Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Rock-A-Bye Baby Blu-ray Movie Review

Three babies and a man.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2012

When Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis parted ways in July 1956 the common wisdom of the time was that it was certain doom for Lewis and surefire success for Martin. This might seem odd, even in hindsight, as Martin had become more and more marginalized as Martin and Lewis mania swept the United States, with Lewis’ shenanigans both on- and off screen seemingly capturing the public’s fancy more than Martin’s understated straight man character and smooth crooning. Martin, for better or worse, was seen as at least a double threat, an agreeable enough actor and a more than agreeable enough singer who could probably parlay a solo career into greater profit making than Lewis’ assumed narrower focus on slapstick and outrageousness. Of course common wisdom is more often than not utterly wrong, and that certainly turned out to be the case with regard to the duo’s individual careers. While Martin certainly wasn’t unsuccessful, it took Dean a while to get his solo sea legs and to establish himself as a solo property. Lewis, on the other hand, came out of the gate at a decided gallop, and by the time Rock-a-Bye Baby was released in 1958, he was a bonafide box office phenomenon, something that would continue unabated for many years to come. Rock-a-Bye Baby is a tailor made reworking of Preston Sturges’ inimitable farce The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, one custom designed for Lewis’ patented blend of mugging and pathos. The Sturges film has become legendary for how artfully it pushed the envelope of the Production Code, dancing precariously just this side of what could be depicted on screen. Rock-a-Bye Baby has little of the nuance of the Sturges original, but it’s surprisingly sweet and good natured, with a couple of very funny set pieces that still will evoke guffaws in most audiences now some fifty five years after the film’s original release.

Preston Sturges’ The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek was a screwball comedy about the not very subtly named Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton), who in a drunken night of revelry weds a World War II soldier who she can’t remember (and she thinks both of them used fake names in the ceremony, anyway). Trudy soon finds herself pregnant from her nuptial one night stand, and turns to her childhood sweetheart Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken) to provide her with some “cover” for her supposed indiscretion. Rock-a-Bye Baby gently twists this premise to deal with a glamorous movie star named Carla Naples (Marilyn Maxwell) who in a night of drunken revelry on a press tour to Mexico weds a bullfighter who dies in the ring the next day. Carla of course has found herself pregnant just as she’s about to be announced as the star of a new epic entitled The White Virgin of the Nile. Her agent, Harold Hermann (Reginald Gardiner), arranges for her to disappear, supposedly in seclusion to prepare for this important role, but of course really to deliver her baby. Harold and Carla then quickly come to the conclusion that Carla’s erstwhile boyfriend from her hometown of Midvale, a nebbish named Clayton Poole (Jerry Lewis), would be the perfect person to “park” the baby with until filming of the virginal movie can be completed. (Though this was a Paramount release, eagle eyed film lovers will recognize Universal's iconic backlot city square, made so famous in the Back to the Future films for a later generation, as "downtown" Midvale.)

Rock-a-Bye-Baby is not especially artful as a remake of Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, and yet as a standalone Lewis feature, there’s actually quite a bit to enjoy here. Though relegated to a supporting role, Gardiner is just laugh out loud hilarious in a couple of bits, one early in the film right after he finds out Carla is pregnant, and then later as he lounges by the Nile as Carla’s big picture is being filmed. The film also marked the debut of Connie Stevens as Sandy, Carla’s little sister who has a major crush on Clayton. Stevens is winsome if not especially alluring in the role. Lewis is surprisingly tender once he is forced into being an “instant father,” one with the unexpected burden of caring for three infants after Carla gives birth to triplets.

In fact it’s the revision of the little sister character in Rock-a-Bye Baby where the film probably stumbles the most. In this film, Clayton is head over heels in love with Carla, but Sandy is head over heels in love with Clayton. Clayton has absolutely no use for Sandy whatsoever, even after, through the expected series of calamities, he actually finds himself wedding the girl in order to keep an officious local doyenne from adopting the babies. This makes absolutely no sense even as a gambit and when romance suddenly blossoms, it feels even more contrived. Lewis has his typical outlandish set pieces, including a great bit with an out of control fire hose in an early segment, but his biggest laugh actually comes in a relatively subdued sequence (at least for a moment) when he sleepily is preparing baby bottles in the middle of the night and manages to set his fingers on fire. The film is also a semi-musical, replete with some appealing songs by Harry Warren and Sammy Cahn, one of which is a duet featuring Jerry and his then thirteen year old son Gary, who would go on to pop music fame almost a decade later with “This Diamond Ring” as part of Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

Despite some occasional missteps, there’s quite a bit of very funny material in Rock-a-Bye Baby, courtesy of frequent Martin and Lewis (and, later, Lewis) collaborator, writer-director Frank Tashlin. Few younger viewers will recognize Tashlin’s name, but he was a classic gag writer for the likes of Bob Hope, and in the mid- to late fifties he had a string of notable successes, including the great send up of modern advertising Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? . Tashlin continues his skewering of pop culture, specifically the glut of ridiculous ads on television, in a very amusing subplot involving Clayton’s dotty landlady, who segues from product to product as she watches television all day (and night) long and simply consumes whatever’s being advertised at the moment. If the whole of Rock-a-Bye- Baby iz never greater than the sum of some of these parts, the parts themselves provide a good deal of humor and a rather surprising amount of heart.

Rock-A-Bye Baby Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rock-a-Bye-Baby is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Anyone who's seen the Blu-ray release of White Christmas is well aware of what a pristine high definition presentation VistaVision films can offer. The difference in this case is that White Christmas was sourced from the original camera negative while this release, as with all Olive releases, has reportedly been sourced from an interpositive. There's a rather substantial downtick in sharpness as a result. The image does have generally good quality, with only a few scratches, white flecks and other minor distractions entering the fray. Colors are really excellent, with especially vibrant reds and purples. But the overall image, while certainly crisp and appealing, doesn't quite pop the way one would hope for with a VistaVision release.

Rock-A-Bye Baby Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rock-a-Bye-Baby has a perfectly serviceable lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono soundtrack that show little signs of being over fifty years old, even if it's simultaneously not very bombastic. The best thing here is the Warren-Cahn song score, which still packs quite a bit of punch, especially with Walter Scharf's brassy orchestrations. Dialogue sounds clear and crisp, but occasional effects, both in dialogue and the songs, have an overly reverbed, boxy sound (a good example is Stevens' "duet" with herself late in the film). The track has surprisingly full sounding highs and lows, and the expected hefty midrange sounds great. There's really no damage of any kind to report here, and even hiss is not overly audible.

Rock-A-Bye Baby Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements of any kind on this Blu-ray.

Rock-A-Bye Baby Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Is Jerry Lewis an acquired taste? Undoubtedly, but even non-Lewis fans will probably get a kick out of at least parts of Rock-a-Bye Baby. Preston Sturges fans are best advised to forget that this film has anything at all to do with The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, for Rock-a-Bye Baby most certainly botches at least a few elements in the transition to a Lewis vehicle. But there are some other very funny bits sprinkled in here, not all of them dependent upon Lewis' patented brand of mayhem. The video here isn't quite at the level one would hope for with a VistaVision release, but having been sourced from a print it looks rather good overall. The soundtrack also sounds great, and even though this release has no supplements (an unfortunate Olive trademark), this release comes Recommended.