Bachelor Bait is a 1934 American comedy film about a man (William Watts) who is fired from his job issuing marriage licenses at city hall because of the actions of a co-worker. He starts a match making business which becomes very successful because of Mr. Watts' ability to find suitable matches for everybody except for himself. Bachelor Bait (originally titled The Great American Harem) was director George Stevens' first feature-length film for RKO, filmed from 30 April to 18 May 1934.[2]

Bachelor Bait
Film poster
Directed byGeorge Stevens
Screenplay byGlenn Tryon
Story byEdward Halperin
Victor Halperin
Produced byPandro S. Berman
StarringStuart Erwin
Rochelle Hudson
Pert Kelton
"Skeets" Gallagher
Berton Churchill
Grady Sutton
Clarence Wilson
Anne Shirley
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • July 1934 (1934-07)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$120,000[1]
Box office$195,000[1]

Plot

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Stu Erwin plays a kindhearted man who, after losing his job as a civil servant in a marriage license office, opens his own business, Romance Inc., which becomes a successful matrimonial agency. When he sets up his secretary (Rochelle Hudson) with a wealthy client (Grady Sutton), he realizes just in time that he is really in love with her.[3]

Cast

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Analysis

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According to Marilyn Ann Moss, Bachelor Bait "is a light comedy that touches briefly on the Depression (when mention is made of "everyone being out of work these days") before it supplies its audience with a leisurely paced series of misadventures."[3]

The film lost $3,000 for RKO Studios.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p57
  2. ^ His first feature was The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble (1933), for Universal. Marilyn Ann Moss, Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004), 29; ISBN 9780299204303
  3. ^ a b Moss, Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004), 29; ISBN 9780299204303
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