Bedtime Story (1941)

Thanks for the memories!

A lot of fun.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This picture had a lot going for it; a good cast, good supporting cast, fairly good story and direction. But several reviewers have already mentioned the miscasting of Frederic March, who was one our best actors, in a role for which he was unsuited - because he's just not funny. He lacks Cary Grant's facial expressions and air of controlled hysteria, and comes off in some scenes as forcing the issue of humor.Have you seen "Les Miserables" or "The Best Years Of Our Lives"? There was March at his considerable best. Or "Inherit The Wind". Here, he does his level best in a thankless role as a selfish playwright married to Loretta Young, who is gorgeous as his celebrated actress/ wife. The story itself is OK but becomes tiresome before the madcap, slambang ending which saves the day.As mentioned, the support cast was good but wasted - not enough screen time for Robert Benchley and Eve Arden, who appears here in a straight role without her sarcastic darts. Hard to figure how you can waste Eve Arden. A good, entertaining movie which could have been much better.

Whatever you may think about this movie as it goes along, most will agree that the ending is absolutely hilarious -- Fredric March working his one-man phone bank from the lobby directing havoc to his wife's room. I personally don't see any good reason to compare this one with others that may be similar or with actors who have routinely made this type of film. This is a standalone film these actors made and I think they did it well. Fredric March is always a good actor, and he was convincing with what he had to do here. His earnest straight face in itself was more than amusing as he performed his chicanery throughout. Loretta Young is always beautiful, extremely well costumed and generally ladylike and can be enjoyed for those reasons. Additionally, unless prejudiced, one would have to admit that, despite her very strong beauty, she is a more than competent actress. She's the first to receive both an Oscar and an Emmy, with many, many other acting awards along the way of her extensive career. During that span, she has played a wide variety of characters and types. She especially enjoyed her long-running television program because she could vary her roles. This is a good movie.

BEDTIME STORY is an uneven comedy with screwball touches for the slapstick finale which seems like something out of a Marx Bros. comedy. Although the cast is good, the script is all over the place between comedy, drama and screwball nonsense as it tells a non-too-convincing story about a show biz couple torn between the wife's retirement and the playwright's ambitions.The manipulating role that March plays would have been perfect for a lighter comedian such as Cary Grant. March is much too saturnine in nature to be believable in a romp such as this, only occasionally giving his character a deft touch. Allyn Joslyn, on the other hand, proves himself a genius at light comedy, easily walking off with many of the film's best moments.Loretta Young acquits herself believably and well in the role of a wife who is fed up with the manipulations of her husband to get her back on the stage. Eve Arden, Robert Benchley and Helen Westley offer fine support but the end result is a formula comedy with mixed results.Fredric March, although a fine actor, is out of his element here in a role that could have seemed more likable if played by Cary Grant or Ray Milland. His wild schemes to prevent his wife from marrying another man are often on the mean-spirited side and March doesn't have the light enough touch to make his character sympathetic.

While watching this movie today, I noticed that the 'play within a play' scene that takes place is verbatim the scene in 'Theadora Goes Wild' when Irene Dunne blasts the ladies of the 'Garden Club'. I was amazed to find that none of the writers associated with the story/screenplay were credited for 'Theodora'. Loretta Young to me is always enjoyable no matter the caliber of movie in which she appears. I was disappointed in the casting of Fredric March. He always struck me as comfortable in dramatic roles but just not very good in comedic roles. He had the same uncomfortable quality in 'Nothing Sacred' and 'I Married a Witch'. Though these movies were entertaining it was the other cast members who carried the films.