"We had fun. He's a marvelous actor. He's very real when he talks to you. He's so funny and so nice, I just love him. Even though he broke two of my ribs." - Doris Day from The Garner Files: A Memoir By James Garner, Jon Winokur
"She exuded sex but made you smile about it." - James Garner
"In one scene she was standing on a bed and I reached up, grabbed her by the waist, and carried her off. In the process, I broke two of her ribs. I didn't know it until one of the assistant directors told me the next day, because Doris never complained." - James Garner from The Garner Files: A Memoir By James Garner, Jon Winokur
"I so fell in love with Doris: she was the most wonderful, funny, delicious, completely sharing, giving actress I had ever worked with - and I mean that sincerely." - Polly Bergen
"She exuded sex but made you smile about it." - James Garner
"In one scene she was standing on a bed and I reached up, grabbed her by the waist, and carried her off. In the process, I broke two of her ribs. I didn't know it until one of the assistant directors told me the next day, because Doris never complained." - James Garner from The Garner Files: A Memoir By James Garner, Jon Winokur
"I so fell in love with Doris: she was the most wonderful, funny, delicious, completely sharing, giving actress I had ever worked with - and I mean that sincerely." - Polly Bergen
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Directed by
Produced by Written by Starring Music by Cinematography Editing Distributed by Release date(s) Running time Country Language Box-Office Gross (USA) |
Michael Gordon
Martin Melcher Aaron Rosenberg Hal Kanter Jack Sher Bella Spewack Leo McCarey Doris Day James Garner Polly Bergen Thelma Ritter Chuck Connors Fred Clark Don Knotts John Astin Pat Harrington Jr. Max Showalter Lionel Newman Warren Barker Arthur Morton Daniel L. Fapp Robert Simpson 20th Century Fox Studios December 25, 1963 103 Minutes USA English $12,705,882.00 * This film became the sixth-biggest moneymaker of 1964. |
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Another film co-starring James Garner (and Polly Bergen), this one was originally planned for Marilyn Monroe (as “Something’s Gotta Give”). It was re-tooled for Doris and became another of the great comedies of the early 60’s. The title tune co-written by Terry Melcher became one of Doris’ most controversial recordings and her last single hit.
A man makes the highly unexpected discovery that he has two wives in this romantic comedy. Widower Nick Arden (James Garner) has just set off on his honeymoon with his new wife Bianca (Polly Bergen) when his mother Grace (Thelma Ritter) receives a very unexpected guest -- Nick's late wife Ellen (Doris Day).
While Ellen was proclaimed legally dead five years after her plane disappeared in a flight over the Pacific Ocean and she fell overboard a life raft, she made her way to a deserted island. Here she was stranded with Stephen Burkett (Chuck Connors) and only now has managed to return to civilization after getting picked up by a Navy submarine. When Grace informs Ellen that Nick has just left town with his new wife to the destination of their formerly favorite hotel in Monterey, Ellen heads out to the resort where the newlyweds are staying, and comic confusion ensues.
Day is as charming as ever and she and Arden sizzle as they fluctuate between enraptured lovers and warring spouses, while there are also some great turns from the supporting cast. It’s good old-fashioned ’60s farce at its best.
A man makes the highly unexpected discovery that he has two wives in this romantic comedy. Widower Nick Arden (James Garner) has just set off on his honeymoon with his new wife Bianca (Polly Bergen) when his mother Grace (Thelma Ritter) receives a very unexpected guest -- Nick's late wife Ellen (Doris Day).
While Ellen was proclaimed legally dead five years after her plane disappeared in a flight over the Pacific Ocean and she fell overboard a life raft, she made her way to a deserted island. Here she was stranded with Stephen Burkett (Chuck Connors) and only now has managed to return to civilization after getting picked up by a Navy submarine. When Grace informs Ellen that Nick has just left town with his new wife to the destination of their formerly favorite hotel in Monterey, Ellen heads out to the resort where the newlyweds are staying, and comic confusion ensues.
Day is as charming as ever and she and Arden sizzle as they fluctuate between enraptured lovers and warring spouses, while there are also some great turns from the supporting cast. It’s good old-fashioned ’60s farce at its best.
Movie Quotes
Ellen Wagstaff Arden: Child?! Nick is not a child.
Grace Arden: No, he's not that smart. He's only a man.
Nicholas Arden: [muttering as he walks through the hotel lobby] My wife is alive....my wife is alive...my wife is alive...
Seymour: So's mine, buddy, that's why I drink!
Judge Bryson: [To Nick] You mean your own mother charged you with bigamy?
Grace Arden: I certainly did.
Judge Bryson: I hope you remember this on Mothers' Day.
Songs
"Move Over, Darling" - Sung by Doris Day and chorus during the opening credits
Played as background music at the end
* Co-written by Terry Melcher
"Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride)" - Played as part of the score when James Garner and Polly Bergen arrive at the hotel
"Beautiful Dreamer (1862)" - Played as background music as James Garner describes the memorial service for Doris Day
"Twinkle Lullaby" - Sung by Doris Day to her children
Trivia
The role played by Chuck Connors was originally intended for Randolph Scott, but Scott announced his retirement from acting before filming began.
Doris Day wrote in her 1975 autobiography that because of her cracked ribs, she was so mummified with tape and bandages under her costumes that it was difficult to breathe and painful to laugh.
From IMDB:
"A re-shot version of Something's Got to Give (1962), the never completed film Marilyn Monroe was working on when she died."
"The movie that Ellen (Doris Day) describes to Bianca (Polly Bergen) while giving her a massage is My Favorite Wife (1940), of which this is a remake."
"Doris Day proved what a trouper she truly was when James Garner accidentally cracked two of her ribs (during the massage scene, when he pulls her off of Polly Bergen). Garner wasn't even aware that Day was injured until the next day, when he felt the bandage while putting his arms around her."
"The producers scheduled the scene with Doris Day riding through a car wash for the last day of shooting because they were concerned that the detergents used in the car wash might affect the star's complexion. When the scene went off without a hitch, they admitted their ploy to Day, then used the story in promotional materials for the film."
"When Bianca is helping Nicholas out of the car and into the house (Nicholas pretending to have hurt his back), the jacket Bianca is wearing is the same pattern/material as one of Marilyn Monroe's dresses from Something's Got to Give (1962) - (on which this film's script is based)."
This movie is also referenced in the following:
Wild Seed (1965)
Marilyn: Something's Got to Give (1990) (TV Movie)
The Parent Trap (1998)
The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter (2009)
Title song for movie is credited to Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son.
EastEnders: Episode dated 30 April 2010 (2010) (TV Episode)
Pat and Peggy both sing the theme tune to movie whilst in a love triangle with Harvey.
Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck (2013)
Ellen Wagstaff Arden: Child?! Nick is not a child.
Grace Arden: No, he's not that smart. He's only a man.
Nicholas Arden: [muttering as he walks through the hotel lobby] My wife is alive....my wife is alive...my wife is alive...
Seymour: So's mine, buddy, that's why I drink!
Judge Bryson: [To Nick] You mean your own mother charged you with bigamy?
Grace Arden: I certainly did.
Judge Bryson: I hope you remember this on Mothers' Day.
Songs
"Move Over, Darling" - Sung by Doris Day and chorus during the opening credits
Played as background music at the end
* Co-written by Terry Melcher
"Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride)" - Played as part of the score when James Garner and Polly Bergen arrive at the hotel
"Beautiful Dreamer (1862)" - Played as background music as James Garner describes the memorial service for Doris Day
"Twinkle Lullaby" - Sung by Doris Day to her children
Trivia
The role played by Chuck Connors was originally intended for Randolph Scott, but Scott announced his retirement from acting before filming began.
Doris Day wrote in her 1975 autobiography that because of her cracked ribs, she was so mummified with tape and bandages under her costumes that it was difficult to breathe and painful to laugh.
From IMDB:
"A re-shot version of Something's Got to Give (1962), the never completed film Marilyn Monroe was working on when she died."
"The movie that Ellen (Doris Day) describes to Bianca (Polly Bergen) while giving her a massage is My Favorite Wife (1940), of which this is a remake."
"Doris Day proved what a trouper she truly was when James Garner accidentally cracked two of her ribs (during the massage scene, when he pulls her off of Polly Bergen). Garner wasn't even aware that Day was injured until the next day, when he felt the bandage while putting his arms around her."
"The producers scheduled the scene with Doris Day riding through a car wash for the last day of shooting because they were concerned that the detergents used in the car wash might affect the star's complexion. When the scene went off without a hitch, they admitted their ploy to Day, then used the story in promotional materials for the film."
"When Bianca is helping Nicholas out of the car and into the house (Nicholas pretending to have hurt his back), the jacket Bianca is wearing is the same pattern/material as one of Marilyn Monroe's dresses from Something's Got to Give (1962) - (on which this film's script is based)."
This movie is also referenced in the following:
Wild Seed (1965)
Marilyn: Something's Got to Give (1990) (TV Movie)
The Parent Trap (1998)
The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter (2009)
Title song for movie is credited to Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son.
EastEnders: Episode dated 30 April 2010 (2010) (TV Episode)
Pat and Peggy both sing the theme tune to movie whilst in a love triangle with Harvey.
Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck (2013)
