Romance on the High Seas

It's the sort of script that Hollywood would have called a "merry marital mixup" back when, but with a little more stuff on the curveball than usual: A suspects B and B suspects A of infidelity, so A hires C to impersonate A on a cruise, while B hires private detective D to trail A, but D thinks C is A... There are some good lines, and director Curtiz, as was his wont, keeps things moving. Janis Paige is a hoot in a series of increasingly bizarre hats, and the unusual dullness of the Warners leading men (I mean, Don DeFore?) doesn't hurt that much. Doris even manages to look enraptured opposite the slightly snarky Jack Carson, and sings "It's Magic" three times. Even Carson sings, and not badly, though it's a somewhat xenophobic mock-Trinidad specialty number that's embarrassing by today's standards. Doris, in her film debut, is assured and pleasant, and so is the movie, in a studio-manufactured kind of way.

source: Romance on the High Seas

Trailer—Romance on the High Seas

Romance on the High Seas

Doris Day makes her screen-debut as a band singer who gets a free cruise to South America and Jack Carson is the private detective who tails her and naturally falls in love with her spunky charm. Day seems an oddly misplaced tomboy here, wearing fancy dresses and hairdos that look as if they've been dropped down on her from the heavens. Encumbered by the dressy satins and pearls, Doris looks as though she might be more comfortable in an old pair of dungarees, but she makes this insipid plot worth wading through (especially when she sings). The settings are fake-exotic, and it all peters out by the end, but Doris, wonderfully street-smart under her thick pancake make-up, still provides a lot of sparkle. **1/2 from ****

In 1943 at a Homecoming Dance when I attended my senior year at Kentucky Military Institute at Lyndon, Ky. I had the privilege of dancing to Les Brown & His Band of Renown and Doris Day was the singer. What a great moment that was! I can honestly say from that moment on I have seen 90 per cent of all her movies as well as on TV. I also remember one day in 1972 when I worked in LA that I waved at her driving her car on Hill Street, and she waved back at me. Doris is truly my favorite gal.

It's the sort of script that Hollywood would have called a "merry marital mixup" back when, but with a little more stuff on the curveball than usual: A suspects B and B suspects A of infidelity, so A hires C to impersonate A on a cruise, while B hires private detective D to trail A, but D thinks C is A... There are some good lines, and director Curtiz, as was his wont, keeps things moving. Janis Paige is a hoot in a series of increasingly bizarre hats, and the unusual dullness of the Warners leading men (I mean, Don DeFore?) doesn't hurt that much. Doris even manages to look enraptured opposite the slightly snarky Jack Carson, and sings "It's Magic" three times. Even Carson sings, and not badly, though it's a somewhat xenophobic mock-Trinidad specialty number that's embarrassing by today's standards. Doris, in her film debut, is assured and pleasant, and so is the movie, in a studio-manufactured kind of way.

This was Doris Day's first film and what a fun one it was. I saw it as a kid in the old Monache Theater and then later on TV. I was surprised how well it had worn and was delighted to hear Doris Day, 23 years old at the making of this film, using the slang of the day, such as "Natch...Natch but def." Carson, Paige and DeFore were great as was the ever-insufferable curmudgeon, Oscar Levant alongside "Cuddles" Sakal, the perennial loveable Jewish uncle. Carson is especially good doing a Calypso number and the story is pure 1940's cotton candy.