The First Time (1952)

Expectant parents (Robert Cummings, Barbara Hale) are looking forward to their first baby. But when the little boy arrives, they are not prepared for the lack of sleep, the nonexistent social life and the overwhelming cost of raising a child. Co-written and directed by Frank Tashlin (THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT), this is a dreary sitcomish family comedy with almost none of the wacky cartoonish style that marks the best of Tashlin's movies. Just about any episode of I LOVE LUCY does this kind of stuff much better. There is one genuinely funny sequence when Cummings mistakes a hooker (Jean Willes) for the babysitter he's picking up. If only the rest of the film were as amusing! Although the focus of the movie is the difficulty of being first time parents, ultimately the film's impractical romanticism about having a baby is out of sync with the harsh realities of bringing a baby into the world. But hey, it's the 1950s! With Jeff Donnell, Carl Benton Reid, Virginia Christine and Mona Barrie.