With Six You Get Eggroll

source: With Six You Get Eggroll

This movie is a delight for a whole bunch of reasons. Granted it follows a screwball comedy plot which was getting old by 1968, but Doris Day is excellent in this one. Brian Keith, taking some vacation from Mr. French on Family Affair is in his patented father role here which he has much much practice with including the original- Disney - The Parent Trap. In fact with some of the regular folks who worked at Disney often on this one and the animation, the viewer feels like this is a Disney feature. It is not, this is an independent studio and besides the main characters, the supporting cast is absolutely loaded. A young Barbara Hershey is a delight here as Keith's daughter. George Carlin is a rare find acting in a film character and he is here. The minor roles have faces like Jamie Farr (Klinger on TV Mash), Vic Tayback (Mel on Alice), William Christopher ( Father Mulcahey on MASH), Pat Carroll (Disney), Alice Ghostly (Bewitched), Allan Melvin (Sgt Hacker on Gomer Pyle), and more. If that is not enough, music fans are treated to a song by The Grassroots, the groups only appearance outside of shows like American Bandstand. They play Feelings, a really good song. A whole is is more than the sum of it's parts, but this is so much better than the big studios Yours Mine & Ours of the same year it is too bad the little studio film did not get more box office. I really like this one.

Stumbled across this one evening on TV and as a romantic comedy it doesn't delivery any real laughs with a production value not much better than your average Brady Bunch episode. The theme has been done many times, the blending of two families and of course they children are at odds with that until some extremely contrived event pulls them together, with the standard misunderstandings due to poor/no communication thrown in. I've read other reviews and am surprised how may folks enjoyed this move, but if you're a Doris Day fan, choose something from the 50s. Initially I was going to give this 3 stars but bumped it to 4 as it was fun seeing William Christopher and Jamie Farr together prior to the M*A*S*H days, with Herb Voland as well who had a recurring role in some early M*A*S*H episodes. There is also George Carlin and a few other familiar character actors you will certainly recognize not to mention a very young (and pretty) Barbara Hershey.

WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLE had the timing misfortune of coming out in the movies at the same time as YOUR, MINE, AND HOURS, the Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball comedy about two people who get married and try to bring their individual broods of three kids each together. Here it was Doris Day and Brian Keith, trying to bring her three sons (John Findlater, Richard Steele, and Jimmy Bracken) and his daughter (a young Barbara Hershey) together, and finding it nearly impossible. Both Day and Keith are widowed, and they knew each other earlier, but their lives drifted apart. She became successful as an lumber yard owner, and he is a successful professional as well. Her sister, Pat Carroll, is trying to get her to remarry (one wonders why - Day's comment that she has a house full of sons and is not lonely, happens to be perfectly sensible...it's not like nobody is in the house since her husband died). Carroll forces the issue by calling Keith up and strong arming Day into inviting him to a dinner party mostly for her Day's clients. And, of course, things click perfectly between the two, until they "elope" to Las Vegas and marry without warning their kids. But that is just it: the kids' reactions to the marriage can make or break it. The kids are he normal bunch, with Findlater self-centered enough about his dates that he ignores his chores keeping his eyes on his brothers, and Hershey having become chief housekeeper for Keith. Naturally the two oldest ones clash all the time, as they are unused to having someone of their own age being suddenly in the way. Hershey keeps slighting Day, seeing her as a rival to her...until a fed up Day, when she hears Hershey complain about how she was a better house keeper, assigns Hershey all the chores for the day (a Friday) while Day goes out shopping. Ghostley (who was off that day) is a housekeeper who is constantly commenting on being overworked (but also quick to remind her boss Day that certain days she's off - or that Day is butting into Ghostley's personal time. Day is also aware of the gorgeous next door neighbor of Keith's (Elaine Devry) who has had her eye on Keith for some time too. Day is not thrilled to hear that Devry was Hershey's baby sitter in the past. The plot is identical to that of the Fonda - Ball film, although the twisted resolution is not quite the same (except in results). Watching it now is like seeing a major film that had many people in it who had substantial careers...but not necessarily on the big screen. Carroll was in several sit-coms in the the 1950s - 1980s. So was Herb Voland, who played her husband here. Alice Ghostly is recalled for BEWITCHED and DESIGNING WOMEN (although she did appear in other films, like THE FLIMFLAM MAN). A young George Carlin plays the manager of a drive in restaurant here - hardly showing his great stand-up wit. He was better in later film parts like OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE. Two flower children in the film would later reappear together and gain television immortality in M.A.S.H. as "Cpl. Klinger" and "Father Mulcahy" (Jamie Farr and William Christopher). A belligerent chicken farmer whose truck is crashed into twice by Day and Findlater is Vic Tayback, "Mel" on ALICE. And in his only major film credit, Alvin Melvin appeared as a put upon police officer listening to everyone yelling in his station at the end. Not quite as good as his roles in YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH, GOMER PYLE, or ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE. It is easy to recall that with all their fine movie work, both Day and Keith had decent successes in television too (in THE DORIS DAY SHOW and FAMILY AFFAIR). Actually the only star of the film with a substantial movie career after it was made was Hershey, as Day did retire from the screen...although Keith would still be available for movies up until the end, when his poor health led him to a tragic suicide.

Doris Day ended her film career with this rather lame little movie, one of many contributions to the "Let's-join-our-families-together" genre of the late 60s. "Your, Mine and Ours" covered the same material, only better, and "The Brady Bunch" brought it all to fruition a year later. The film wants to combine the standard Doris Day "sex farce" of the period, with a typical 60s family sitcom, and the results are disappointing, at best. The children are a bratty bunch, and the early screeching scenes almost made me turn the whole thing off. I did love seeing the styles, architecture and culture of the period, however, as I was a kid at the time of its release, myself. No, my parents didn't take me to see this - not surprising, being that this "G" rated movie likes to use the word "sex" quite a bit, and nobody is exactly a role-model. My first viewing was last night on TCM. I really hope that the Academy presents DD with an Honorary Oscar before she dies, but I consider this film to be an unfortunate footnote to her career.

Unless someone persuades the 84 year old Doris Day to do an appearance in a Gloria Stuart like Titanic role, With Six You Get Eggroll will be her farewell big screen appearance. Not exactly the greatest film to go out on. Anticipating The Brady Bunch by a year, With Six You Get Eggroll is a pleasant enough family comedy about another lovely lady only she's the one with three boys of her own. Doris is a widow with sons Jimmy Bracken, Richard Steele, and John Findlater who's getting a lot of static from her sister Pat Carroll about her social life or lack thereof. Going through the Rolodex Brian Keith's name comes up. He's an old friend of Day's late husband who wouldn't you know it, is now a widower with a teenage daughter, Barbara Hershey. The inevitable romance blooms and they get married. Getting the respective families adjusted to step relations is a whole other matter. If you've seen episodes of The Brady Bunch, Step By Step, and Life With Derek, I think you'll get the idea where the rest of this film is going. Keith and Day look so comfortable together you do kind of wonder what their respective late spouses were like. Look for George Carlin to make his big screen debut as an obnoxious fast food stand owner and Vic Tayback as the poultry truck driver whose repeated run-ins with both sides of the family brings them finally together. And in that rather anarchistic climax note the presence of Jamie Farr and William Christopher as a pair of hippies who help the course of true love. With Six You Get Eggroll is an average screen comedy, but with all the blended family TV shows that have come and gone since, it's nothing no one hasn't seen before.

I wanted to like this film (and I did in some parts), but the plot is a little cluttered and mismatched. The humor comes, but not enough to keep me laughing (even though it was made in 1968). However, it is interesting to see the irony (or is it a coincidence). And it is this- while this is Doris Day's last film, it is also comedian George Carlin's first film and breakthrough into acting in movies (even though he was in a episode of That Girl).

It's another variation on the oft-told tale of two people getting married and having to share their brood of kids. WITH SIX YOU GET EGG ROLL is directed by Howard Morris (from television) and it shows, because it's the kind of tale that plays like a half-hour situation comedy padded out to feature film length--but with a scarcity of laughs, or to put it differently, only the number of laughs that would have been possible within the half-hour limits of a TV show. DORIS DAY decided to call it quits after this film--and it's rather easy to see why. Even the presence of some fairly reliable actors in the cast doesn't help. BRIAN KEITH, BARBARA HERSHEY, PAT CARROLL and ALICE GHOSTLEY do their best, but the script is the real problem and should have been left untouched for the big screen. Nothing much can be said in favor of it. Skip it and see Miss Day in any number of her more worthwhile films.

Doris Day's last feature film is a pleasant success, although it somehow isn't recalled as a such. Backtracking for a moment… Ms. Day's 1960s "sex comedies" were very big at the box office. The best of these films were critically acclaimed at the time, and are fondly remembered today. But, by 1967, Day began receiving scripts that lacked the wit (and hit potential) of earlier films. Day knew this, but found herself committed to a few unworthy movies, by manager/husband Martin Melcher. They weren't the first "bad" movies Day did, but they did come at a time when she was a "superstar". Day was able to make these bad movies better through her presence; as usual, she put a good effort into each assignment. By 1966, Day was firmly entrenched in the "Quigley Top 10" poll of box office stars, and had become a very dependable, consistent attraction. The films she didn't care for were responsible for Day falling out of the "Ten Best" list, in 1967. She saw "With Six You Get Eggroll" as an improvement. And, it was. Day's last films heralded a return to form; and, she appeared at a very respectable #14 in her final 1968 "Quigley Poll" appearance. It was a CBS-TV series deal that prevented Day from continuing her film career. She was in demand, and would have had to continue in films (she needed the money). But, Day was committed to work on the television series, against her wishes, by the now deceased Mr. Melcher. Seeing the success of the earlier released Lucille Ball comedy "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968), the studio promoted "With Six You Get Eggroll" as similar fare. Actually, this film is a little better, overall (both are good movies). Herein, lumber yard owner "Abby McClure" (Day) is resigned to being single, after being left with her deceased husband's business, and three sons. But, she is "lonely" (a euphemism), as director Howard Morris clearly highlights with the overhead shots of Day on her bed. Day reluctantly accepts self-professed sex-minded sister Pat Carroll's arrangement of a date with widow Brian Keith (as Jake Iverson). Their courtship is marvelously depicted, thanks to fine scripting and performances. Some have debated whether or not the characters played by Day and Keith have pre-marital sex. Everything about in the characters' behavior suggests that they do. If fact, the biggest reason for the marriage is that they find it increasingly frustrating to "sneak around" and be "alone" (more euphemisms). The rest of the film deals with the inevitable problems the marriage causes in their living arrangements. Now, considering Day's business (which she's good at), you've got to wonder they didn't just build another bedroom for one of the children. Unfortunately, the business sense of Day's character is left standing at the alter. The plot question becomes: Will the children learn to get along, or break up the newlyweds? Representing the opposing fronts are her son John Findlater (as Flip) and his daughter Barbara Hershey (as Stacy). Youngsters Jimmy Bracken and Richard Steele handle their roles (and surprising bathtub scene) very well. Sounding like a cross between "Under My Thumb" and The Zombies, The Grass Roots do an original, exceptional, and very sixties-sounding song called "Feelings"; listen to them as Day visits a youth nightclub. Stand-up George Carlin turns up as fast-food patron. Two future "M*A*S*H" regulars lead a mob of tripping hippies. And, you can have a lot of fun picking out sit-com favorites. By the third act, the film has become more unfocused and ordinary, but it never really obliterates its appeal. ******* With Six You Get Eggroll (8/7/68) Howard Morris ~ Doris Day, Brian Keith, John Findlater, Barbara Hershey

Along with "Yours, Mine and Ours" (Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda) this film marked the start of the "let's-create-a-family-by combining-each-of-ours" genre and soon several variations of the theme plowed their ways into theaters (including the much forgotten "Mulligan's Stew" where childless parents adopt a variety of ethnic representatives). It was a way to have "modern" family dramas survive in the ever changing marketplace. Looking like situation comedies found on television it was no surprise that they influenced what TV families of the 70's would look like. There was a chance to examine the ever increasing reality of divorce (disguised as widowship), yet still have a complete family unit. Of those that survived on television, "The Brady Bunch" and "Eight is Enough" are perhaps the most well known. No wonder abortion became popular! Soon these shows would be replaced by the examination of same sex parents (disguised as "good heterosexual friends") in such shows as "My Two Dads," and "Kate and Allie." Shows such as "The Cosby Show," "Home Improvement," and "Family Matters" brought television full circle so perhaps the 21st Century will see more single parent television and in another ten years a remake of "With Six You Get Eggroll." Of course the title would have to change for political correctness. How about "With Sex You Get Kids?" No wait, the pro-life groups won't like that. Ahhh, the sixties.