To me, musical though it is, God Help the Girl (2014) features too many songs, most of which I didn’t care for. This was often because of the hazy lyrics. The lovely “Come Monday Night” is an exception. All the songs were written by Stuart Murdoch, who also scripted and directed the film. The story is slight but not uninteresting, certainly containing a spiritual dimension. (Why is GHTG so unprofound, though?)

The cast is good. I can’t really judge Emily Browning‘s singing, but her acting is palatable. So is that of Olly Alexander, but Hannah Murray needs to make a bigger splash. So: there are reasons to see Murdoch’s film.

With the Great Depression persisting, it was hard to find a job in 1939, especially for a bachelorette. Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers) is working only a seasonal job in the ’39 Bachelor Mother but, ah, it benefits her when the lass turns into a . . . Bachelor Mother, perforce taking care of an abandoned baby. Out of pity, the company boss (David Niven) hires her for permanent work. Everybody mistakes Polly for the baby’s mother—and then there is regrettable ignorance about the identity of the father.

There is not much to say about this flick (directed by Garson Kanin). It’s a romantic comedy which isn’t very funny, but at least has an original screenplay by Norman Krasna and Felix Jackson. It’s a family film that will appeal especially to women and non-fastidious children. David Niven—who was an “approachable” and dapper but masculine actor—is winning. So is the understated Rogers. The whole crew keeps Bachelor Mother humming along, pleasantly.

Months ago I gave the film Babygirl, by Halina Reijn, a positive review. I have since seen the piece a second time and am prompted to critique it rather further. It presents us with sexual kinkiness and infidelity, and frankly this material is a bit tired. I still don’t underrate the script, though; Reijn is a talented writer. Further, Babygirl is nicely—and, by Nicole Kidman, magnificently—acted, as well as photographically perfect (cinematographer: Jasper Wolf). Kidman is certainly not miscast as either a CEO or a sexual oddball. It is right that Reijn, in the first pre-intimacy scene with Romy and Samuel, made Samuel (Harris Dickinson) alternately no-nonsense and amused. . . The film is a small triumph. And kudos to the director for liking Ibsen.