick up her pension and to finish off an old contractual commitment by joining Bob Hope in “Bachelor In Paradise.” Over the years Hope had always wanted to add Lana to his long and impressive list of glamourous leading ladies. but because of their respective studio ties, their screen-teaming was never realized. They were hardly strangers however, having worked together many times on radio and television and in later years Miss Turner accompanied the comedian on his annual Christmas tours to entertain the serviceman overseas.
In the New York Daily Mirror, H.V. Coren critiqued: “It is Bob Hope’s special talent that he needs no story to be funny. Master of the ridiculous, he can send an audience howling with a lifted eyebrow, a one-step strut. In this film he also has Lana Turner, who does a complete about-face from her recent heavy dramatics and plays “straight man” to Hope’s antics.”
Not too straight, however. In one nightclub scene, when she’s had too much tequila, Lana clears the dancefloor with a lively – and extremely agile – hula. She looks lovely throughout the film and was fortunate enough to have two of her favourite associates from her contract years at MGM on the picture as well, photographer Joe Ruttenberg and costume designer Helen Rose.
Clip:
Trailer:
You can watch the film here.
Lana Turner did a lot of movies. She really loved being a moviestar.
Here are the most important films in which she starred. Just click the links for more info, photos and videos.
20 April 1937: A Star Is Born
9 Oct. 1937: They Won’t Forget
24 Oct. 1937: The Great Garrick
1 Jan. 1938: The Adventures of Marco Polo
22 July 1938: Love Finds Andy Hardy
12 Aug. 1938: Rich Man, Poor Girl
9 Dec. 1938: Dramatic School
28 April 1939: Calling Dr. Kildare
18 Aug. 1939: These Glamour Girls
29 Sept. 1939: Dancing Co-Ed
19 April 1940: Two Girls on Broadway
19 July 1940: We Who Are Young
25 April 1941: Ziegfeld Girl
12 Aug. 1941: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2 Oct. 1941: Honky Tonk
18 Febr. 1942: Johnny Eager
27 Aug. 1942: Somewhere I’ll Find You
1 April 1943: Slightly Dangerous
19 Aug. 1943: Du Barry Was A Lady
13 Nov. 1943: The Youngest Profession
23 Aug. 1944: Marriage Is a Private Affair
8 March 1945: Keep Your Powder Dry
1 Oct. 1945: Week-End At The Waldorf
2 May 1946: The Postman Always Rings Twice
5 Nov. 1947 : Green Dolphin Street
1 Nov. 1947: Cass Timberlane
29 April 1948: Homecoming
20 Oct. 1948: The Three Musketeers
1 Sept. 1950: A Life Of Her Own
2 March 1951: Mr. Imperium
5 Sept. 1952: The Merry Widow
25 Dec. 1952: The Bad And The Beautiful
25 Aug. 1953: Latin Lovers
1 May 1954: Flame And The Flesh
7 Sept. 1954: Betrayed
13 May 1955: The Prodigal
4 June 1955: Sea Chase
14 Dec. 1955: The Rains Of Ranchipur
12 Jan. 1956: Diane
13 Dec. 1957: Peyton Place
30 Jan. 1958: The Lady Takes A Flyer
2 May 1958: Another Time, Another Place
30 April 1959: Imitation Of Life
23 June 1960: Portrait In Black
19 July 1961: By Love Possessed
2 Nov. 1961: Bachelor In Paradise
25 Dec. 1962: Who’s Got The Action?
24 Febr. 1965: Love Has Many Faces
27 April 1966: Madame X
30 April 1969: The Big Cube
7 Nov. 1974: Persecution
27 Oct. 1976: Bittersweet Love
31 Oct. 1980: Witches Brew
21 May 1982: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Sources: Wikipedia, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Lana’s biography “Lana, the Lady, The Legend, The Truth“, “The Films Of Lana Turner” by Lou Valentino and “Lana Turner, The Memories, The Myths and The Movies” by Cheryl Crane.