The Bachelor Party (1957)
Directed by Delbert Mann

Film Review

The Bachelor Party was the second of two films which director Delbert Mann and writer Paddy Chayefsky had adapted from a television play which they had previously made for the series The Philco Television Playhouse.  The first was Marty (1955), Mann's first film for the cinema and the film that won him his one and only Oscar for Best Director.  Whilst The Bachelor Party was nowhere near as successful as Marty and ran into difficulties with the Hollywood censor on account of its overt references to abortion and marital infidelity, it garnered considerable critical acclaim in some quarters and deserves to be considered one of Mann's most insightful films, a grim but poignant reflection on the hazards and rewards of married life.

Chayefsky's superb screenplay (which differs only slightly from his original television play) is well-served by an excellent ensemble of relatively unknown but highly talented actors, some of whom would go on to greater things.  Having recently made a promising debut alongside Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (1956), Don Murray is well-cast as the conflicted, ambigious central character in The Bachelor Party, proving that exceptional good looks and acting ability are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  Murray's tortured portrayal of a young man who is forced to confront the darker realities of married life shows the actor at his best, and the subtlety with which he handles some of the film's most intimate scenes can only add to their devastating poignancy.  Jack Warden, another fine actor at the start of his career, brings as much depth and sincerity to his performance as the seemingly trouble-free bachelor, and there some equally memorable contributions from E.G. Marshall, Larry Blyden and Philip Abbott.  Patricia Smith (an actress far better known for her subsequent television work) heightens the film's realism in her touching scenes with Murray and Nancy Marchand, whilst Carolyn Jones has a strikingly ethereal presence as the existential temptress who is so desperately in need of love (bizarrely, she was the only member of the cast to be nominated for an Oscar).

To wed, or not to wed, that is the question that has haunted man ever since the institution of marriage first came into being.  For ninety harrowing minutes, The Bachelor Party mulls over this age-old conundrum, concluding, in a slightly forced manner, that marriage is probably the least bad option there is.  Whilst Charlie's moment of epiphany at the end of the film feels a little strained (it is the one and only weak point in an otherwise flawless script), it has a ring of truth about it.  What is the alternative - a life of selfish, meaningless debauchery, devoid of tenderness and commitment?  Yet even as Charlie takes his wife in his arms and offers her his undying love we can see at once the storms that lie ahead.  It was only a few hours previously that Charlie came so close to destroying his marriage, so easily led from the path of virtue by his yearning for freedom.  Aside from the slightly unconvincing ending, the film tackles its subject matter with refreshing honesty and leaves a suitably bitter aftertaste.  Happy endings exist only in fiction.

Film Synopsis

Charlie is a New York bookkeeper who seeks to better himself by attending night school to earn a degree, but his plans are threatened when he discovers that his wife Helen is pregnant.  He is in no mood to attend the bachelor party of his office colleague Arnold, who is about to head up the aisle in a few days' time, but he is persuaded to join in the fun when his three other colleagues - Eddie, Walter and Kenneth - agree that Arnold cannot escape the age-old ritual of the stag night.  Eddie, the only committed bachelor of the group, takes charge of the evening's festivities, which begin respectably enough with a quiet meal in a restaurant.  The evening is still young so the five men begin prowling the city's bars and nightclubs.  Far from being a joyous occasion, the bachelor party turns into a melancholic orgy of introspection and, one by one, each of the five friends reveals his disillusionment with life.  Walter lets slip that he has recently been diagnosed with asthma, a condition that could soon put him in his grave unless he makes some major changes to his life.  Eddie's wild bachelor existence proves to be a meaningless sham and Arnold, still a virgin, is unsure whether he really wants to go through with the marriage.  Charlie is tempted to return to his adoring wife, but, resentful of the barren future that lies ahead of him, he chooses to stay with his friends and see the party through to its bitter end.  As their heavy drinking begins to take its toll, the revellers gatecrash a Bohemian party, where Charlie is irresistibly drawn to an attractive young woman who offers to spend what remains of the evening with him...