The Magic of Doris Day... Too Marvelous for Words
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    • Doris Day, America's box-office sweetheart of the '50s and '60s, is dead at 97
    • Legendary actress and singer Doris Day has died
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    • Doris Day 'Died Peacefully' Surrounded by Her 'Loved Ones,' Says Manager
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    • 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...
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Picture
"On Moonlight Bay's script, by Jack and Melville Shavelson, paints an idealized "misty water-colored memory" musical portrait of pre-World War I America. The fact that it depicts an America that never could have existed did not deter moviegoers, and the filmed proved to be a turning point in solidifying Doris Day's star appeal. If On Moonlight Bay showed an idealized America, well then, with the release of this movie, Doris Day seemed to officially seal her status as the idealized girl next door.... In many ways, On Moonlight Bay crystallized the Doris Day film persona that existed for the first half of her feature film career (the second half began with 1959's Pillow Talk): forthright, all-American tomboy exterior and vulnerable feminine interior." - Considering Doris Day By Tom Santopietro

"Silvery Moon and Moonlight Bay—I loved doing those. You know, if life could be like it was in those movies, it would be beautiful, wouldn’t it?" - Doris Day


Picture
Directed by  

Produced by

Written by



Starring








Music by


Cinematography

Editing

Distributed by   

Release date(s)   

Running time

Country

Language


Box-Office Gross (USA)
Roy Del Ruth

William Jacobs


Source stories of Booth Tarkington
Jack Rose
Melville Shavelson


Doris Day
Gordon MacRae
Jack Smith
Leon Ames
Rosemary DeCamp
Mary Wickes
Ellen Corby
Billy Gray


Ray Heindorf


Ernest Haller

Thomas Reilly

Warner Brothers


July 26, 1951

95 Minutes

USA

English

$5,000,000.00

Teamed again with Gordon MacRae, this time we move to the era of World War I in the first of two films that follow the adventures of The Winfield Family and features some great standard songs. The soundtrack reached #2 in album sales.

Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams, coupled with his Penrod stories, were mostly incorporated in the script of this Warner Bros. musical. The role of the incorrigible Penrod (Wesley) is played by future Father Knows Best regular Billy Gray, but his is a strictly secondary part herein.

The emphasis is on Wesley's older sister, played by Doris Day. She falls in love with Gordon MacRae, whose mildly anti-capitalist sentiments sit not at all well with Doris' banker dad (Leon Ames). Once a subplot involving Penrod's prevarications concerning his father's "supposed" drinking habits is out of the way, movie goers are treated to several romantic scenes involving  Doris and Gordon, and a steady stream of early-20th-century standards like "Till We Meet Again," "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," and  the title song.

On Moonlight Bay ends with MacRae marching off to World War I and Doris promising she'll wait for him; she did, as was proven in the 1953 sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon.



Movie Quotes


Mr. Winfield: Wesley, you stay out of the living room. Your sister is entertaining a caller.
Wesley Winfield: Is he telling her 'Her eyes are like the blue stars in Heaven?'
Mr. Winfield: Now, where did you pick that up?
Wesley Winfield: Ah, I've been around.
Mr. Winfield: Well, just the same, you stay out of the living room.


Aunt Martha Robertson: No man believes in marriage... until a woman traps him into it!


Marjorie 'Marjie' Winfield: Won't you come in and have a nice cool glass of buttermilk?
William 'Bill' Sherman: Yeah. I guess I'd like that. Marjorie?
Marjorie 'Marjie' Winfield: Yes, William?
William 'Bill' Sherman: In all fairness, I've got to tell you something.
Marjorie 'Marjie' Winfield: What?
William 'Bill' Sherman: I don't believe in marriage.
Marjorie 'Marjie' Winfield: But I just asked you in for some buttermilk.
William 'Bill' Sherman: Well, I... I didn't want to drink it under false pretenses.
Marjorie 'Marjie' Winfield: Well, my goodness. Maybe, I don't believe in marriage, either.

 
Mr. Winfield: Marjorie's young and very inexperienced. All she knows about men is their batting averages.
Stella: In case you're interested, this one's batting a thousand.


Songs

"Moonlight Bay" - Sung by an off-screen chorus during the opening credits,
Also performed by Doris Day, Gordon MacRae and Chorus
Also performed by Gordon MacRae and Chorus
Also performed by Jack Smith and Chorus

"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" - Jack Smith

"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile!" - Gordon MacRae and the Soldiers

"Tell Me" - Doris Day

"Love Ya" - Doris Day and Jack Smith

"Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine" - Gordon MacRae and Billy Gray

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" -  Billy Gray and the Carolers

"Merry Christmas All" - Doris Day and the Carolers

"Every Little Movement (Has a Meaning All Its Own)" - Jack Smith

"Till We Meet Again" - Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

"Ain't We Got Fun" - Second tune played by the dance band
Also played during the carnival game

"Oh, You Beautiful Doll" - Played during the carnival game
Also played in the bar during the silent picture

"Hail to Old I.U."

"Yoo-Hoo" - First tune played by the dance band

"The Bowery" - Played during the silent picture when John is accosted by the traveling men

"Hurry No. 1" - Played during the silent picture after John returns home

"Wintermärchen" - Played during the silent picture when John collapses in the snow

"It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" - Played by the band at the railway station





Trivia

"This movie proved to be so popular that the studio immediately filmed By the Light of the Silvery Moon which is a direct sequel with all the actors playing the same characters. This was very unusual at the time." - IMDB (Internet Movie Database)

"'Lux Radio Theater' broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 5, 1952 with Gordon MacRae reprising his film role. - IMDB (Internet Movie Database)



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