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Romantic comedies became coy sex chase comedies in the early 1960s, once Doris Day made ‘professional virgin’ a Hollywood career. This mistaken identity/crossed prevarications farce is better than most, thanks to charming performances by Jane Fonda and Rod Taylor, and a fine script by Norman Krasna, from his play. The story doesn’t dance around the issue of should she or shouldn’t she — the frustrated young heroine asks the question right out loud: ‘Am I supposed to sleep with a steady boyfriend?’

Sunday in New York

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1963 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date May 19, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Jane Fonda, Rod Taylor, Cliff Robertson, Robert Culp, Jo Morrow, Jim Backus, Peter Nero, Jim Hutton, Alvy Moore, Teru Shimada.

Cinematography: Leo Tover

Film Editor: Fredric Steinkamp

Original Music: Peter Nero

Written by Norman Krasna from his play

Produced by Everett Freeman

Directed by Peter Tewksbury...

Jane Fonda and Rod Taylor in Sunday In New York is available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive. Ordering info can be found Here

Before she became a great star and two-time Academy Award® winner*, Jane Fonda was a screen ingenue who sent a string of bubbly romantic comedies soaring, including this charmer from the prolific pen of Norman Krasna. Fonda portrays a virginal miss blessed with long limbs and a knockout profile who runs from her fianc� (Robert Culp) to the swingin’ pad of her brother (Cliff Robertson) and then into the arms of a guy she meets on the Fifth Avenue bus (Rod Taylor) — all the while trying to decide if she’ll say “yes” before she says “I do.” Filmed on location, Sunday in New York is a fun, sophisticated romp set to a hip Peter Nero score that features Mel Torm� singing the title tune.

Swinging sixties...

The film industry goes back to the beginning of the 20th century, and most experts still maintain that 1939 is the greatest single year in movie history. At no other point in the long chronicle of the film industry has Hollywood had such an ability to draw in and hold and audiences. Cinelinx looks at 1939.

In 1939, Americans bought an incrediblel 80 million movie tickets per week. There were 365 films released by the major studios in the United States during 1939. That’s an average of one film each a day. If you went to the theater every day, you’d never have to see the same movie twice. And the best part is that most of them were good.

The American Film Institute, along with such critics as Pauline Kael, Siskle & Ebert, Leonard Maltin and others have dubbed 1939 as the cinema's best single year ever. Looking back, its hard to argue with that opinion.

Maternity Syndrome: Tierney’s Undefined Comedy Explores Notions of Motherhood

What begins as a concept full of pleasurably subversive possibilities quickly turns into yet another diluted tale of female arrested development in Preggoland, revolving around an emotionally stunted woman who learns an important lesson in the nick of time, thereby exponentially enhancing her own life experience and those in her orbit. Though it’s not as obnoxiously adolescent as its Diablo Cody inspired title suggests, actress turned screenwriter Sonja Bennett’s screenplay fails to use the concept to explore the actual issues underlying her character’s inability to successfully complete the normal trajectory of her sanctioned heteronormative peer group. And so, Jacob Tiernay‘s fourth feature film becomes another one of those wanly charming comedies about how to curb one’s drifting, wayward attitude in order to gain re-admittance into the fold.

After causing a disastrous, drunken scene at her...

Martha Stewart: Actress / Singer in Fox movies apparently not dead despite two-year-old reports to the contrary (Photo: Martha Stewart and Perry Como in 'Doll Face') According to various online reports, including Variety's, actress and singer Martha Stewart, a pretty blonde featured in supporting roles in a handful of 20th Century Fox movies of the '40s, died at age 89 of "natural causes" in Northeast Harbor, Maine, on February 25, 2012. Needless to say, that was not the same Martha Stewart hawking "delicious foods" and whatever else on American television. But quite possibly, the Martha Stewart who died in February 2012 -- if any -- was not the Martha Stewart of old Fox movies either. And that's why I'm republishing this (former) obit, originally posted more than two and a half years ago: March 11, 2012. Earlier today, a commenter wrote to Alt Film Guide, claiming that the Martha Stewart featured in Doll Face, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now,...

Austin Film Society continues their "Rebel Rebel" film series this weekend with a rare 35mm screening of Getting Straight at the Marchesa. This 1970 film from Richard Rush stars Elliott Gould as a Vietnam vet who attempts to go back to college amid the countercultural revolution. Also starring Candice Bergen and shot by legendary cinemtographer Laszlo Kovacs (Easy Rider, Paper Moon), it's playing tonight and again on Sunday afternoon. Doc Nights is booked for Wednesday evening and will be spotlighting the story of a young ballerina who was diagnosed with polio at 27. Read more about Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq in our preview post here. On Thursday evening, you can view Stanley Kubrick's Paths Of Glory as part of this month's Essential Cinema series about World War I. 

The Paramount Summer Classic Film Series has a wide variety of flicks to choose from this week. Saturday and Sunday at the Paramount,...

Press Release From the Warner Archive 

Since the beginning of the month, Warner Archive Instant has added over 100 feature films to our new streaming service, many in 1080p HD for the first time anywhere! Classic Comedy like Bachelor Mother (1939) with Ginger Rogers and The Wheeler Dealers (1963) with James Garner. Monster Movies like Son of Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949). Musicals like Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936) and Les Girls (1957) with Gene Kelly. End of the World Sci-Fi like The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston and The World, The Flesh and the Devil (1959) with Harry Belafonte. So much new amazing stuff available to stream on your iPad, Roku or PC/Mac. Try it Free for 2 weeks.

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Bachelor Mother, a 1939 romantic comedy from writer/director Garson Kanin (My Favorite Wife, Born Yesterday), is a film my sister and I make a point to watch together around New Year's Eve. It's one of the only DVDs of which we both have a copy (Monsoon Wedding might be the other). Ginger Rogers stars as Polly Parrish, a department store employee who loses her temp job the day after Christmas and stumbles upon an orphaned baby. Forces beyond her control make her keep the child, although she once attempts to foist the baby off on David Niven's rich playboy character. 

The plot involves screwball antics, a stern and wealthy businessman (played nimbly by character actor Charles Coburn) who yearns for his son to settle down,...

What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Expect It: Michele’s Debut Arrives Stillborn

Times are tough for the rom-com and Hollywood isn’t the only old geezer that’s forgotten how to treat a lady. Mainstream schlock in the Gallic realm is nothing new, but a host of recent B, C, and D grade features keep churning our way, all potential prototypes for possible Kate Hudson carbon copies. Currently at the top of the heap is actor turned director Clement Michel’s debut, The Stroller Strategy, a blindly constructed sham that gender reverses something like Bachelor Mother (1939) and perambulates nowhere in particular. Combining the usual base hetero rom-com ingredients together, Michel never gets beyond simple sugar.

Within five minutes of running time, Thomas Platz (Raphael Personnaz) has met Marie Deville (Charlotte Le Bon) at her birthday party in silent slo-mo. Without taking a breath, we see them move in together,...

Deanna Durbin: Three Husbands with Universal Pictures background [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin: Highest Paid Actress in the World."] By the time the 26-year-old Deanna Durbin’s film career was over, the movies’ personification of girl-next-door wholesomeness had been married twice: Durbin’s union with Universal Pictures assistant director Vaughn Paul ended in 1943. Two years later, she married another Universal employee, 43-year-old German-born writer-producer Felix Jackson, among whose screenwriting and/or producing credits were the James Stewart / Marlene Dietrich Western hit Destry Rides Again (1939), the well-regarded Ginger Rogers / David Niven comedy Bachelor Mother (1939), and several Deanna Durbin star vehicles, including Mad About Music, Hers to Hold, and Lady on a Train. Jackson, in fact, produced nearly all of her post-Joe Pasternak films of the mid-’40s, the one exception being The Amazing Mrs. Holliday. The last Jackson-Durbin collaboration was the 1947 critical and box-office misfire I’ll Be Yours, which came out as their marriage was crumbling. Deanna Durbin would...

Angela Lansbury talking show tunes!

That's why you should be excited about a new season of Michael Feinstein's American Songbook.

News

FX has issued an apology to fans of The Americans who found their DVR recordings cut off early. The episode ran for 67 minutes but listings had the run time going for an hour, meaning many viewers missed vital scenes. FX is putting the full episode online for viewers to catch up.

The next target for Adult Swim — 80s detective shows. Deadline reports that the late night block has ordered a new live action series, Hole to Hole, that will parody 80s detective shows.

Since I find Artie one of the more toxic characters on Glee, I didn't expect to be excited at the thought of meeting his mother, but she's going to be played by Katey Sagal (who was once one of Bette Midler's Harlettes) which suddenly has...

When it comes to old movies, don't mess with Cher. The Oscar-winning uber-diva and passionate film buff is helping Turner Classic Movies launch its new weekly film series Friday Night Spotlight (8/7c), which kicks off this week. Each month will showcase a different theme and guest co-host. First up is A Woman's World: The Defining Era of Women in Film, a collection of 17 classic movies — handpicked by Cher — that illustrates the evolving roles of women from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Among them: Stella Dallas, Mildred Pierce, Bachelor Mother, So Proudly We Hail, The Devil in Miss Jones and the 1946 Best Picture Oscar winner The Best Years of Our Lives. (For a full list go to tcm.com). Cher and TCM host Robert Osborne will talk shop and intro the films, which air in four categories — Motherhood (April 5), War Effort and the Homefront (April 12), Working Women (April...

Cher, the Oscar®, Emmy®, Grammy®, Cannes Film Festival and three-time Golden Globe® award winner is set to be the first host of Friday Night Spotlight, a brand new film showcase launching April 5 on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). TCM host Robert Osborne will join Cher to kick off the franchise with A Woman’s World: The Defining Era of Women in Film, a collection of 17 films handpicked by Cher to illustrate the evolving roles of women from the late 1930s to the early ’50s. Each month thereafter, Friday Night Spotlight will feature a celebrity or expert host who will take viewers through a collection of films focusing on a specific topic.

A Woman’s World: The Defining Era of Women in Film will start Friday, April 5, at 8 p.m. (Et) with Cher and Osborne hosting a night of movies focusing on motherhood, beginning with Joan Crawford’s Oscar®-winning performance in...

Academy film scholar Richard B. Jewell, professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California.s School of Cinematic Arts, will present highlights from his book Rko Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born on Tuesday, September 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Jewell.s presentation will be followed by a screening of a production typical of the Rko system, “Bachelor Mother” (1939), starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven, and directed by Garson Kanin. Admission is free.

The complex corporate history of Rko Radio Pictures has often been overshadowed by its cinematic gems, including “King Kong,” “Citizen Kane,” its sparkling screwball comedies and the Astaire-Rogers musicals.

With his rigorous scholarship and unparalleled access to original studio materials, Jewell has documented the business side of the studio.s distinctive and often turbulent story, from its formation in 1929 through 1942. In...

Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden in Stage Door Ginger Rogers: Bachelor Mother, Stage Door, Vivacious Lady on TCM Schedule and synopses from the TCM website. Pacific Time. 5:00pm [Comedy] Vivacious Lady (1937) After a whirlwind courtship, a nightclub singer has to adjust to her professor husband’s conservative family. Cast: Ginger Rogers, James Stewart, James Ellison, Beulah Bondi Dir: George Stevens Bw-90 mins 6:45pm [Comedy] Bachelor Mother (1939) A fun-loving shop girl is mistaken for the mother of a foundling. Cast: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson Dir: Garson Kanin Bw-82 mins 8:15pm [Drama] Stage Door (1937) Women at a theatrical boarding house try to make their big break happen. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick Dir: Gregory Lacava Bw-92 mins 10:00pm [Comedy] Having [...]...

Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers in Stage Door Ginger Rogers is back on Turner Classic Movies on Thursday, March 24, with 11 films. Of those, I particularly recommend two: George Stevens‘ Vivacious Lady (1938), with James Stewart, and Gregory La Cava’s Stage Door (1937), with Katharine Hepburn. [Ginger Rogers TCM Schedule] In Vivacious Lady, Rogers plays a nightclub singer who tries to tone it down for the sake of her professor husband’s reactionary family. The part of the saucy singer is perfect for Rogers, who’s very funny in the role. And so is Charles Coburn as her father-in-law, a role he’d play once again — to even better effect — in Bachelor Mother. Adapted from Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman’s play, [...]...

The Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir Film Gone with the Wind d: Victor Fleming; scr: Sidney Howard Le Jour se lève / Daybreak d: Marcel Carné; scr: Jacques Viot, Jacques Prévert Midnight d: Mitchell Leisen; scr: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett Mr. Smith Goes to Washington d: Frank Capra; scr: Sidney Buchman Ninotchka d: Ernst Lubitsch; scr: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch The Old Maid d: Edmund Goulding; scr: Casey Robinson The Rains Came d: Clarence Brown; scr: Philip Dunne, Julien Josephson La Règle du jeu / The Rules of the Game d: Jean Renoir; scr: Jean Renoir, Carl Koch The Women d: George Cukor; scr: Anita Loos, Jane Murfin Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights Check These Out Bachelor Mother d: Garson Kanin; scr: Norman Krasna Beau Geste d: William A. Wellman; scr: Robert Carson Hello Janine d: Carl Boese; scr: Hans Fritz Beckmann, Karl Georg Külb The...