My Six Loves

source: My Six Loves

This movie is heartwarming, funny, and was a joy to watch! It is easily as good or better than well known movies of this type, such as Doris Day in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies." The values may seem a little "old fashioned" to some; but they are really timeless values of people being more important than things. Values that will never go out of style! My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this delightful story! Enjoy!!

A romantic domestic comedy with songs, in glossy Technicolor (mainly set in Connecticut but which plainly never leaves the studio, even for the church fete or the bus ride), with surprisingly liberal lashings of God and rugged hunks David Janssen and Cliff Robertson both looking decidedly out of place amidst all this sweetness & light. The rest of the adults include the voices of several cartoon characters, including Sterling Holloway (later Winnie the Pooh and and Kaa the snake) in an ironic unbilled cameo as a local who has lost his voice. It would all have worked much better with Doris Day, but fortunately there is also a quartet of cynical females, two of whom (Alices Ghostley and Pearce) later featured in 'Bewitched; which this rather resembles, minus the magic.

MY SIX LOVES was an entertaining family comedy from the 1960's that stars Debbie Reynolds as a musical comedy star who is sent to her country home after being told by doctors that she is exhausted and needs major time off. She and her assistant (Eileen Heckart)arrive at her country home and shortly after her arrival, Reynolds discovers six orphans secretly living on her property. The story is routine, the situations predictable and the story pretty much moves in the expected directions, but it's a relatively entertaining journey with Reynolds at the peek of her charm, receiving able assistance from Heckart, Cliff Robertson as a neighborhood minister, and a surprisingly funny David Janssen as her fast-talking agent. The kids are cute and work well with the star. It ain't Chekhov, but it will keep you awake for 90 minutes.

I suppose this is a "family movie," but it moves along so slowly I would not expect families to stay around to watch it. A New York stage star goes to her house in Connecticut to relax, discovers a troop of six kids on her property living in a garage, and with the help of a young pastor and a cynical New York producer, finds it in her heart to help them out in life, especially when their mean, drunk parents come around to "take them back." It has the elements of a good movie. Debbie Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, David Janssen, Eileen Heckart, even Hans Conreid. But it just falls flat. The funny parts are not all that funny. The slow dramatic parts are slow and dramatic, with the heartfelt revelation by Debbie Reynolds that she can just kinda adopt these six kids who will instantly bond with her. Some good moments - the movie song she sings with the kids is fun. And her outfits are quite nice. There is one scene where she is wearing a somewhat mint-green dress and an emerald necklace, which make the color of her eyes pop out, and the pink-champagne wig she wears also helps. But while it's not a disaster, it is just a movie without really anything at stake.

Debbie Reynolds gets a pair of co-stars and a batch of kids to share the screen with in My Six Loves. She plays a prominent stage actress who out of fatigue and doctor's orders retreats to her house in Connecticut before embarking on any new projects. Her co-stars are theatrical producer David Janssen who's produced a couple of her shows and the Reverend Cliff Robertson who ministers a church in her Connecticut neighborhood. But her real problem is a family of six kids who have squatted on her land, left there by their parents. Of course she and girl Friday Eileen Heckart take the kids in and before long the idea of a family kind of grows on her and it conflicts with her career. Robertson helps out quite willingly and even Janssen as gruff as his character is also pitches in. There are a couple of beautiful performances by Max Showalter and Mary McCarty who come back to claim the kids. As it turns out they were dumped on them by her sister and they keep them around for those six welfare checks that come in. Showalter and McCarty are a true pair of white trash bottom feeders who get quite a lesson in justice by Judge John McGiver. This was a perfect film for Debbie Reynolds. I think only Doris Day could have handled it maybe as well had she been cast. It holds up well today and I highly recommend it for family audiences.

I love talented child actors. I love fun family movies. I love sassy romantic comedy. This movie features none of that. Debbie Reynolds plays a Broadway actress who finds six kids and welcomes them into her home because they need a place to stay. The kids are obnoxious and out of control. Cliff Robertson as the local reverend who helps her with the kids is supposed to be charming but he comes off as didactic. I guess that's part of being a preacher. At one point, he says something like, "She's a woman; she should start acting like one." I was completely turned off by it. He wants her to give up her career in New York, stay in rural Connecticut and adopt six bratty kids. I guess the problem isn't really Cliff Robertson - it's the writing. As the entire premise of the movie is that she finds true love, then the objects of her love ought to be appealing. Nothing the reverend or the kids do are appealing to me. There are some high points to the movie. Reynolds is really cute and likable. She evens gets to sing a nice little tune. Some of the supporting characters are rather good. Eileen Heckart has some very funny lines that she delivers well. David Janssen is funny and charming. He is underutilized in this film. Alice Ghostley in a small role as a housekeeper is very, very funny. Perhaps it is just a product of its time. It does not hold up well.

I just loved this movie! Exhausted Debbie Reynolds goes to her country home to find two inept housekeepers and six little orphans. It's one of those movies that makes you wish you could find a nice little town like that to live in. The musical numbers are a lot of fun too. Even my children love to watch this movie. I haven't yet looked to see if it's available on video, but if it is, you can be sure I'll buy a copy.

This was a sweet little flick starring Debbie Reynolds as an exhausted Broadway star taking a rest in her country home. There she finds love, acceptance and contentment that fame, money and her career could never give her. This movie is not available on video, so try to catch it when your local stations air the late night movie. Or try American Movie Classics. It's worth it.

I don't quite know why I loved this movie, but I did! It had some great one-liners and everyone was perfect in their respective roles. Eileen Heckart was hilarious as the personal assistant to Debbie Reynolds and Mary McCarty and Max Showalter were equally hilarious as the beer-guzzling, welfare collecting and neglectful "step parents" to the kids. When they showed up in their broken down trailer, burping from drinking too much, the Reverand asked them "Can we help you?" Heckart looked up at him and said "Are you serious?" Alice Ghostley was also fantastic as the goldbricking "housekeeper" who was taking care of Debbie Reynolds' Connecticut house while Raynolds lived and worked in New York.