The Bachelor Party

Plot synopsis:
Charlie Samson (Murray) is a hard-working married bookkeeper, struggling to advance himself by attending night school to become an accountant. He and four co-workers throw a bachelor party for a fellow bookkeeper, Arnold Craig (Philip Abbott), who is about to get married. After the party, they decide to go bar-hopping. Charlie is to be Arnold's best man.
Colleagues attending the party include the older married man, Walter (Marshall), who has recently been diagnosed with asthma, and Eddie (Warden), a happy-go-lucky bachelor. The night becomes a turning point for all five men.
Charlie finds his loyalty to his wife tested during the evening, and he almost has an affair with a young woman (Jones) he meets on the street heading to a Greenwich Village party. Walter, in despair about his situation, wanders off during the evening.
Arnold becomes drunk and ambivalent about getting married, and he breaks off the wedding only to change his mind after he sobers up and Charlie gives him a lecture about the benefits of married life. This, in spite of the fact that in the beginning of the story, Charlie had been regretting his marriage and had gone to the party with a serious intention of committing adultery.
We last see Eddie at a bar, striking up a conversation with an older unattractive woman. In the end, Charlie decides that married life is the way to go, and that his struggle to build a home with his wife is worthwhile, and better than the empty and lonely existence of his friend Eddie, whom he used to envy.

Tags: melodrama

Review:
The depressing part comes in realizing that there seems to be no room for the sort of superb writing and spot-on flawless performances in a mature drama such as we have offered to us by THE BACHELOR PARTY.The reason for the scarcity of wonderful films like this owes to the movie's origin as a TV-play, at a time when the young medium was still showing outstanding pieces written by writers like the author of this screenplay, Paddy Chayefsky.I once read an interview with King Vidor, discussing his amazing 1928 classic, THE CROWD.
Some, well, let's simply say they have a long road ahead.It was great to see E.G. Marshall and Jack Warden together again after seeing them in another movie from the same year (1957) - 12 ANGRY MEN.
And finally, in small roles, it was fun to see a pre-"Addams Family" Carolyn Jones in a part that bagged her a Best Supporting Actress nomination and Nancy Marchand as a friend or the main character's wife.
But as the movie progresses, layers of convention begin to peel away exposing a core of self-doubt and degrees of unhappiness among the married men (Blyden, Marshall, and Murray), and one that soon turns into full-blown angst over ordinary middle-class norms.
Murray, in particular, feels the conflict as the roving party opens up tempting new worlds and a sense of adventure, especially with Carolyn Jones' exotic seductress.
On the other hand, Murray's married man is stimulated, making his outcome emblematic of the film's outcome.The movie is really more effective in opening these issues than in dealing with them.
The talk quickly becomes a heart- to-heart, where Marchand reveals the angst of a settled marriage, in which her doctor husband has pursued a number of affairs, leaving her with the kids and a comfortable life- style she'll stay with, even though she conveys an air of frustration and emptiness.
When Smith objects that her husband, Murray, is not like that, Marchand tells her to just wait until they too have been married eleven years.
Nonetheless, Bachelor Party remains a worthwhile look back in time for its perceptive exploration of conventions that in most ways are still with us..
His vague dissatisfaction with his marriage is tested as he wander into Greenwich Village (nicely filmed on location)and compares himself to his friends--an older, struggling married man, the bridegroom, the confirmed bachelor.
But good performances from Murray, Jack Warden and Carolyn Jones..
Don Murray is good as a married man coaxed (by his wife!) into attending a bachelor party for a fellow bookkeeper.
The wife (well played by Patricia Smith) seems to know the party will test Murray's nose-to-the-grindstone dedication to their marriage.
The ending is sentimental, but moving, too, if you give it a chance, and there's a truly brilliant small performance from Carolyn Jones, probably seven or eight of the most mesmerizing minutes ever filmed..
I like how Nancy Marchand appears in this, she was "Clara" in the live TV version of "Marty" opposite Rod Steiger.Terrific location shots of New York in the 1950s especially Greenwich Village.Now let's see the third in what I call the "Paddy Chayefsky Trilogy": "Marty", "The Bachelor Party" and (also, another "Lost" film not on DVD) "Middle of the Night"!.
That film is beautifully acted."The Bachelor Party," on the other hand, though a far lesser work, does not seem dated.
In "Bachelor Party" the guys really don't seem to know again what they're going to be doing.Despite excellent performances by Don Murray, E.G. Marshall, Larry Blyden and Nancy Marchand, this film stagnates.
It was great seeing what the New York subways looked like in the 1950s but enough was enough.When several guys in an office plan a bachelor party for a nervous to-be-groom, nicely done by Philip Abbott, it becomes an evening of self-examination.I was waiting for a burst out scene but unfortunately that never came.Much has been made about Carolyn Jones's brief supporting Oscar nomination bid.
Patricia Smith, as Don Murray's wife, and Nancy Marchand, as the sister-in-law, gave far better performances as an anxious-to-be mother and sister-in-law whose husband, a doctor, has been cheating on her.Jack Warden epitomizes the care-free bachelor whose main purpose in life is to chase after women.
Marshall does a complete turn in acting as the asthmatic member of the group who has to relocate to Arizona if he wants to survive.The film conveys the frustrations of every day life.
THE BACHELOR PARTY is adapted from Paddy Chayefsky's TV play and is a watered down version of other Chayefsky stories about lonely men and the lives they live--even when married.It's downbeat all the way, beginning with an office scene where an obnoxious JACK WARDEN monopolizes office routine with his loud personal calls as he arranges for the evening's bachelor party.
LARRY BLYDEN just wants a night out with the boys and PHILIP ABBOTT is the soon to be groom, a "Marty" type of guy, shy with the gals, who reveals during the course of the evening that he's not ready for marriage.The talk is natural, the dialog is very much Chayefsky's gift for simple folks expressing themselves in ways we can all relate to--and yet, the film lacks pace and shows its origin--a TV play that is character driven but not open enough for the screen.CAROLYN JONES has a brief party scene that she plays well as an "existentialist" mouthing gibberish and for some reason she got an Oscar nomination for what is almost a bit role.
Delbert Mann directed another Paddy Chayefsky script(he wrote "Marty", which Mann directed) about five office workers and friends who celebrate the forthcoming marriage of one of them(played by Philip Abbott) Charlie Samson(played by Don Murray) is the thoughtful one of the group, whose wife(played by Patricia Smith) is expecting a baby, putting more stress on him.
He will come to appreciate his family more after an eventful night, with angst-ridden Walter(played by E.G. Marshal) stable Kenneth(played by Larry Blyden) and the loud but lonely bachelor(played by Jack Warden).
Well-written and acted film about family life and self-determination has somehow been overlooked by time, since it has yet to be released on DVD for some reason; until then, VHS will have to do!.
Following up their critically acclaimed Oscar winning triumph Marty collaboration, screenwriter Paddy Chayevsky and director Del Mann attempt to make lightening strike twice with another stroll down melancholy lane, The Bachelor Party.
Glum family man Charlie Sampson (Don Murray) vacillates about attending a bachelor party with co-workers after quitting time.
Back at home his wife frets about the lack of spark in her life with a confidant (Nancy Marchand) who sets her straight about the realities of marriage.With everyone in a deep state of torpor or frustration (save for scene stealer Jones) The Bachelor Party has little to celebrate as each member gets his opportunity to flaccidly expound on his hum drum existence.
Murray turns in a good performance as a young man on the threshold of marriage.
During his batchelor party, Murray learns of the many problems facing friends that he'd thought were happily married, and begins to doubt if he should make 'the big jump.' As in "Marty" another of Chayefskys' works brought to the screen, this is drama of the 'everyman'-however, unlike the Borgnine classic, this one lacks the big punch..
Working stiff in New York City is encouraged by his newly-pregnant wife to attend a co-worker's bachelor party; he reluctantly agrees, but troubles within his marriage and the rut of work and night school has made him despondent, and after meeting a sharp dame from Greenwich Village he doesn't want to go back home.
In the central role, Don Murray fidgets like an uptight Boy Scout; he's good in his scenes with the groom-to-be, listening to the mama's boy talk about his total lack of experience with women, but Murray struggles with this underwritten character, uncertain of what emotions he should be feeling or showing (it's a mediocre performance in a mediocre movie).
Helen is horrified because she has been looking forward to motherhood as the fulfillment of her life, as a woman, and as a wife.The bar hopping scene becomes pathetic, when only Arnold, Eddie and Charlie are left to keep the party going.
The three men finally show up at a party they had been told by a lonely young woman that needs all the help she can get because of her narcissistic outlook in life.
Getting home and seeing Helen again, brings a kind of peace to Charlie after the crazy night he just experienced."The Bachelor Party" was an achievement when it made its debut.
These creatures of the Manhattan of the times continue to live in big cities all over America, although the language in films is much more frank today.Paddy Chayefski, the screenwriter of "Marty", created this work as a television play, which was expanded to a film.
Don Murray, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall, Larry Blyden, Philip Abbott, Patricia Smith, among others.
The two outstanding performances came from Nancy Marchand, making her film debut and by Carolyn Jones, the lonely "Village" girl, who went to win the Oscar for best supporting actress.Joseph LaShelle, the cinematographer, gives us a tour around the New York of that era.
The acting of the main male leads is very good and one of Chayevsky's best scripts (Hospital is another favorite) butt he main character Charlie gives in too easily at the end to a positive and sappy conclusion; love the 50's existential ambiance and the great party scene in the Village; Kerouac would could have been at the party; the wife of Charlie is a bit simplistic as are some of the other women in the film, black and white very effective.
It's a far better than average slice,--more accurately, slices--of life from a now bygone era when people still sat on stoops of apartment buildings, and if it was a youngish, even plain woman most men would regard her as at least somewhat "available".The plot of the movie is simple: a bunch of white collar guys, some middle class, others on the fringe, go out on a binge called a bachelor party to celebrate the engagement and impending marriage of one of their fellow workers.
As is to be expected in films (and at the time, TV dramas), the question of the meaning of life comes up in various forms; as does the issue of whether marriage is worth the grief that often comes along with it; and as the story meanders along, rambling with its characters, larger matters of love and death are brought up; too schematically for my tastes, but there you have it.It's a decent, at times flawed script, but the superb performances of the major players help enormously; and the character development is good.
Some of the parts are meatier than others, but the actors themselves cannot be blamed for this: Don Murray is a young Everyman with a pregnant wife; he's in night school so as to become an accountant, which will better equip him to support his family.
Larry Blyden was fine in a small part, while Philip Abbott, whom I've always liked, played his role of the man the bachelor party was thrown for, with beauty, sincerity and an modest, non-showboating realism that made me wish he'd got better parts later in his career.
While some of the events in the movie are "out of date" (e.g. the men watch stag films in a bachelor's apartment in lieu of going to a strip club), the story and its underlying themes remain as fresh as ever.Don Murray is top billed in his second film role, after earning his only Academy recognition with a Best Supporting Actor nomination (in his screen debut) for playing a rodeo hick hunk opposite Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (1956).
Initially, the focus of the plot appears to be on Murray's character Charlie and his wife Helen (Patricia Smith); they're a young couple, past the newlywed stage, and they've just learned that she's pregnant with (what would be) their first child.
When Charlie gets to work that morning, the party's other would be participants (all bookkeepers, by profession) are introduced: two are married, and somewhat henpecked, and two are bachelors:Jack Warden is perfectly cast as Eddie, the confirmed bachelor who's (the titled groom's best man to be and) in charge of the evening's planned events.
Of course, in the end we learn that Eddie's life is empty as he pleads with his coworkers to stay as long as possible so he doesn't have to return home alone to his empty abode.E.G. Marshall as Walter is (by far) the oldest participant; he's in the twilight of his career with a mortgage and a daughter in college.
Ken had once strayed during a business trip and laments the change in his wife ever since; he's also the first to leave the party to go home, though he's unsuccessful in his attempt to convince Charlie to do the same.Arnold is a rather pathetic bridegroom; in one sense, Abbott's character is a plot device to give the other characters their moments of reflection.The film is also notable for earning Carolyn Jones her only Oscar nomination (Supporting Actress); she plays the Existentialist, an oversexed Greenwich Village philosopher that the men (specifically Charlie) encounter during the evening.
Otherwise, you might wonder if her performance was the shortest ever to be Oscar nominated; ironically, that record is held by Beatrice Straight's stint in Chayefsky's prescient drama Network (1976), which was decades ahead of its time in predicting today's world: the cult of celebrity, ratings-based news programming, faux experts, and "reality" TV.While the film's ending may seem "tacked on", it contains a certain truth.
While Arnold learned that married life isn't a panacea, Charlie gained an appreciation for what he had with Helen.
It was directed by Delbert Mann, only his second film after Marty (1955), which was another Chayefsky-written drama (that initially aired on TV) about lonely people..
It comes as a big shock to Charlie when his wife Helen, Patricia Smith, tells him that she's expecting their first child that coming February.It just happens that one of Charlie's fellow workers Arnold Craig, Philip Abbott, is to get married that weekend and reluctantly, skipping a collage class for the first time in six months, Charlie agrees to attend his bachelor party secluded to take place that evening.
It turned out that Charlie as well as those who attended Arnold's bachelor party got an education in life and human relationships that in the end changed their lives around and for the better at that as well!Getting tanked up on both beer and hard liquor Charlie and his friends that included life long bachelor, and best man at Arnold's wedding, Eddie, Jack Warden, as well as married men Walter, E.G Marshall, and Kenny, Larry Blyden, ended up letting their hair down and exposing to each other their deepest and darkest secrets.
Charlie who's a straight as an arrow no fooling around family man soon loses his cool as the hot for him and really wanting it 25 year old woman beatnik Carolyon Jones, or the Existentialist in the movie credits, puts the squeeze on him at a local Greenwich village anything goes and free for all swingers party.As the dawn starts to approach Charlie together with his friends realizes what fools they made of themselves and try to put all the pieces of their shattered lives, because of the party that got out of control, back together.
It took those heart wrenching and both boozing and womanizing 12 hours of partying the night away that in the end showed Charlie how good he's had it all along.
It also showed Charlie that the life of a swinging and irresponsible bachelor, like his friend Eddie, was not his or his fellow married friends at the office cup of tea or bowl of borscht..
The story concerns three married men (Marshall,Blyden & Murray) and an unmarried man (Warden) all treating a co-worker (Abbott) to a bachelor party on a Thursday night in Manhattan.The married men want to go out to get away from their humdrum life.The unmarried man is simply out to have a good time.As the evening unwinds we learn the married men are basically unhappy and feel pressure to buy houses,raise children,earn more money,etc..They feel trapped but are resigned to their fate.They wish they were outgoing and free like the unmarried man.The prospective groom is unsure about going through with the wedding which takes place on Sunday.He wants someone to agree with him that the wedding is a bad idea.Then at the end all of a sudden the story changes-the unmarried man is to be pitied because his life is empty and meaningless and the married men are to be envied because they have their wives and children.This ending seems tacked on as if just to quickly end the film.The sudden married "joy" of the Murray character is simply ridiculous which is why ultimately the film is disappointing.The circumstances of his and his friends' marriages do not make this ending believable.
The other disappointment was the short use of "The Existentialist" (Carolyn Jones).Her character was interesting but had so little screen time that the viewer is unsure about whether what she had to say had great meaning and insight or was simply gibberish..
They're already living at the edge.A friend at work, Philip Abbott, is to be married and Jack Warden, on the hedonistic treadmill, has organized a bachelor party for Abbott.
What's not believable is the climactic scene in which Murray suddenly grabs his face, shouts, "If I don't see my wife right now I'll bust with love," or something like that, and runs off down the stairs to go home.We assume he'll muddle through.