Bachelor Daddy
Cast & Crew
Harold Young
Sandra Lee Henville
Edward Everett Horton
Donald Woods
Raymond Walburn
Evelyn Ankers
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Eleanor Pierce is arrested for selling homemade candy without a license, she tells the court that her name is "Jane Smith" and has her case held over for two weeks. Without any money for bail and realizing that her daughter Sandy is home alone, Eleanor sends a letter to the exclusive "Bachelor's Club," addressed to "Mr. Smith." The Smith Brothers, Joseph, Edward and George, live at the club, but are in poor financial straights. Business is so poor at the brothers' candy factory that Edward, the youngest, is being pressured to marry Beth Chase, the daughter of C. J. Chase, their hated business rival, in hopes of merging the two companies. The brothers read Eleanor's letter, asking that "Mr. Smith" assume the responsibilities of "their child." Edward is accused by his brothers of fathering the unknown child, though all three show up at Eleanor's apartment to claim Sandy. Returning to the club, the brothers are told by Williams, the club manager, that women and children are not allowed. While Edward and George go to keep an appointment with C. J., Joseph is left alone to babysit Sandy. When he takes the little girl to a matinee at a local movie theater, a juvenile riot breaks out. Meanwhile, at the offices of the Krunchy Kandy Co., the Chases meet with George and Edward, and there the engagement of Beth and Edward is announced. Eleanor, meanwhile, learns from probation officer Ethelbert Smith that she can be released on her own recognizance. She rushes to the Bachelor Club, just as the Smiths are sneaking Sandy into their apartment. Using the fire escape, Eleanor breaks into the brothers' rooms, and is relieved to see what good care Sandy is receiving. Eleanor tells her daughter that she might be better off with her new "uncles" than with her, and when Sandy begins crying, Eleanor is discovered by Joseph and George. Without revealing her true identity, she tells the elder brothers that she wants to show them the new candy bar that she has developed, but is hired instead as Sandy's nursemaid. Despite his drunken state, Edward immediately falls for Eleanor. After an evening of nightclub hopping, Beth breaks her engagement to Edward when Eleanor and Sandy appear on the fire-escape behind the Bachelor Club. Stuck by herself on the fire-escape, Sandy climbs into Judge McGinnis' room, and is soon followed by her mother. McGinnis awakes, locks the two intruders in his closet, then rushes downstairs to report the "break-in" to Williams. While Joseph and George create a diversion, Edward helps Eleanor and Sandy escape. Eleanor then keeps her date with Ethelbert, while C. J. goes to the club to confront Edward. C. J. is about to cancel the merger when he tastes Eleanor's candy. Eleanor and Ethelbert then arrive, wanting to see Sandy. Beth sees Eleanor and Sandy in the apartment window and follows them up the fire-escape. Everyone converges in the living room, where C. J. calls off the merger and the engagement, then gets into a wrestling match with Joseph. Soon Edward and Ethelbert, and Eleanor and Beth are fighting as well, and Sandy wanders off. After Williams and McGinnis arrive, Eleanor's true relationship to Sandy is discovered by all. Sandy, meanwhile, is running the elevator by herself. After the young girl is saved by Edward, Eleanor gives her candy formula to the Smiths and C. J. agrees to the merger. Edward and Eleanor then sneak off to the elevator, only to be followed by its new operator, Sandy.
Director
Harold Young
Cast
Sandra Lee Henville
Edward Everett Horton
Donald Woods
Raymond Walburn
Evelyn Ankers
Kathryn Adams
Franklin Pangborn
Jed Prouty
Hardie Albright
George Meader
Bert Roach
Juanita Quigley
Bobby Larson
Mira Mckinney
Alfred Hall
Dorothy Darrell
Leonard Elliott
Barbara Brown
Gladys Blake
John Sheehan
Joey Ray
James Blaine
Griff Barnett
Phyllis Gordon
Charles Mcavoy
Bobby Cooper
Tom Braunger
George Billings
Fred Walburn
Monte Brewer
Fred Cutler
Betsy Gay
Crew
Bernard B. Brown
Philip Cahn
Charles Carroll
R. A. Gausman
Ray Hoadley
Burt Kelly
Milton Krasner
Paul Landres
Robert Lees
Harold H. Macarthur
Jack Otterson
Charles Previn
Fred Rinaldo
H. J. Salter
Gil Valle
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Sandy Steps Out. Although Paul Landres is listed as the editor in the film's credits and contemporary reviews, Philip Cahn is credited with this position by Hollywood Reporter production charts and Universal press materials. While extensive footage of a Universal serial entitled The Phantom of the Mesa, starring Red Curry, was shown in the motion picture theater sequence of this film, this was fictional footage, as the studio did not produce such a serial. For additional information on the "Baby Sandy" series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry for Unexepected Father (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.4862).
