Joy in the Morning

While Herrmann's musical score is a pleasure, as always, the film itself is a claptrap of soap opera clichés, and melodramatic scene-chewing performances. Mimieux screeches her way through the script, and Chamberlain comes across as an absolute jerk.

The adjacent fawning posts really puzzle me.

Being that this was released in 1965, I am somewhat surprised that the homosexuality of one character (the flower shop owner) is tiptoed around so blatantly - well, they did use the phrase "sissy" several times. Actually, he is the most developed character in the film, and his life would have made a much more interesting plot.

The back lot filming is obvious and uninvolving.

The two leads spend an awfully large amount of time in childish tirades. That so many viewers would see this as representative of true love, is somewhat disturbing.

Again, great score..........little else.

This story about young love is timeless. The acting is superb, the story is very touching and the characters are interesting. Happy endings are always sooo good. I love the fact that Carl sees the real Annie. The Annie behind the circumstances and experiences of her life. He sees the beautiful person that she is. Carl is brave and courageous in his love for her. She shows him that she is more than worthy of that love. The love scenes are beautifully done. Richard and Yvette have a strong screen chemistry. The cast of supporting characters are phenomenal. I think this generation should definitely see this movie. It is uplifting, riveting, with excellent values. Definitely in the genre as the more recent "A Walk To Remember".

I tried to write a review from a long ago memory & a few hours later found that Joy in the Morning would be on TCM at 4:00 am Wed morning. Not only did I record the movie but I was too excited to sleep after waiting so many years to see it again. I watched it at 4:00 am & have already watched it again this morning. If you want to see Richard Chamberlain & Yvette Mimieux at their best, this is the movie to see. The bitter-sweet love story & struggle of two young people starting their life together is beautifully written and if this isn't enough, just hearing Richard sing the title song is enough to make you want to watch it over & over.

Under normal circumstances I love to hate movies like Joy in the Morning. I try to avoid watching romantic melodramas as much as the next well-adjusted person, but Joy in the Morning was surprisingly good. It's easy to sympathize with the young law student Carl Brown, whose parents turn into his worst nightmare after he marries a poor girl from Brooklyn named Annie McGairy. Carl's mother writes him a scathing letter and makes it clear that she thinks Annie is an opportunist and a gold-digger. Carl's villainous father actually shows up at the couple's home and after a shouting match with his son, withdraws all financial support. The couple's struggle to support themselves is austere and unsentimental. It's difficult to predict if they will stay together until the last ten minutes of the movie.

Richard Chamberlain is excellent as Carl Brown, but the movie belongs to the luminous Yvette Mimieux, who plays Annie McGairy. Though in the beginning of the movie Annie appears naïve and insipid, later on her earnest attempts at being a good wife are endearing because quite simply, Mimieux glows in front of the camera. Any other actress in the part of Annie would have been a disaster.

"Joy in the Morning" is a touching and revealing movie about the way Americans liked or wished to project their culture. Consider going back to 1965, the "American Dream" is being shaken and eroded several times by movies such as Peyton Place (1957), Summer Place (1959), Splendor in the Grass (1961), The Chase (1965)... We are about to loose our innocence as reports of fighting in a still obscure country in South East Asia are growing the news headlines. Any movie has to be enjoyed or critiqued in the context/era/location it was produced. I grew up in those insecure days torn between the "good ol' American Boy image" and that of a "Beatnik". For those who do not know or remember, we were not supposed to have any sexuality then. Good girls (and most good guys) were marrying as virgins, that is until Dr Kinsey came out with his shocking ground-breaking study on Sexuality that proved otherwise. Television and movies were heavily censored, violence was many times more acceptable than nudity. Sexual desires/acts had to be "hinted to" or assumed by it's consequences (such as babies) on the big screen.

Joy in the Morning is a melodramatic depiction of a reality that is unfortunately "too real" and "too common" as I would find out in my later years. The themes depicted, the tragedies and the conflicts are ageless and would be retold successfully time over (The Graduate 1967, Love Story 1970...). Despite what powers to be want us to believe, love is ... "what makes the world go round" and the only reason we are on earth for besides survival. We (man/woman) could not live a fulfilling life if it was not for love regardless of who it is directed at (spouse, family, friends...). This is why this movie did hit a sensitive area in my heart. It is refreshing to look at what life was supposed to be then with good production values, excellent music score, and the hope that one day, I too will find the right person for me.

Overall, Joy in the Morning is a sweet and realistic story of the times to enjoy with your loved one on the couch, sipping a soda and eating popcorn, like the good old days...