The Magic of Doris Day... Too Marvelous for Words
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    • Remembering Doris Day
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    • Doris Day mourned by celebrities following her death: 'She was the world’s sweetheart'
    • Pine Cone Tribute
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
    • Hollywood Remembers Doris Day: Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Goldie Hawn Sing Icon’s PraisesPage
    • Paul McCartney Remembers Doris Day: ‘She Was a True Star’
    • Doris Day Appreciation: Why Did Oscar Elude A Shining Star Of So Many Talents?Link Page
    • Paul Batura: Doris Day’s life was more than ‘Que Sera, Sera’ -- Because our ultimate future is ours to see
    • A Hip Sex Goddess Disguised as the Girl Next Doore
    • In Memoriam
  • Happy Birthday Doris!
    • 2020 Doris Tribute
    • Doris Day's 97th Birthday Celebration
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    • Doris Day 95th Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 92nd Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 91st Birthday in Carmel
    • 90th Birthday Celebration
  • Tributes to an American Icon
    • A Tribute
    • Beneath wholesome image, Doris Day was an actor of depth
    • Doris Day Changed Us Forever
    • Why Doris Day reigns as one of the great jazz singers
    • Lucky Me
    • 60th Anniversary of “It Happened to Jane”
    • A Letter to an American Icon
    • What Singers Can Learn from Doris Day
    • Meeting My Idol
    • Doris Paved the Way for Women through Her Roles
    • Uptown Pluck
    • Reel Revival Doris Day
    • Not the Girl Next Door: Doris Day Reconsidered
    • Blonde and Blameless: Why I Love Doris Day Movies
    • A Tribute to Alma Sophia Welz Kappelhoff Day
    • Celebrity Memories
    • No More Que Será Será: Give Day Her Due
    • Doris Day Photo Gallery
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  • Music - Early Years
    • The Peak Years for Doris Music and Hits
    • 1957 and Beyond
    • The Studio Albums
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    • Some Rare Recordings >
      • Rare Recordings, Part Two
    • Doris and Les "Those Were the Good Old Days"
    • Sheet Music Covers
  • Movies
    • Doris Day Co-Stars
    • Romance on the High Seas
    • My Dream Is Yours
    • It's a Great Feeling
    • Young Man with a Horn
    • Tea for Two
    • The West Point Story
    • Storm Warning
    • Lullaby of Broadway
    • On Moonlight Bay
    • I'll See You in My Dreams
    • Starlift
    • The Winning Team
    • April in Paris
    • By the Light of the Silvery Moon
    • Calamity Jane
    • Lucky Me
    • Young at Heart
    • Love Me or Leave Me
    • The Man Who Knew Too Much
    • Julie
    • The Pajama Game
    • Teacher's Pet
    • The Tunnel of Love
    • It Happened to Jane
    • Pillow Talk
    • Please Don't Eat the Daisies
    • Midnight Lace
    • Lover Come Back
    • That Touch of Mink
    • Billy Rose's Jumbo
    • The Thrill of It All
    • Move Over Darling
    • Send Me No Flowers
    • Do Not Disturb
    • The Glass Bottom Boat
    • The Ballad of Josie
    • Caprice
    • Where Were You When the Lights Went Out
    • With Six You Get Eggroll
    • Top 20 Girls Next Door in Movies
    • Press Books
    • Movie Memorabilia
  • Radio
  • Television
    • Doris Day Show Season 1
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  • Interviews, Appearances on TV and Radio
    • 40's & 50's
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    • Radio Calls on Doris' Birthday
  • Latest News
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  • Awards
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
  • Doris Day Fashion
    • Doris Day in Pillow Talk: Couture Allure
  • Doris in Carmel
    • DayDreamers
  • Doris through the Years
    • Cover Girl (Magazine Covers)
  • Quotes by and about Doris
  • Doris Talks to Her Fans (Fan Club Tapes)
    • Fans Talk To Doris
  • Who Knows What Might Have Been
    • Who Knows What Might Have Been, PART 2
  • Creative Video Collection
  • Doris Day Collector
  • And a few rounds of applause...
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Picture
''His voice was magnificent, and no one sang like him. We had so much fun when we made films together, and our favorites were 'On Moonlight Bay' and 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon...'' - Doris Day on the passing of Gordon MacRae

"I seriously suffered at the age of 10 over Doris Day. I loved her in By the Light of the Silvery Moon. She looked so completely in love and had that wholesome quality." - Colin Firth

I did have a sleepless night over Doris Day when I was eight and By the Light of the Silvery Moon was on TV. She had that pure quality, but she always seemed within an inch of giving in to being absolutely, um, ah..." - Colin Firth




By the Light of the Silvery Moon
Directed by  

Produced by

Written by



Starring










Music by






Cinematography

Editing

Distributed by   

Release date(s)   

Running time

Country

Language

Box-Office Gross (USA)
David Butler

William Jacobs

Irving Elinson
Robert O’Brien      
Based on stories of Booth Tarkington

Doris Day   
Gordon MacRae
Leon Ames
Rosemary DeCamp
Billy Gray
Mary Wickes
Russell Arms
Maria Palmer
Howard Wendell
Walter 'PeeWee' Flannery

Ray Heindorf
Norman Luboff
Max Steiner
Murray Cutter




Wilfrid M. Cline 

Irene Morra    

Warner Brothers

March 26, 1953

101 Minutes

USA

English

$4,250,000





Finally, the sequel to MOONLIGHT BAY with the same cast (minus Jack Smith) and Doris’s last film with Gordon MacRae. Great turn of the century tunes in a soundtrack album that reached #3 in album sales, at the time cementing a title that Doris Day retains: Biggest Selling Female Album Artist of the 1950’s.

As a sequel, this film, too, is  based on the "Penrod" stories by Booth Tarkington. Penrod himself (played by Billy Gray) takes a back seat to the main plot, concerning the hot-and-cold romance between Doris Day and Gordon MacRae.

Gordon will not marry Doris until he is financially able to do so, which results in several breakups and reunions before the final clinch at the local ice rink. A subplot involves Penrod's suspicions that an attractive French actress (Maria Palmer) is not only romancing his father (Leon Ames), but is also an enemy spy!

Set shortly after the end of World War I, Silvery Moon takes full advantage of that era's popular songs. If you don't blink, you will catch a glimpse of Merv Griffin in the final scene (as the bandleader at a skating rink).

Movie Quotes

Father Winfield: [about his tomboy daughter getting married] Well, I feel like I'm losing a son.



Stella: [to the camera] Wesley is their second child. If he had been the first, there never would have been a second! Oh... You're probably wondering who I am. Well, don't be so nosy!



Father Winfield: [about Wesley's pet turkey] For the last time, that turkey does not belong in the house!

Wesley Winfield: Well, if he's good enough to be on the table, he's good enough to walk around it.




Marjorie Winfield: Bill, it's so difficult for me to ask you to understand, but... Why I can't possibly think of marrying you right now. And I can't tell you why.

Bill Sherman: What do you mean you can't tell me? Why, I'm almost your husband! At least, I thought I was.

Marjorie Winfield: You will be. Someday. But for now Bill, couldn't you please be sweet and understanding?

Bill Sherman: But I don't want to be sweet and understanding! I want to be a husband!

Marjorie Winfield: Bill...

Bill Sherman: It never entered my mind, Marjorie, that you ever had any doubt about your feelings towards me. But now everything's quite obvious. You're not even sure I'm the man you want to marry!





Songs

"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" - Sung by a chorus during the opening credits, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp and others. Played often throughout the film.

"In My Merry Oldsmobile" - Played during the opening scene where Marjorie is under the car

"What's the Matter with Father" - Played after Marjorie runs up the stairs

"My Home Town Is a One Horse Town" - Sung by Gordon MacRae

"Minuet in G" - Played by Wesley on the piano

"Your Eyes Have Told Me So" - Sung by Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

"Bridal Chorus" - Played after Marjorie arrives home after argument with Bill

"Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee" - Sung by Russell Arms, Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

"Ain't We Got Fun" - Sung with substitute lyrics by Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

"Good Night, Ladies" - Played during the Fearless Flanagan sequence

"Wintermärchen" - Played during the Fearless Flanagan sequence

"La vie en rose" - Played during the scene where Winfield is discussing the lease with Renée La Rue

"Moonlight Bay" - Played during the scene with the watch and later sung by Leon Ames

"If You Were the Only Girl in the World" - Sung by Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

"Just One Girl" - Sung by Gordon MacRae

"King Chanticleer" - Sung by Doris Day

"I'll Forget You" - Sung by Doris Day



Trivia

"Selections from the film score were featured on a 'Doris Day (I)' 10-inch LP for Columbia which crested in third place on the 'Billboard" popular albums chart." - IMDB (Internet Movie Database)

"This film departs from "On Moonlight Bay" in three main ways. First, the film opens with Stella breaking the fourth wall, addressing the audience directly as she introduces the Winfield family. Second, the song and dance numbers are played like a traditional musical, while the original film incorporated the songs more organically within the story. Finally, the bespectacled music teacher, although the same basic character with the same mannerisms, has a different name and is played by a different actor, the only member of the cast who did not carry over from the original film." - IMDB (Internet Movie Database)


"Mary Wickes was paid $750 per week for 3 weeks work." - Mary Wickes: I know I've Seen That Face Before



Movie Images

 

Movie/Song Clips

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  • Home
  • Magic Blog
  • Remembering Doris
    • Sentimental Journey Personal Tributes to the Magic of Doris Day
    • Doris Day was more complicated, and more forward-thinking, than she ever got credit for
    • Lifelong friend, business partner remembers Hollywood legend Doris Day
    • Doris Day, America's box-office sweetheart of the '50s and '60s, is dead at 97
    • Legendary actress and singer Doris Day has died
    • How Doris Day’s Movie Roles Challenged Stereotypes
    • Doris Day 'Died Peacefully' Surrounded by Her 'Loved Ones,' Says Manager
    • Secret love’s no secret anymore
    • The Matchless Presence of Doris Day
    • Doris Day's death mourned in Carmel, where icon lived
    • Remembering Doris Day
    • Dream a little dream of Doris Day
    • Inside Doris Day's Final Birthday Party at Her Home Near Carmel-by-the-Sea: 'It Was Idyllic'
    • Hollywood Pays Tribute to Doris Day
    • Doris Day, Cincinnati's girl next door, dead at 97
    • RIP Doris Day
    • R.I.P. Doris Day Decades
    • TCM Remembers Doris Day
    • Doris Day mourned by celebrities following her death: 'She was the world’s sweetheart'
    • Pine Cone Tribute
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
    • Hollywood Remembers Doris Day: Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Goldie Hawn Sing Icon’s PraisesPage
    • Paul McCartney Remembers Doris Day: ‘She Was a True Star’
    • Doris Day Appreciation: Why Did Oscar Elude A Shining Star Of So Many Talents?Link Page
    • Paul Batura: Doris Day’s life was more than ‘Que Sera, Sera’ -- Because our ultimate future is ours to see
    • A Hip Sex Goddess Disguised as the Girl Next Doore
    • In Memoriam
  • Happy Birthday Doris!
    • 2020 Doris Tribute
    • Doris Day's 97th Birthday Celebration
    • Doris Day's 96th Birthday
    • Doris Day 95th Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 92nd Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 91st Birthday in Carmel
    • 90th Birthday Celebration
  • Tributes to an American Icon
    • A Tribute
    • Beneath wholesome image, Doris Day was an actor of depth
    • Doris Day Changed Us Forever
    • Why Doris Day reigns as one of the great jazz singers
    • Lucky Me
    • 60th Anniversary of “It Happened to Jane”
    • A Letter to an American Icon
    • What Singers Can Learn from Doris Day
    • Meeting My Idol
    • Doris Paved the Way for Women through Her Roles
    • Uptown Pluck
    • Reel Revival Doris Day
    • Not the Girl Next Door: Doris Day Reconsidered
    • Blonde and Blameless: Why I Love Doris Day Movies
    • A Tribute to Alma Sophia Welz Kappelhoff Day
    • Celebrity Memories
    • No More Que Será Será: Give Day Her Due
    • Doris Day Photo Gallery
  • Doris and Pets (It's Her Passion)
  • Magic Store
  • Music - Early Years
    • The Peak Years for Doris Music and Hits
    • 1957 and Beyond
    • The Studio Albums
    • Top 100 Hit Single Records
    • Doris Day Jukebox
    • Some Rare Recordings >
      • Rare Recordings, Part Two
    • Doris and Les "Those Were the Good Old Days"
    • Sheet Music Covers
  • Movies
    • Doris Day Co-Stars
    • Romance on the High Seas
    • My Dream Is Yours
    • It's a Great Feeling
    • Young Man with a Horn
    • Tea for Two
    • The West Point Story
    • Storm Warning
    • Lullaby of Broadway
    • On Moonlight Bay
    • I'll See You in My Dreams
    • Starlift
    • The Winning Team
    • April in Paris
    • By the Light of the Silvery Moon
    • Calamity Jane
    • Lucky Me
    • Young at Heart
    • Love Me or Leave Me
    • The Man Who Knew Too Much
    • Julie
    • The Pajama Game
    • Teacher's Pet
    • The Tunnel of Love
    • It Happened to Jane
    • Pillow Talk
    • Please Don't Eat the Daisies
    • Midnight Lace
    • Lover Come Back
    • That Touch of Mink
    • Billy Rose's Jumbo
    • The Thrill of It All
    • Move Over Darling
    • Send Me No Flowers
    • Do Not Disturb
    • The Glass Bottom Boat
    • The Ballad of Josie
    • Caprice
    • Where Were You When the Lights Went Out
    • With Six You Get Eggroll
    • Top 20 Girls Next Door in Movies
    • Press Books
    • Movie Memorabilia
  • Radio
  • Television
    • Doris Day Show Season 1
    • Doris Day Show Season 2
    • Doris Day Show Season 3
    • Doris Day Show Season 4
    • Doris Day Show Season 5
    • Doris Day Show Photo Gallery
    • Doris Day Specials
    • Doris Day's Best Friends
  • Interviews, Appearances on TV and Radio
    • 40's & 50's
    • 60's
    • 70's
    • 80's
    • 90's
    • 2000's & 10's
    • Radio Calls on Doris' Birthday
  • Latest News
    • 4-Legger News
  • Awards
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
  • Doris Day Fashion
    • Doris Day in Pillow Talk: Couture Allure
  • Doris in Carmel
    • DayDreamers
  • Doris through the Years
    • Cover Girl (Magazine Covers)
  • Quotes by and about Doris
  • Doris Talks to Her Fans (Fan Club Tapes)
    • Fans Talk To Doris
  • Who Knows What Might Have Been
    • Who Knows What Might Have Been, PART 2
  • Creative Video Collection
  • Doris Day Collector
  • And a few rounds of applause...
  • Contact Us