With Six You Get Eggroll
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Movie Reviews of With Six You Get Eggroll
Movie Review: With Six You Get Eggroll
Summary: 5 Stars
Great movie. Doris Day is seen in her last film. Very funny.Movie Review: Love It!
Summary: 5 Stars
Have always liked this movie. Think it is one of the best.Movie Review: "There's a man in mommy's bed! There's a man in mommmmy's bed!"
Summary: 4 Stars
WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL is a 1968 romantic family comedy, and it marked Doris Day's bowing out of theatrical pictures. But the real life behind-the-scenes story couldn't have been more different from the tone of the movie. Shortly after the film's shooting had ended, Doris Day's husband and manager, Marty Melcher, died from heart disease. It was then that Doris learned that Melcher and his business partner had embezzled and frittered away her fortune into shaky investments. Moreover, unknown to her, Melcher had committed her to carry her own upcoming television series on CBS. Doris Day felt obligated to honor that contract, in part to make good on the debts Melcher had amassed. She did the DORIS DAY SHOW from 1968 to 1973 and also two television specials, after which she promptly called it quits from show business. WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL is a bit funnier than all that.
This film isn't Doris Day's best, I don't think anyone'll call me out on that. It may've even suffered from comparisons to Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda's similarly themed (and better) YOURS, MINE AND OURS, which came out earlier that same year. WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL rides on its good cast, on its smarts, on that affable chemistry between the two leads. Abby McClure (Day) is a middle-aged (but still cute) widow raising three boys. She runs a lumber yard adeptly and professes not to need a man in her life, even though her sister persists in setting her up. Chemical engineer Jake Iverson (Brian Keith, having brought his full-on gruff) is a widower bringing up his teenaged daughter Stacey (a young Barbara Hershey making her film debut). Abby and Jake are set up by Abby's sister, except that they get off on a rocky start. In cinema, a couple getting off on a rocky start is a spot-on indicator that they'll be locking lips by the time the film fades out.
It's a smart movie, as I've mentioned. The genuine humor surfaces from Day and Keith's interactions. These two stars seem to be channeling their inner Hepburn & Tracy to very good effect. Doris Day is as warm as ever, as peppy. Brian Keith just has that solid, laconic presence. Both personalities play off each other wonderfully. Another asset is that the hurdles Abby and Jake overcome are all realistic ones, expected ones. And they don't face obstacles only as a married couple. The first half of the film has these two single parents sneaking around at the local drive-in for an order of coffee and necking. It's noteworthy that a few of these courtship scenes come off as relatively racy, racy relative to its era, anyway. But when they elope - an act not at all sanctioned by the children - and begin merging their two households, then come the real challenges. The happily eloped couple find their problems exacerbated, having to cope with Abby's oldest son's anger at being deposed as the man of the house, Jake's sullen daughter being so possessive of her father, and just where the heck do they all live. (Answer to this last one: they alternate houses, of course.) The dogs from the respective families don't even like each other.
It takes a long while for these two households to come to terms. When Abby and Stacey finally bond, we're treated to a scene that is both satisfying and a clever bit of psychology. However, the big final act absolutely veers away from the realism and sense of grounding that had marked the film up to this point. Apparently, even though Abby and Stacey had made their peace, it wouldn't take anything less than repeated poultry truck collisions, a wave of motorcycled hippies, and everyone getting arrested before the rest of the fam sees the light. By the way, a pre-M*A*S*H Jamie Farr has a supporting role as one of the hippies. By the way, having hippies in it tends to date a film. Stand-up comic George Carlin also has a bit part as a drive-in waiter who keeps hitting on Doris Day. He's practically unrecognizable here.
When all's said and done, this is a Doris Day movie and I'm rather fond of her. So, deserving or not - and even though she doesn't sing in this one and even though there are those awkward moments in which a 1950s sweetheart tries to fit into the mod/counterculture/whatever-it-is scene - I'm still allotting 4 stars out of 5 for her feature film swan song. And also because I got a kick out of the poultry truck driver's outraged accusation: "This has got to be a plot against the chickens of America!" Heh.
Movie Review: There's A Man In Mommy's Bed: Doris Day's Cheerful Exit From Feature Films
Summary: 4 Stars
Doris Day was easily the most bankable movie star of the late 1950s and early 1960s, winning critical favor and wide popularity with such films as PILLOW TALK, PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, and many others. But as time passed, Day's husband and manager Martin Melcher selected material that began to errode her career: films such as THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT and DO NOT DISTURB were popular but weakly scripted, and even Day's star power couldn't save such disasters as CAPRICE, THE BALLAD OF JOSIE, and WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT. In 1968, however, Day re-established her reputation with her final feature film: WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL.
Abby (Day) is a widow with three sons; Jake (Brian Keith) is a widower with a daughter. When Abby's matchmaking sister forces the two together the result is not immediately positive--but it doesn't take long before romantic sparks begin to fly. Unfortunately, their children are considerably less enthusiastic about the match and no sooner are the two serious than war errupts with significant nastiness.
At the peak of her career Day tended to specialize in absurd comedies that could never happen in real life, so it is a little surprising to discover that EGGROLL is actually quite realistic up to a point. The newlyweds begin by trying to placate the children and their efforts gradually raise to ridiculous but entirely plausible heights--at least until the last ten minutes or so, when the film swings less successfully into broad farce. Even so, the script is amusing, the cast (particularly Alice Ghostly) is memorable, and when Day and Kieth square off in a wittily scripted argument you are suddenly aware that both were exceptional at their craft.
Following EGGROLL Day would appear in television's THE DORIS DAY SHOW and make several other television appearances--largely in order to pay off the debts left to her by Melcher, who died just as EGGROLL was released. But unlike many other stars who announce retirement only to make a series of endless comebacks, Day made a graceful exit. When she quit, she quit. WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL is hardly among her best films, it is a fond farewell nonetheless, charming without being cloying, witty without being waspish. The DVD offers no bonuses of any kind, but the film itself is in excellent condition. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Movie Review: Day lights up the screen in her final film role
Summary: 4 Stars
WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL is a charming family comedy, in the vein of "Yours, Mine and Ours" and "The Brady Bunch". This film marked the last for Doris Day (who then concentrated on her hit television sitcom before gracefully retiring from the spotlight). She plays Abby McClure, a widow with three boys. Her sister (Pat Carroll) pushes her into a date with fellow widower Jake Iverson (Brian Keith), who has a teenage daughter (Barbara Hershey).
Bonding over their collective experiences, Abby and Jake fall in love and get married secretly in Vegas, to the horror of their children! This family comedy zips along nicely, much of the credit goes to Day who turns some fairly ho-hum dialogue and scenes into gold. Brian Keith is ably-partnered and the young Barbara Hershey reveals the acting talent she would successfully hone in later years. Pat Carroll and Alice Ghostley shine in comedic support roles (look closely for Jackie Joseph in the early party scene; she would later be a regular on "The Doris Day Show").
Paramount's DVD offers no extras but the anamorphic image is bright, colourful and remarkably-free from dirt and debris.