# Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958 film)
**Rock-a-Bye Baby** is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and produced by and starring [Jerry Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-lewis), in which a small-town television repairman cares for the newborn triplets of a movie star, his former hometown sweetheart, so that her career will not suffer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) It was produced by [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) through the York Pictures Corporation, shot in [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) and VistaVision, and released in July 1958.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Los Angeles opening 16 July 1958; New York opening 23 July 1958[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) |
| Director / producer | Frank Tashlin (director and screenwriter); Jerry Lewis (producer and star)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) |
| Story source | Screen story and screenplay by Frank Tashlin, based on a story by Preston Sturges; inspired by Paramount's 1944 comedy *The Miracle of Morgan's Creek*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) |
| Lead cast | Jerry Lewis (Clayton Poole), Marilyn Maxwell (Carla Naples), Connie Stevens (Sandra Naples), Reginald Gardiner (Harold Herman), Salvatore Baccaloni (Gigi "Papa" Naples)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) |
| Songs | Original songs by Harry Warren and Sammy Cahn, including "Dormi, Dormi, Dormi" and "The White Virgin of the Nile"; music scoring by Walter Scharf[2](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Modern%20Screen/ModernScreen%205808.pdf) |
| Technical | Technicolor, VistaVision Motion Picture High-Fidelity, Westrex Recording System; duration listed as 95 or 103 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) |
| Production dates | Mid-November 1957 to early January 1958[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Carla Naples ([Marilyn Maxwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/marilyn-maxwell)) is a Hollywood movie star who secretly married a Mexican bullfighter named Carlos during a publicity tour in Acapulco. Carlos was killed in the ring the day after the wedding, and Carla, having torn up the marriage license, has no proof of the marriage while carrying his child. Her agent, Harold Herman (Reginald Gardiner), tells the studio chief that she will spend five months in seclusion preparing for her next film, *The White Virgin of the Nile*, and Carla decides to leave the baby, after its birth, with her childhood sweetheart, Clayton Poole (Jerry Lewis), a television repairman who still loves her.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) Carla neglects to tell Clayton that she has given birth to triplets.[3](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/rockabye_baby) In the later part of the film, Clayton marries Carla's sister Sandra ([Connie Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/connie-stevens)), who bears him quintuplets.[4](https://www.paramountmovies.com/movies/rock-a-bye-baby)
## Production
Tashlin's screen story and screenplay were inspired by *The Miracle of Morgan's Creek* (1944), directed by [Preston Sturges](https://www.edgepedia.org/preston-sturges), who receives an onscreen story credit on *Rock-a-Bye Baby*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) Two earlier, unrelated projects with the same title, a planned [George Cukor](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-cukor) film at Twentieth Century-Fox (1951) and a Hal Wallis purchase intended as a [Dean Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/dean-martin) and Jerry Lewis vehicle (1952), never reached production.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY)
**Casting details.** Although the opening credits present the film as Connie Stevens's debut, she had appeared in two features the previous year.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) Jerry Lewis's son Gary plays Clayton Poole as a boy in a musical fantasy sequence. [Jack Benny](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-benny) appears only as a photograph of Carlos, the deceased bullfighter and father of Carla's children. Danny Lewis, Jerry Lewis's father, was credited in records as a furniture store owner, but his part, along with [George Sanders](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-sanders)'s role as a master of ceremonies, was cut from the released film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY)
**The musicians' strike.** In March 1958, Paramount had the film's musical score recorded in Mexico City because of a months-long strike by Hollywood musicians. The *Hollywood Reporter* claimed that Lewis himself conducted the 100-piece Mexican orchestra, and a June 1958 news item reported that a Los Angeles preview of the film was picketed by the still-striking musicians.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY)
## Songs
The film's songs were written by Harry Warren and Sammy Cahn, and the musical numbers were staged by [Nick Castle](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-castle).[2](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Modern%20Screen/ModernScreen%205808.pdf) The songs include "Dormi, Dormi, Dormi" (Sleep, Sleep, Sleep), "The Land of La-La-La", "Love Is a Lonely Thing", "The White Virgin of the Nile", "Why Can't He Care for Me", and the title song.[2](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Modern%20Screen/ModernScreen%205808.pdf) A song called "Me and My Baby", with music by Sammy Cahn and lyrics by Harry Warren, was submitted by Paramount for use in the film but was not included in the released version.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY)
## Reception and later history
Contemporary and later critical response was mixed. Bosley Crowther of *The New York Times* rated it 2.5 out of 5, calling it "a very average farce".[3](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/rockabye_baby) Time Out's review found the first half strong but criticized the shift "from manic slapstick to cringing sentimentality about babies and nappies".[5](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rock-a-bye-baby) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 63% Tomatometer from eight reviews and an 82% audience score; IMDb lists a 6.6/10 rating from about 2,600 users.[3](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/rockabye_baby) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052141)
In 1963, Paramount re-released the film on a double bill with another Lewis vehicle, *Don't Give Up the Ship* (1959).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY) The film has since been released on home video and digital platforms; a DVD appeared on 14 February 2012, and it is available for rent or purchase on services including Apple TV, Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.[7](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/rock-a-bye-baby/1072745/where-to-watch/)
## References
1. [Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52710-ROCK-A-BYE-BABY)
2. [Modern Screen, August 1958 (advertisement for Rock-a-Bye Baby)](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Modern%20Screen/ModernScreen%205808.pdf)
3. [Rock-a-Bye Baby, Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/rockabye_baby)
4. [Rock-A-Bye Baby, Paramount Movies](https://www.paramountmovies.com/movies/rock-a-bye-baby)
5. [Rock-a-Bye Baby, Time Out film review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rock-a-bye-baby)
6. [Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052141)
7. [Rock-a-Bye Baby where to watch, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/rock-a-bye-baby/1072745/where-to-watch/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 1930s to 1960s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license