Doris Day was one of my favorites in the 50s and 60s, even in her
final clunkers, she always rose above the material. Thankfully in
the early 60s she was at her most productive, giving really fine
comic performances that not even Goldie Hawn could match in
quality. Here's she's the attractive housewife to James Garner's
equally attractive pediatrician husband. They live in the burbs, and
at a dinner party, she's suddenly offered the opportunity to become
a pitchwoman for a line of laundry detergent. It's not a hard
job--the advertising agency simply shoots the TV spots in her
home. But Doris becomes a star, and her well-ordered life veers
completely out of control. Her mildly chauvinistic husband (typical
of the times) hates her working, taking time from him and the kids
(okay for him to be constantly busy and challenged by his work).
You need know nothing more of the plot, which involves the head
of the agency's wife giving birth in a limousine, and the by now
somewhat separated Day/Garner partnership finds their spat over
with a big embrace before the final credits.
A smart script by Carl Reiner and Doris at her comic and
glamorous best (the costumes are really gorgeous early 60s
knockouts) with wonderful chemistry supplied by hunky Garner.
The kids are cute, Arlene Francis and Edward Andrews are fine
comic foils. I've seen this movie a half a dozen times, and always
watch when it's on late-night TV. The scene where Doris finally
loses her temper over her husband's un-reasonable jealousy and
anger over his wife's career, is a howler. As she demonstrated in
all her movies with Rock Hudson, nobody can boil over in comic
rage better than the adorable Miss Day.
