i really like this film. unlike some other reviewers i think the chemistry between niven and day is strong - they presented like a genuine married couple. the script is versatile, witty on the one hand, but also able to shift to the more dramatic. the argument between day and niven as he reveals his desire for professional success is very well done. niven himself was laugh out loud funny on many occasions, and the portrayal of parenthoood was quite charming. the song at the school doesn't do anything for me, so i tend to fast forward past that scene. however that is a matter of personal preference: i enjoy doris day as an actress much more than as a singer. it's an amusing, easy going, light hearted film, perfect for afternoon viewing.
52 Reviews
Treacly But Sweet
slokes30 August 2006
You're glad they made movies like "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" alright, simply to prove there was a time people were more innocent. Sitting through it is another matter.
The central problem with "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" as it stands today is that it suffers from a major case of indecision: Does it want to be about a theater critic who gets a big head, or does it want to be about a Manhattan mom with four sons who finds a new home in Westchester County? Doris Day stars doing what she does best, throwing off clever one-liners with a maternal glow, doing a little bit of singing, and standing by her man, in this case David Niven as theater critic Lawrence Mackay, who probably doesn't deserve her but as played by the winning Niven keeps our sympathies enough to make us happy he convinces her otherwise.
Mackay is quite taken by his new role as the Frank Rich of Mayor Wagner-era Broadway, but she's worried his becoming an influential quipmeister has made him mean, a candidate for a ride on the "down-a-lator" as expressed by a producer who used to be Mackay's friend until one of Mackay's catty reviews sundered their relationship. The producer, played by Richard Hadyn in much the same jaded manner he brought to his impresario role in "The Sound Of Music" five years later, accelerates Mackay's notoriety by having the starlet of his latest play, "Mme. Fantan," slap Mackay across the face for the benefit of a newspaper photographer after he disses her performance.
There's a great idea for a story here, about a critic coming up against the egos of himself and others, but unfortunately the result doesn't give Day much to do. Niven is neither unfaithful to her nor really all that nasty a critic. Instead of trying to make the story work better, which admittedly would risk running against the grain of a Doris Day comedy, the film throws in a subplot, about the couple and their four sons moving up the Hudson River to the bucolic suburb of Hooton and the resulting mild turmoil that causes. Thus, the entire second half of the film feels as awkwardly tacked on as the musical numbers Day performs in the final third of the programme.
It's all rather stupid, yes, but winsome, too, in that nice way that makes one nostalgic for the early 1960s. The scenery is attractively shot. The supporting actors are fun. Of the Day numbers, one, "Any Way The Wind Blows," is a terrific number with a busy bassline and some nice dipping harmonies that recalls Elvis Presley's "King Creole," fetchingly performed by Day and members of the cast as the "Hooton Holler Players." Never mind that groaner of a name, it's a good routine. The other number, the title song sung by Day and a merry band of children, should have been cut but for the fact it's a Doris Day movie and a drippy song with a kiddie chorus was what her audience wanted.
The same can be said for the whole movie. "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" is charming in a way films wouldn't dare be today. The dialogue is unnaturally whipsmart Neil-Simonesque, even when it's Day talking to one of her sons ("All he does is eat and sleep." "He's a dog. What d'ya want from him, blank verse?"). The youngest boy is clearly overdubbed by a woman with a cutesy voice, saying "Cokee Cola" as he drops water bags on people in a way that's supposed to suggest Tom Sawyer, not lawsuits. The dog jumps into Niven's arms at the sight of a squirrel, and he raises his magnificent eyebrows as only David Niven can at the idea of finding himself in a lightweight suburban farce.
Day makes you glad you stopped by, a suburbanite dream in her snug Capri slacks who finds the humor in every scene. Limited, yes, but very good in her genre, enough to make a film like this at least intermittently entertaining. She and Niven do play very well off each other. Like Michael E. Barrett wrote here in another review, the scene of them in the restaurant together after Niven has had his face slapped is a terrifically acted sequence, underplayed well by both stars.
Unfortunately, the rest of film doesn't rise to that same level of subtlety. Instead, she does her suburban mom thing while he plays the non-vicious critic with a vicious reputation, until at the end we are asked to pretend the twain come to meet and all is resolved. It doesn't, but the nicest thing to be said for "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" is that it's so genial it makes you willing to pretend otherwise.
The central problem with "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" as it stands today is that it suffers from a major case of indecision: Does it want to be about a theater critic who gets a big head, or does it want to be about a Manhattan mom with four sons who finds a new home in Westchester County? Doris Day stars doing what she does best, throwing off clever one-liners with a maternal glow, doing a little bit of singing, and standing by her man, in this case David Niven as theater critic Lawrence Mackay, who probably doesn't deserve her but as played by the winning Niven keeps our sympathies enough to make us happy he convinces her otherwise.
Mackay is quite taken by his new role as the Frank Rich of Mayor Wagner-era Broadway, but she's worried his becoming an influential quipmeister has made him mean, a candidate for a ride on the "down-a-lator" as expressed by a producer who used to be Mackay's friend until one of Mackay's catty reviews sundered their relationship. The producer, played by Richard Hadyn in much the same jaded manner he brought to his impresario role in "The Sound Of Music" five years later, accelerates Mackay's notoriety by having the starlet of his latest play, "Mme. Fantan," slap Mackay across the face for the benefit of a newspaper photographer after he disses her performance.
There's a great idea for a story here, about a critic coming up against the egos of himself and others, but unfortunately the result doesn't give Day much to do. Niven is neither unfaithful to her nor really all that nasty a critic. Instead of trying to make the story work better, which admittedly would risk running against the grain of a Doris Day comedy, the film throws in a subplot, about the couple and their four sons moving up the Hudson River to the bucolic suburb of Hooton and the resulting mild turmoil that causes. Thus, the entire second half of the film feels as awkwardly tacked on as the musical numbers Day performs in the final third of the programme.
It's all rather stupid, yes, but winsome, too, in that nice way that makes one nostalgic for the early 1960s. The scenery is attractively shot. The supporting actors are fun. Of the Day numbers, one, "Any Way The Wind Blows," is a terrific number with a busy bassline and some nice dipping harmonies that recalls Elvis Presley's "King Creole," fetchingly performed by Day and members of the cast as the "Hooton Holler Players." Never mind that groaner of a name, it's a good routine. The other number, the title song sung by Day and a merry band of children, should have been cut but for the fact it's a Doris Day movie and a drippy song with a kiddie chorus was what her audience wanted.
The same can be said for the whole movie. "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" is charming in a way films wouldn't dare be today. The dialogue is unnaturally whipsmart Neil-Simonesque, even when it's Day talking to one of her sons ("All he does is eat and sleep." "He's a dog. What d'ya want from him, blank verse?"). The youngest boy is clearly overdubbed by a woman with a cutesy voice, saying "Cokee Cola" as he drops water bags on people in a way that's supposed to suggest Tom Sawyer, not lawsuits. The dog jumps into Niven's arms at the sight of a squirrel, and he raises his magnificent eyebrows as only David Niven can at the idea of finding himself in a lightweight suburban farce.
Day makes you glad you stopped by, a suburbanite dream in her snug Capri slacks who finds the humor in every scene. Limited, yes, but very good in her genre, enough to make a film like this at least intermittently entertaining. She and Niven do play very well off each other. Like Michael E. Barrett wrote here in another review, the scene of them in the restaurant together after Niven has had his face slapped is a terrifically acted sequence, underplayed well by both stars.
Unfortunately, the rest of film doesn't rise to that same level of subtlety. Instead, she does her suburban mom thing while he plays the non-vicious critic with a vicious reputation, until at the end we are asked to pretend the twain come to meet and all is resolved. It doesn't, but the nicest thing to be said for "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" is that it's so genial it makes you willing to pretend otherwise.
Please don't ask me to like this trivial domestic comedy...
Doylenf11 May 2012
It took four sessions in front of the DVD player to get through watching PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, about as bland a domestic comedy as I've ever watched. I'm a big Doris Day fan but this was the point in her career when she started making some family films that just didn't hit the mark.
The cast is certainly pleasant enough, but the theme of boys being boys is overdone after the first twenty minutes. David Niven has the patience of a saint to put up with the nonsense forced on him here. Neither he nor Doris are able to overcome the inadequacies of an uninspired script that turns out to be a hodge-podge of ideas left over from GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (about a house in the country) and MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, self-explanatory.
To her credit, Day performs with natural ease throughout and even manages to toss off the vapid title song without losing her dignity. Best in support are Janis Paige as a sexy temptress who tries to lure Niven into her clutches and Richard Haydn who seems to be preparing for his subsequent role in THE SOUND OF MUSIC as a theatrical man who knows his way around a script.
None of it is very funny, even with Patsy Kelly as a housemaid. The fluffy dog, Hobo, has a genuinely funny scene or two and there's the youngest child kept in a cage who steals a couple of scenes without even trying. But all in all, this one taxes the patience of anyone who develops a bad case of deja vu, having seen it all before.
Summing up: Has the flavor of a TV situation comedy that goes on long beyond the half-hour mark. Banal best describes the weak script. The Jean Kerr book must have been mildly amusing.
The cast is certainly pleasant enough, but the theme of boys being boys is overdone after the first twenty minutes. David Niven has the patience of a saint to put up with the nonsense forced on him here. Neither he nor Doris are able to overcome the inadequacies of an uninspired script that turns out to be a hodge-podge of ideas left over from GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (about a house in the country) and MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, self-explanatory.
To her credit, Day performs with natural ease throughout and even manages to toss off the vapid title song without losing her dignity. Best in support are Janis Paige as a sexy temptress who tries to lure Niven into her clutches and Richard Haydn who seems to be preparing for his subsequent role in THE SOUND OF MUSIC as a theatrical man who knows his way around a script.
None of it is very funny, even with Patsy Kelly as a housemaid. The fluffy dog, Hobo, has a genuinely funny scene or two and there's the youngest child kept in a cage who steals a couple of scenes without even trying. But all in all, this one taxes the patience of anyone who develops a bad case of deja vu, having seen it all before.
Summing up: Has the flavor of a TV situation comedy that goes on long beyond the half-hour mark. Banal best describes the weak script. The Jean Kerr book must have been mildly amusing.
Really Very Entertaining
dencar_114 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I have read so many negative comments about this movie and I don't know why. It's fresh, funny, and very entertaining. David Niven is well cast as the ambitious New York critic dreaming of higher social circles and a house in the suburbs. The story is loosely based on the experiences of author Jean Kerr as she juggled children and a profession. She was also married to New York drama critic John Kerr.
Janis Paige is a natural as the Broadway vixen with eyes for Niven. And Richard Haydn is excellent as the urbane Broadway producer and agent for Paige who sets out to settle the score with Niven after Niven's negative theatrical review of his musical. Haydin devilishly tries to let the air out of Niven's inflated ego by getting Day to stage one of Niven's college theatrical stinkbombs, but Niven beats everyone to the punch and admits to it in his column. As for Doris Day--she's colorful, exuberant, and as appealing as ever. Besides the title song PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, she reprises one of her huge 1950's hits QUE, SERA SERA in a quaint Italian restaurant to Niven.
Perhaps the best scene in the movie is the confrontation between Day and Niven when Niven learns that Haydn has tricked Day into using one of his old college scripts for a church production. When Niven realizes what is happening, he explodes and refuses to allow his play to be produced. Day lays into Niven for his insensitive and self-centered attitude--the result of his new-found celebrity as a New York drama critic. The exchange between them in the school auditorium truly showcases the polished side of Day's dramatic talent.
PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES does not pretend to be anything more than what it is: a light-hearted comedy about a wholesome family adjusting to the country as children, mother-in-law, and New York social life become gremlins working against a married couple's bliss. But DAISIES is also an entertaining pastiche from an era when the worst things that happened to a family meant scrambling for the right baby sitter and dealing with the serendipity of transplanting to the suburbs.
Dennis Caracciolo
Janis Paige is a natural as the Broadway vixen with eyes for Niven. And Richard Haydn is excellent as the urbane Broadway producer and agent for Paige who sets out to settle the score with Niven after Niven's negative theatrical review of his musical. Haydin devilishly tries to let the air out of Niven's inflated ego by getting Day to stage one of Niven's college theatrical stinkbombs, but Niven beats everyone to the punch and admits to it in his column. As for Doris Day--she's colorful, exuberant, and as appealing as ever. Besides the title song PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, she reprises one of her huge 1950's hits QUE, SERA SERA in a quaint Italian restaurant to Niven.
Perhaps the best scene in the movie is the confrontation between Day and Niven when Niven learns that Haydn has tricked Day into using one of his old college scripts for a church production. When Niven realizes what is happening, he explodes and refuses to allow his play to be produced. Day lays into Niven for his insensitive and self-centered attitude--the result of his new-found celebrity as a New York drama critic. The exchange between them in the school auditorium truly showcases the polished side of Day's dramatic talent.
PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES does not pretend to be anything more than what it is: a light-hearted comedy about a wholesome family adjusting to the country as children, mother-in-law, and New York social life become gremlins working against a married couple's bliss. But DAISIES is also an entertaining pastiche from an era when the worst things that happened to a family meant scrambling for the right baby sitter and dealing with the serendipity of transplanting to the suburbs.
Dennis Caracciolo
Another Dream House
bkoganbing11 August 2008
Please Don't Eat The Daisies is an updating of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House from the woman's point of view. It's taken from a humorous book of the same title by Jean Kerr, wife of the New York Herald Tribune theater critic Walter Kerr. The Kerrs have four boys instead of two girls so we're talking about double the trouble.
Trouble the children are indeed. The film actually opens with the four boys getting their baby brother to drop water balloons on poor passersby of their Manhattan apartment. Which in itself is getting too crowded. But when the real estate agent starts showing the apartment off just as their lease is expiring, Doris Day and David Niven have to move and move quickly.
Like Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, they sink quite a bit of dollars into what we would now call a fix-it-up. But where Cary was hip deep in his involvement in the new house, David Niven is all caught up in his work as one of New York's drama critics. It's up to Doris to keep the household together and get the house livable.
Niven's got his own troubles too, he breaks a friendship with an old friend Richard Haydn when he gives producer Haydn's play a bad review. Not to mention a public slap at Sardi's from Haydn's star Janis Paige who will match her fanny with anyone's. Janis did have quite the derrière back in the day.
Haydn's really got a great scheme to get back at Niven for the bad review. It's a pip, you have to see Please Don't Eat The Daisies for.
Doris gets to sing three songs, including the title song which became a big hit for her. It's perfectly suited to her style.
She sings well and David Niven is as debonair and charming as he always is on the screen. The film even spawned a television series later on in the decade. Please Don't Eat The Daisies still holds up well as good family entertainment.
Trouble the children are indeed. The film actually opens with the four boys getting their baby brother to drop water balloons on poor passersby of their Manhattan apartment. Which in itself is getting too crowded. But when the real estate agent starts showing the apartment off just as their lease is expiring, Doris Day and David Niven have to move and move quickly.
Like Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, they sink quite a bit of dollars into what we would now call a fix-it-up. But where Cary was hip deep in his involvement in the new house, David Niven is all caught up in his work as one of New York's drama critics. It's up to Doris to keep the household together and get the house livable.
Niven's got his own troubles too, he breaks a friendship with an old friend Richard Haydn when he gives producer Haydn's play a bad review. Not to mention a public slap at Sardi's from Haydn's star Janis Paige who will match her fanny with anyone's. Janis did have quite the derrière back in the day.
Haydn's really got a great scheme to get back at Niven for the bad review. It's a pip, you have to see Please Don't Eat The Daisies for.
Doris gets to sing three songs, including the title song which became a big hit for her. It's perfectly suited to her style.
She sings well and David Niven is as debonair and charming as he always is on the screen. The film even spawned a television series later on in the decade. Please Don't Eat The Daisies still holds up well as good family entertainment.
enjoyable Doris Day film
blanche-24 December 2006
Based on the best-selling novel by Jean Kerr, "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" is the story of a New York City family, the Mackays - four boys, a wife Kate (Doris Day) and her husband Larry (David Niven). Suddenly, Larry finds success as a powerful theater critic, and Kate wants to move out to the country, which was always their dream. However, it's not really Larry's dream any longer. He's heady on New York success and wants to be near Theater Row. Conflict comes with his changing values.
This is a nice story co-starring Spring Byington as Kate's mother and Patsy Kelly as the family housekeeper. It doesn't compare with the sparkling Doris-Rock comedies. I happen to like David Niven in the role - he's what you would expect from a New York critic - above it all, sophisticated, egotistical, well-educated but ultimately likable.
Day is very good as always and gets to sing, but the whole thing is a little too much. There aren't enough laughs to make it really funny. The brightest part of the movie for me was Janis Paige as Deborah Vaughn, an actress/singer decimated by Mackay in a review who then becomes attracted to him. She looks gorgeous, she's sexy, and she supplies the bite that the story needed more of. If the writers had built up that part of the story, the movie might have turned out better. The other part they could have built up is the awful play that Larry wrote that ends up being produced by the local community theater. Some scenes from that with Doris would have been great.
Day, as it turned out, was at her best when Ross Hunter made her over into a glamorous, sophisticated woman herself and teamed her up with Rock Hudson and gave her glossy productions and great clothes. This film was made was right at that transition. Day is a very vibrant presence but she can't elevate this material to more than what it was - a pleasant family comedy.
This is a nice story co-starring Spring Byington as Kate's mother and Patsy Kelly as the family housekeeper. It doesn't compare with the sparkling Doris-Rock comedies. I happen to like David Niven in the role - he's what you would expect from a New York critic - above it all, sophisticated, egotistical, well-educated but ultimately likable.
Day is very good as always and gets to sing, but the whole thing is a little too much. There aren't enough laughs to make it really funny. The brightest part of the movie for me was Janis Paige as Deborah Vaughn, an actress/singer decimated by Mackay in a review who then becomes attracted to him. She looks gorgeous, she's sexy, and she supplies the bite that the story needed more of. If the writers had built up that part of the story, the movie might have turned out better. The other part they could have built up is the awful play that Larry wrote that ends up being produced by the local community theater. Some scenes from that with Doris would have been great.
Day, as it turned out, was at her best when Ross Hunter made her over into a glamorous, sophisticated woman herself and teamed her up with Rock Hudson and gave her glossy productions and great clothes. This film was made was right at that transition. Day is a very vibrant presence but she can't elevate this material to more than what it was - a pleasant family comedy.
Not quite as fresh as a daisy, worth seeing it grow though
TheLittleSongbird24 July 2017
'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' is another Doris Day film that was seen recently as a quest to see all of her films not yet seen. After seeing it, 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' is worth seeing, it is not quite as fresh as a daisy but sticking with it and seeing it grow is worth it.
Day has certainly done much better films, as has David Niven and Charles Walters, but Day has also done worse. 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' at its best is delightful and doesn't try to do any more than necessary and be more than it is. Its reputation seems to be mixed to lukewarm, count me in as those who thinks it deserves better. It is certainly not without its faults.
Like in 'It Happened to Jane', and almost as badly, the children are badly cast, try far too hard to be cute and end up being so sugary cutesy it'll give one toothache and are at their worst rather obnoxious. The film does drag a little towards the end, as a result of trying to do a little too much, and a couple of scenes at this point are not placed as comfortably as they could have been.
Likewise with the otherwise pleasant songs, the title song coming off best. Once again Day sounds beautiful, musically and in an interpretative sense she's spot on and there is a lot of sincerity in her singing.
Day is a sheer delight in 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' too. She is perky and charming with a naturally sparkling presence and deft comic timing. David Niven is debonair and urbane and the two gel so well and dazzle together. Niven is particularly good with Janis Paige however, which boast some hilarious moments. Great support from lively Janis Paige, ever scene-stealing Spring Byington and suitably stuffy Richard Haydn.
Charles Walters seems comfortable with the material, and handles it and the cast well and mostly handles the various subplots adeptly. There is a lot going on here with five subplots, the story could easily have been bloated but manages not to be and it's all done in a way that's fun and relatable.
Much of 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' has a fast, snappy pace, only being bogged down towards the end. The script is easy to relate to, very funny in a light way and has a surprisingly sophisticated edge.
Visually it's all very colourful and stylish with exemplary use of CinemaScope, while the music has energy and nuance.
In conclusion, not perfect but a nice film that passes the time inoffensively, and is more than a just for completests film. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Day has certainly done much better films, as has David Niven and Charles Walters, but Day has also done worse. 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' at its best is delightful and doesn't try to do any more than necessary and be more than it is. Its reputation seems to be mixed to lukewarm, count me in as those who thinks it deserves better. It is certainly not without its faults.
Like in 'It Happened to Jane', and almost as badly, the children are badly cast, try far too hard to be cute and end up being so sugary cutesy it'll give one toothache and are at their worst rather obnoxious. The film does drag a little towards the end, as a result of trying to do a little too much, and a couple of scenes at this point are not placed as comfortably as they could have been.
Likewise with the otherwise pleasant songs, the title song coming off best. Once again Day sounds beautiful, musically and in an interpretative sense she's spot on and there is a lot of sincerity in her singing.
Day is a sheer delight in 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' too. She is perky and charming with a naturally sparkling presence and deft comic timing. David Niven is debonair and urbane and the two gel so well and dazzle together. Niven is particularly good with Janis Paige however, which boast some hilarious moments. Great support from lively Janis Paige, ever scene-stealing Spring Byington and suitably stuffy Richard Haydn.
Charles Walters seems comfortable with the material, and handles it and the cast well and mostly handles the various subplots adeptly. There is a lot going on here with five subplots, the story could easily have been bloated but manages not to be and it's all done in a way that's fun and relatable.
Much of 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' has a fast, snappy pace, only being bogged down towards the end. The script is easy to relate to, very funny in a light way and has a surprisingly sophisticated edge.
Visually it's all very colourful and stylish with exemplary use of CinemaScope, while the music has energy and nuance.
In conclusion, not perfect but a nice film that passes the time inoffensively, and is more than a just for completests film. 7/10 Bethany Cox
When you could get away with locking your kid in a cage
sol-14 December 2015
Being an honest theatre critic proves unexpectedly challenging for a college professor and his wife in this oddly titled comedy starring David Niven and Doris Day. The film is essentially two tales in one. It is partially about the theatre critic job getting to Niven's head and partially about the impact on Day who has to raise their four bratty children on their own (as he is so busy), something that eventually leads them to moving out of the city to the countryside where they experience new house woes. For a film so clearly structured as two overlapping tales, 'Please Don't Eat the Dasies' works surprisingly well. As an avid film-goer, it is easy to sympathise with Niven's desire to only give credit where credit is due when writing reviews, and as with Bob Hope's subsequent 'Critic's Choice', the film taps into the difficulty of resisting wittiness over descriptions when writing reviews. Day's dilemmas are not quite as interesting (and the film very awkwardly squeezes in no less than three songs for her to sing) but she is solid in her own right, noticeably suffocated under the weight of her children. On the downside, her kids are too obnoxious to ever be cute or really funny, but one might argue this as intentional. It is certainly at least hard to think of another mainstream movie that has managed to get away with playing up the locking up of a kid in a cage for laughs (!). Of course, the film's most unique aspect is its title, modeled on the contrary nature of the couple's kids who think nothing of eating all their daisies because they have never been told not to!
A bright, sweet Doris Day confection for her fans.
ipra4 January 2006
Although made in 1960, this classic sampling of Doris Day fluff is more a product of the 50s than the coming decade of the 60s. As ever, Miss Day is gorgeous and perfectly turned out, this time the mother of four small boys, an aspiring playwright overshadowed by her theater critic husband, coping with a series of domestic crises while she attempts to move her family from a city apartment to an improbably ramshackle English-style country house. 'Improbable' is indeed the word for the entire plot of this movie, but then probability was seldom the reason we went to the movies in the 50s. Bouyed along by the bright force of Miss Day's personality, the light touch and easy charm of David Niven, and ably supported by Janice Paige, Spring Byington, and Richard Haydn, this pic has all the bouncy sweetness and escapism her fans so appreciate in Miss Day's work. So, if you are looking for a 2-hour time trip to what seems like a kinder and gentler time, don't mind bumping your nose against a few cultural idiosyncrasies of the 50s (and no Day fan can avoid that), enjoy discovering some charming but forgotten musical numbers, appreciate really great vintage clothes, and generally believe it is hard for Miss Day to do any wrong, this seldom-mentioned film is just the ticket!
Lovely stars telling us life is good.
bobbysamadhi28 May 2011
Worth it for the Metrocolor and the interior sets alone. Well-written. Well-acted. The story takes time in developing depth, but the depth is there. They don't force it. People mock Doris Day films mostly because they don't understand the worth of that, and are not accustomed to relaxing.
The early part of the movie struggles a little to match the novel in evoking what is happening under the surface. Comedy-drama is not an easy genre, the strain shows a little. But well worth the ride. Relaxing and rewarding viewing, with satisfying (often surprising) laughs.
The early part of the movie struggles a little to match the novel in evoking what is happening under the surface. Comedy-drama is not an easy genre, the strain shows a little. But well worth the ride. Relaxing and rewarding viewing, with satisfying (often surprising) laughs.
I am not really sure what this film was supposed to be....
planktonrules30 October 2016
After finishing watching "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" I was left with an unusual situation....I really had no idea WHAT the film was supposed to be. After all, at times, it seemed like a kooky comedy, at other times a film about a battling couple who really DIDN'T like each other, at others a film about adultery (which never actually materialized in any way) as well as a romance. I just was confused about the film and felt it was a muddled mess of a plot...especially the 'great' advice to the husband by his mother-in-law at the end of the film!
Laurence Mackay (David Niven) is a reviewer who just got a big job with a top New York newspaper. His wife, Kate (Doris Day), is a mother who seems to actually rarely be home with her four kids--possibly because they are very strange and annoying brats. However, a strange thing happens...the longer Laurence reviews plays the more of a giant walking butt-head he seems to be. He becomes perpetually grouchy and is insufferable to live with...and you wonder why the missus doesn't just poison him. And, so it goes through much of the movie.
As I said above, I really wasn't sure what the film intended here as the style film kept changing and some times it seemed as if some of the stories just disappeared before there was any resolution (such as the sexy Broadway leading lady who was trying to vamp Laurence...and then, inexplicably, just seemed to wander off). I didn't like the film very much and felt that there were great moments...but none of it really fit together or worked towards any purpose.
Laurence Mackay (David Niven) is a reviewer who just got a big job with a top New York newspaper. His wife, Kate (Doris Day), is a mother who seems to actually rarely be home with her four kids--possibly because they are very strange and annoying brats. However, a strange thing happens...the longer Laurence reviews plays the more of a giant walking butt-head he seems to be. He becomes perpetually grouchy and is insufferable to live with...and you wonder why the missus doesn't just poison him. And, so it goes through much of the movie.
As I said above, I really wasn't sure what the film intended here as the style film kept changing and some times it seemed as if some of the stories just disappeared before there was any resolution (such as the sexy Broadway leading lady who was trying to vamp Laurence...and then, inexplicably, just seemed to wander off). I didn't like the film very much and felt that there were great moments...but none of it really fit together or worked towards any purpose.
Amusing Story With Lots of Star-Powered Charm
gftbiloxi2 May 2005
Based on the popular book by Jean Kerr, PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISY is probably the best of Doris Day's 1960s comedies--and it finds her surprisingly paired with David Niven. While the two may seem an unlikely couple, they have extremely good on-screen chemistry, and the film neatly balances its story between the two stars so that neither overshadows the other.
Day plays Kate MacKay, mother of four hellions and the long suffering wife of esoteric drama critic Larry MacKay (Niven.) With her husband under siege by every actor, director, and producer in town, Kate decides to move the family to a home in the country--and in the process leaves her husband open to the temptations of Broadway star Deborah Vaughn (Janis Paige.) Before too long, Larry's swelling ego threatens their happy home.
The cast is expert, with both Day and Niven extremely enjoyable and Janis Paige memorable as the Broadway siren who attempts to lead Niven astray; the supporting roles are also expertly handled by a cast that includes Spring Byington. The script is witty with a dash of sophisticated sparkle, and unlike most of Day's later comedies manages to avoid the feel of frantic farce. A truly enjoyable outing; pure fun all the way.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Day plays Kate MacKay, mother of four hellions and the long suffering wife of esoteric drama critic Larry MacKay (Niven.) With her husband under siege by every actor, director, and producer in town, Kate decides to move the family to a home in the country--and in the process leaves her husband open to the temptations of Broadway star Deborah Vaughn (Janis Paige.) Before too long, Larry's swelling ego threatens their happy home.
The cast is expert, with both Day and Niven extremely enjoyable and Janis Paige memorable as the Broadway siren who attempts to lead Niven astray; the supporting roles are also expertly handled by a cast that includes Spring Byington. The script is witty with a dash of sophisticated sparkle, and unlike most of Day's later comedies manages to avoid the feel of frantic farce. A truly enjoyable outing; pure fun all the way.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Kerrt, Klear and Koncise
writers_reign25 September 2012
Warning: Spoilers
At the back of my mind there lurks an idea that Jean Kerr was a pretty good writer and a dab hand with the one-liners. I recall a play she wrote, Mary, Mary, and a musical, Goldilocks for which she wrote Book and Lyrics in collaboration with her husband Walter, the noted New York Drama Critic, who appears here lightly disguised as David Niven which, of course, makes Doris Day an incarnation of Jean Kerr herself. Isobel Lennart is also no slouch at cobbling a screenplay together yet somehow both writers just miss - at least for me. Not a lot wrong with Day or Niven and they're about 90 per cent believable as a married couple, Janis Paige could phone in the 'other woman' by that stage in her career and if Spring Byington can't play Spring Byington by now she never will. I watched till the end and that's about all I can say for it.
Impossibly Bad!
jmillerdp27 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Wow! Here's a "classic" movie that is anything but classic. It's a meandering, unfocused mess. There is zero chemistry between Doris Day and David Niven. Their's is a pairing that could only be understood by a delusional studio executive. Doris Day is reduced to singing her "Que Sera Sera" again, for no reason, and then does another musical number, again for no reason.
There's just all kinds of stuff going on, most of it inexplicable. Like Day and Niven's family not just moving to the country, but moving into a house that looks like something out of "The Munsters!" And, I guess they just see that one house and decide to buy it on the spot!
What follows are just pointless plot and subplots going back and forth until the film thankfully comes to an end! And, they can't even do one shot on location. Very studio bound and lazy!
I know that people get nostalgic for old films, but they really shouldn't be nostalgic about this one!
** (2 Out of 10 Stars)
There's just all kinds of stuff going on, most of it inexplicable. Like Day and Niven's family not just moving to the country, but moving into a house that looks like something out of "The Munsters!" And, I guess they just see that one house and decide to buy it on the spot!
What follows are just pointless plot and subplots going back and forth until the film thankfully comes to an end! And, they can't even do one shot on location. Very studio bound and lazy!
I know that people get nostalgic for old films, but they really shouldn't be nostalgic about this one!
** (2 Out of 10 Stars)
Mature, underrated classic (possible spoilers)
michael.e.barrett31 January 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen the screenwriter Isobel Lennart's name on a few standout films, and she seems consistently to write about people who love and support each other and give each other encouragement, and whose conficts arise from this very love and consideration for each other's feelings more than what they want for themselves. I noticed this in the very underrated "It Happened in Brooklyn" and "Fitzwilly" and again in this film.
"Daisies" isn't a slapstick family movie about the kids' antics but a serious portrait of the marriage between Doris Day and David Niven and the crisis over his career as a theatre critic (based on the reality of Mary and Walter Kerr). The central conflict is whether Niven, a frustrated playwright turned critic, is in danger of becoming a witty personality who skewers others' works. The answer is: not really. His values are still solid but he has to prove it. Doris worries about him and has wanted them to leave NY for a suburb. They do move but it's a compromise for both--like marriage and life.
The script doesn't cut away after a punch line; it leaves characters to deal with the situation. Perfect example: restaurant scene where an actress who feels insulted by a review slaps his face, humiliating him just as his wife walks in. If this were some stupid movie, he'd be spluttering while the music razzed him and we faded out, or he'd promptly get in a new fight with his wife who wanted to know who was that woman slapping his face, or you can write it yourself. Instead, his wife grasps the situation perfectly and sits down to brazen out their lunch while smiling diners look on; they support each other, share how angry they feel and go on with their lives as they must. There's a wonderful lengthy scene where the situation turns into a real argument in their apartment about his preferring to stay in NY, admitting that it's nice for the first time to be a receiving some attention as a writer, it's what he's doing to support them, etc, while she sees her dreams of the country and "saving" him recede from her, and it doesn't at all sound like a contrived movie argument. They're not bickering for our amusement, like Doris & Rock. They have points of view that are slightly but significantly different, and best of all, the scene leaves them standing there while it hangs in the air; they move apart and change the subject before they go too far, having some breathing room as she goes into the kitchen to make sandwiches and think, and then approaches it with fresh psychology that concedes this and that and makes him concede the move to the country, and they both understand perfectly what's going on. I thought "This writer knows how civilized couples argue."
I could also go on about the actress, essentially an "other woman" role who tries to vamp Niven and is initially presented as merely a bad actress. She comes across as a woman who frankly understands her world and isn't trying to put something over on Niven that he's not smart enough to handle. He admits to being flattered and even coming to like her, and that's it. How well you can imagine another movie with the vixen laying traps for the hapless guy and Doris stumbling across some info about them having lunch and getting jealous etc., but that's just not how Lennart handles it. Doris doesn't worry about this individual but the general nature of her husband's new life, what it means for the family, and above all how it affects Niven himself.
I will repeat one exchange that probably comes from Mary Kerr's book. It was funny, but it's an example of what the screenplay really was NOT: a string of zingers. They did keep dropping dry comments out of Kerr, but there was more substance than that. So the whole family is looking at the house they bought, which looks like the Addams Family's, and one kid says "It's like out of Ivanhoe." Dad says "Oh, I'm afraid it's much older than that." Then another kid says "Why is it so big?" Doris says "Because we couldn't afford anything smaller."
"Daisies" isn't a slapstick family movie about the kids' antics but a serious portrait of the marriage between Doris Day and David Niven and the crisis over his career as a theatre critic (based on the reality of Mary and Walter Kerr). The central conflict is whether Niven, a frustrated playwright turned critic, is in danger of becoming a witty personality who skewers others' works. The answer is: not really. His values are still solid but he has to prove it. Doris worries about him and has wanted them to leave NY for a suburb. They do move but it's a compromise for both--like marriage and life.
The script doesn't cut away after a punch line; it leaves characters to deal with the situation. Perfect example: restaurant scene where an actress who feels insulted by a review slaps his face, humiliating him just as his wife walks in. If this were some stupid movie, he'd be spluttering while the music razzed him and we faded out, or he'd promptly get in a new fight with his wife who wanted to know who was that woman slapping his face, or you can write it yourself. Instead, his wife grasps the situation perfectly and sits down to brazen out their lunch while smiling diners look on; they support each other, share how angry they feel and go on with their lives as they must. There's a wonderful lengthy scene where the situation turns into a real argument in their apartment about his preferring to stay in NY, admitting that it's nice for the first time to be a receiving some attention as a writer, it's what he's doing to support them, etc, while she sees her dreams of the country and "saving" him recede from her, and it doesn't at all sound like a contrived movie argument. They're not bickering for our amusement, like Doris & Rock. They have points of view that are slightly but significantly different, and best of all, the scene leaves them standing there while it hangs in the air; they move apart and change the subject before they go too far, having some breathing room as she goes into the kitchen to make sandwiches and think, and then approaches it with fresh psychology that concedes this and that and makes him concede the move to the country, and they both understand perfectly what's going on. I thought "This writer knows how civilized couples argue."
I could also go on about the actress, essentially an "other woman" role who tries to vamp Niven and is initially presented as merely a bad actress. She comes across as a woman who frankly understands her world and isn't trying to put something over on Niven that he's not smart enough to handle. He admits to being flattered and even coming to like her, and that's it. How well you can imagine another movie with the vixen laying traps for the hapless guy and Doris stumbling across some info about them having lunch and getting jealous etc., but that's just not how Lennart handles it. Doris doesn't worry about this individual but the general nature of her husband's new life, what it means for the family, and above all how it affects Niven himself.
I will repeat one exchange that probably comes from Mary Kerr's book. It was funny, but it's an example of what the screenplay really was NOT: a string of zingers. They did keep dropping dry comments out of Kerr, but there was more substance than that. So the whole family is looking at the house they bought, which looks like the Addams Family's, and one kid says "It's like out of Ivanhoe." Dad says "Oh, I'm afraid it's much older than that." Then another kid says "Why is it so big?" Doris says "Because we couldn't afford anything smaller."
slightest hints of humor
SnoopyStyle24 October 2020
Professor Lawrence Mackay (David Niven), his wife Kate (Doris Day), and four rambunctious young sons live in a Manhattan apartment. As a theater critic, he seems to enjoy the city night life more than Kate. They are being forced out and they move out into the country. It's a rundown mansion that needs a lot of fixing up. Lawrence starts getting pursued by the beautiful Deborah Vaughn despite giving her a bad review.
The humor exists somewhat. Doris hums a bit of Que Sera. The four kids give some opportunity for high jinks and chaos. Niven and Day form a functional marriage. They're fine as a long married couple who are dealing with stuff. There is a bit of Money Pit. It's 50's housewife stuff. The question is whether they are funny doing it. It's light. It has some humorous moments. Doris Day is good at delivering those sly jokes like the ear rings and elevator. It's the slightest hints of humor. One can't get angry at it but one won't get more than a few chuckles either.
The humor exists somewhat. Doris hums a bit of Que Sera. The four kids give some opportunity for high jinks and chaos. Niven and Day form a functional marriage. They're fine as a long married couple who are dealing with stuff. There is a bit of Money Pit. It's 50's housewife stuff. The question is whether they are funny doing it. It's light. It has some humorous moments. Doris Day is good at delivering those sly jokes like the ear rings and elevator. It's the slightest hints of humor. One can't get angry at it but one won't get more than a few chuckles either.
Dated domestic comedy comes across as forced and tiresome.
movieman-20015 June 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Please Don't Eat The Daisies (1960) is a little comedy study that is one year too late in celebrating the 50s sexual stereotype of 'the little woman'. It stars David Niven and Doris Day as Lawrence and Kay McKay. He's a Drama critic. She just wants to be a housewife. Their happy, if cramped, in a Manhattan apartment with four sons, David (Charles Herbert), Gabriel (Stanley Livingston), George (Flip Mark) and Adam (Baby Gellert). However, at the behest of Kay, the family departs the elegance of New York for suburbia and clean living. Well, almost.
Seems Lawrence can't or won't entirely leave the Big Apple behind. That his work precludes a complete departure from the social depravity of Broadway stage door Johnnies and scheming starlets is an angle played up when it appears as though Lawrence has decided to sack Kay and family for the lovely and flirtatious Deborah Vaughn (Janis Paige). Complications ensue as long time friends Suzie Robinson (Spring Byington) and Alfred North (Richard Haydn) get involved though only manage to make a simple case of mistaken judgment develop into a full blown comedy of errors. And then, of course, there's the whole mix up with Reverend McQuarry (John Harding) that begs to be reconsidered.
Based on Jean Kerr's humorous novel, ably adapted by Isobel Lennart, director Charles Walters directs with his usual panache, but is decidedly saddled with, and forced to do damage control over, Niven's central performance as the blundering Lawrence. Honestly, the poor man's made to look ridiculous around every corner an ill fit for one of the most accomplished and adroit British actors of his time. Day manages to come up with some winning moments, but she too has seem better days and far better material. This film perhaps foreshadows the sort of 'reluctant domestic' role that the rest of her tenure with Rock Hudson would carry over. Apparently, and despite its overall entertainment value shortcomings, there is something to be said for timing. 'Please Don't Eat The Daisies' played to solid box office and even found renewed life as a television sitcom starring Brian Keith. Go figure.
The anamorphic transfer from Warner Bros. is just average. Colors are dated and sometimes even muddy. Blacks are not very deep or solid. Whites are generally clean but slightly yellow. Shadow and contrast levels are disappointing. Save Day's rendition of the title song, the audio sounds rather unnatural and strident. Dialogue is decidedly forward sounding with no spread across the channels. The only extra is a theatrical trailer.
Seems Lawrence can't or won't entirely leave the Big Apple behind. That his work precludes a complete departure from the social depravity of Broadway stage door Johnnies and scheming starlets is an angle played up when it appears as though Lawrence has decided to sack Kay and family for the lovely and flirtatious Deborah Vaughn (Janis Paige). Complications ensue as long time friends Suzie Robinson (Spring Byington) and Alfred North (Richard Haydn) get involved though only manage to make a simple case of mistaken judgment develop into a full blown comedy of errors. And then, of course, there's the whole mix up with Reverend McQuarry (John Harding) that begs to be reconsidered.
Based on Jean Kerr's humorous novel, ably adapted by Isobel Lennart, director Charles Walters directs with his usual panache, but is decidedly saddled with, and forced to do damage control over, Niven's central performance as the blundering Lawrence. Honestly, the poor man's made to look ridiculous around every corner an ill fit for one of the most accomplished and adroit British actors of his time. Day manages to come up with some winning moments, but she too has seem better days and far better material. This film perhaps foreshadows the sort of 'reluctant domestic' role that the rest of her tenure with Rock Hudson would carry over. Apparently, and despite its overall entertainment value shortcomings, there is something to be said for timing. 'Please Don't Eat The Daisies' played to solid box office and even found renewed life as a television sitcom starring Brian Keith. Go figure.
The anamorphic transfer from Warner Bros. is just average. Colors are dated and sometimes even muddy. Blacks are not very deep or solid. Whites are generally clean but slightly yellow. Shadow and contrast levels are disappointing. Save Day's rendition of the title song, the audio sounds rather unnatural and strident. Dialogue is decidedly forward sounding with no spread across the channels. The only extra is a theatrical trailer.
A so so film
Kingslaay2 October 2021
Despite a stellar cast and a lot of potential this film was a bit of a lame duck. A real shame with the likes of Doris Day and David Niven. There could have been a lot more comedy but instead you got a very uninspired and ordinary film about marriage woes. A few of us might think even the ordinary woes were exaggerated. I found myself asking so what at the end. It was nothing special and B grade movie.
Not a single daisy was eaten!
cbrook-0841913 June 2022
Please don't burn the daisies
MissSimonetta16 August 2021
WOW, the comments here are nastier than an open sewer!
I get that 1950s-style family comedies are perhaps a hard sell even for modern-day classic film fans, but the hate PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES gets is staggering to me. It's hardly the funniest or greatest film of all time, but I found the central relationship between Doris Day and David Niven's characters mature and realistic. There's a decided lack of dated "father knows best" stereotyping-- everyone is flawed and real-- and there's no contrived melodrama either. It's slow, sure (when you watch old movies regularly, you expect that), but I found the movie charming and relaxing.
I get that 1950s-style family comedies are perhaps a hard sell even for modern-day classic film fans, but the hate PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES gets is staggering to me. It's hardly the funniest or greatest film of all time, but I found the central relationship between Doris Day and David Niven's characters mature and realistic. There's a decided lack of dated "father knows best" stereotyping-- everyone is flawed and real-- and there's no contrived melodrama either. It's slow, sure (when you watch old movies regularly, you expect that), but I found the movie charming and relaxing.
Lackluster domestic comedy
funkyfry5 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I found this film to be pretty mediocre overall. The story couples Doris Day and David Niven as a couple who are moving from the city to the country just as the husband, Niven, is beginning to become a famous drama critic. Various entanglements of course arise in their new life in suburbia and in Niven's busy social life. They are surrounded by an unusual tandem of kids including one who is kept in a cage for safety reasons.
The best thing you can say about it is that it is "charming". The production is competent, the supporting cast is decent, the dialogue is good. But it's just not the type of film I personally enjoy.
The best thing you can say about it is that it is "charming". The production is competent, the supporting cast is decent, the dialogue is good. But it's just not the type of film I personally enjoy.
This movie is loads of fun
Tickerage29 March 2004
I had to comment here because the other comment was so negative. First, you have to like Doris Day to like this movie. It is one of her best and capturtes her in all of her best environs, as a mother, on the sidelines of fast lane society. How can any true fan not love this movie? She sings, she dances, and she acts.
Doris's interaction with the kids is what steals the show, she's so natural with them. The musical numbers are light and fluffy, but that was what we loved about her work! Niven makes an unexpectedly good straight man and counterpart for Doris who is all over the place. It is also interresting that Janis Page co-stars in this film as she was the top billed female in Doris's first film, Romance on the High Seas.
I think Page looks good as a blond and gives a great performance. Spring Byington is fantastic as the grandmother. The only walk-through performance is by Richard Haydn, who isnt too bad.
Anyone who loves Doris Day will consider this one of their favorite movies.
Doris's interaction with the kids is what steals the show, she's so natural with them. The musical numbers are light and fluffy, but that was what we loved about her work! Niven makes an unexpectedly good straight man and counterpart for Doris who is all over the place. It is also interresting that Janis Page co-stars in this film as she was the top billed female in Doris's first film, Romance on the High Seas.
I think Page looks good as a blond and gives a great performance. Spring Byington is fantastic as the grandmother. The only walk-through performance is by Richard Haydn, who isnt too bad.
Anyone who loves Doris Day will consider this one of their favorite movies.
Unfunny "comedy" that does not even conjure up the usual nostalgia
ecobiker-007105 August 2017
This film adapts a Jean Kerr novel about her life with a professor-turned-theater-critic. Apparently, the novel is hilarious, but this film is anything but. Even the trailer -- which for a comedy should really capture the best laugh lines -- elicited barely a chuckle. Or maybe audiences then were less sophisticated: who knows? Anyway, the best diagnosis of this film is that David Niven is horribly miscast. Doris Day is her usual charming self, if not a bit anodyne (no surprise there, sorry!), but there is just nothing by way of chemistry between David Niven and her that would make you think that this is anything but an attempt to cash in on two brand-name actors. Niven's character alternates between flying off the handle and almost robotically delivering lines better suited for some boringly handsome American actor than for an actor of Niven's caliber.
Moreover, when the story line takes the characters to the fictional Hudson River exurb of Hooton (which sounds more like somewhere in Appalachia or the Mayberry South than anything in that part of the world), the pastiche of crazy local townspeople is almost too much to bear.
That it goes on for just under two hours adds insult to injury.
Moreover, when the story line takes the characters to the fictional Hudson River exurb of Hooton (which sounds more like somewhere in Appalachia or the Mayberry South than anything in that part of the world), the pastiche of crazy local townspeople is almost too much to bear.
That it goes on for just under two hours adds insult to injury.
Feel-Good Housewife Flick!
JenExxifer2 March 2022
I give this movie 10 stars for being a blissful slice of married life!
As a married woman and a housewife in 2022, I take comfort in watching movies with housewives and storylines that focus on married couples who love each other.
While the situations in the film don't mirror my life, I did appreciate the marital spats and the resolutions, which is what I believe married life is about -- resolving problems together, and coming out of difficulties closer and better together.
I also enjoyed seeing Spring Byington and Richard Haydn who were both nice to watch in this.
The movie made me feel good and glad that I watched it; it also made me thankful that I don't have four sons!
As a married woman and a housewife in 2022, I take comfort in watching movies with housewives and storylines that focus on married couples who love each other.
While the situations in the film don't mirror my life, I did appreciate the marital spats and the resolutions, which is what I believe married life is about -- resolving problems together, and coming out of difficulties closer and better together.
I also enjoyed seeing Spring Byington and Richard Haydn who were both nice to watch in this.
The movie made me feel good and glad that I watched it; it also made me thankful that I don't have four sons!
Not One of Day's Best
dougdoepke2 November 2015
A drama critic, his wife, and four sons move from sophisticated New York digs to community-centered suburbia. Naturally adjustment problems ensue.
All in all, this A-film is a disappointment. Drama critics are just not the stuff of comedies, nor does Niven get help in lightening the mood. Then too, since both stars were at career peaks, the screenplay expands their screen time with a lot of draggy exposition that doesn't help the amusement factor. And since the plight of Broadway critics is not exactly grist for popular audiences, I expect Day was added to provide the needed appeal. Trouble is she doesn't get to do her usual sparkle. It's a subdued role a dozen lesser names could have handled, and even her meager musical numbers are not exactly show stoppers. Moreover, director Walters seems unsure what to do with the bratty boys, who could have been milked for some laughs instead of too many groans. Still, the near two-hours does have its moments, especially with a cowardly canine, and Janis Paige (Deborah) whose ambitious vixen hits just the right notes. Anyhow, the chemistry never really gels and Day fans should stick with Rock who at least gets an honorable mention from the screenplay.
All in all, this A-film is a disappointment. Drama critics are just not the stuff of comedies, nor does Niven get help in lightening the mood. Then too, since both stars were at career peaks, the screenplay expands their screen time with a lot of draggy exposition that doesn't help the amusement factor. And since the plight of Broadway critics is not exactly grist for popular audiences, I expect Day was added to provide the needed appeal. Trouble is she doesn't get to do her usual sparkle. It's a subdued role a dozen lesser names could have handled, and even her meager musical numbers are not exactly show stoppers. Moreover, director Walters seems unsure what to do with the bratty boys, who could have been milked for some laughs instead of too many groans. Still, the near two-hours does have its moments, especially with a cowardly canine, and Janis Paige (Deborah) whose ambitious vixen hits just the right notes. Anyhow, the chemistry never really gels and Day fans should stick with Rock who at least gets an honorable mention from the screenplay.
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