 |
The Thrill of It All! by Norman Jewison
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
DVD Cover InformationActor: Arlene Francis, Doris Day, Edward Andrews, James Garner, Reginald Owen Director: Norman Jewison Brand: DAY,DORIS Cinematographer: Russell Metty Editor: Milton Carruth Producer: Martin Melcher Producer: Ross Hunter Writer: Carl Reiner Writer: Larry Gelbart DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled) Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 108 minutes DVD Release Date: 2003-02-04 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Thrill of It All!Movie Review: The Thrill Is Gone Summary: 3 StarsDoris Day was one of the top ten box office draws in the world throughout the late 1950s and much of the 1960s. Although she was as gifted with a dramatic role as she was with comedy, it is for the latter that she is best recalled--and where Day was concerned such comedies usually relied on a mixture of romantic and screwball comedy levened with a fair amount of farce and plenty of pratfalls. When the movies were good, they were very good, with PILLOW TALK and PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES case in point--and Day's personal charm it often made up for such weaker scripts as DO NOT DISTURB and CAPRICE.
The latter is certainly the case with THE THRILL OF IT ALL, which ranks well down the scale from PILLOW TALK but considerably ahead of such truly awful movies as THE BALLAD OF JOSIE and WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT. In this particular outing, Day plays Beverly Boyer, married to a successful doctor (James Garner), a stay-at-home wife and mother with an upscale home, hired help, and everything a woman was expected to want or desire from the world at this particular time in American history. But disaster lies in store, and it comes in an unlikely manner.
Her husband has helped a patient (Arlene Francis) conceive; the patient's husband (Edward Andrews) owns a soap company; and when Beverly in all innocence praises the product she is hired to become the product's spokesperson. Although she is at first clumsy, the public likes her--and the next thing she knows she is in hot demand for television commercials, photo shoots, and all the rest. Not only has she no time for her family, she has also committed the unpardonable sin of earning more money than her husband.
Needless to say, the ideas that drive the plot are extremely dated, but very often this dated quality is part of a film's charm. But that really isn't the case here. The simple fact is that, although the film collects considerable talent, it never seems to entirely gel. Day is always very entertaining to watch, but James Garner is very much second-fiddle and in many ways reads as unsympathetic in his performance--which is very, very much "second fiddle" to Day. Ultimately, the highlight of the movie are Arlene Francis and Edward Andrews and the legendary Zasu Pitts in the small role of Day's household help.
The film works best when it plays for broadslap stick, and in these scenes it is truly laugh-out-loud funny, but on the whole the script just doesn't really support the cast between bouts of hilarity, and everything else seems slightly forced. The DVD offers a good transfer, but there are no significant bonus materials. Recommened, but only just, and pretty much for viewers who already Day fans to begin with.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Summary of The Thrill of It All!No Description Available. Genre: Feature Film-Comedy Rating: NR Release Date: 4-FEB-2003 Media Type: DVD James Garner substitutes for Rock Hudson in this hilarious Doris Day outing. Housewife Beverly Boyer (Day) happens by chance to give an executive of Happy Soap an honest appraisal of one of his company's products. Charmed by her forthright and honest manner, he makes Beverly the company spokesperson. When she becomes an advertising sensation, her husband (Garner) has to deal with the social ramifications of his wife making more money than he does. Day and Garner are both in good form, and Garner nicely portrays the mounting frustration of bewildered husband Gerald. Gerald's refusal to accept that Beverly's new career infringes on her duties as housewife is, of course, outdated thinking today. Nevertheless, the film works and is sincerely funny. No wonder: comedian Carl Reiner cowrote the script. --Mark Savary
|
 |