Don't Disturb Doris

Having relocated to England for her husband, Mike's (Rod Taylor), job, Janet Harper (Doris Day) is busily trying to learn the local currency and find a place for them to live. Only Mike wants an apartment in London, close to work while Janet goes out and rents a house far outside the city.  They begin to bicker as Mike spends more time away from home with his assistant Claire Hackett (Maura McGiveney), and Janet spends her time redecorating with the help of Paul Bellari (Sergio Fantoni). Our film is  Do Not Disturb (1965).

This post is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association's blogathon Laughter is the Best Medicine. Click on the link to read other posts in this series.

On his deathbed, Edmund Gwenn said "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." He wasn't kidding. And things that were funny in 1965 are not necessarily humorous in 2021. That's one of the problems with this film. Though blessed with an excellent comedienne in Doris Day, the movie today is one sexist trope after another.

Sex comedies were a thing in the 1960s: Sex and the Single Girl (1964), Sunday in New York (which also featured Rod Taylor) (1963), Under the Yum-Yum Tree (1963) are a few examples. Doris Day was in another one as well - Lover Come Back (1961), And while some of that film is dated, it has the benefit of Ms. Day working with Rock Hudson. One of the problems with Do Not Disturb is that there is precious little chemistry between Ms. Day and Mr. Taylor (they did a little better when they appeared together in The Glass-Bottomed Boat (1966)). 

Another problem with the film is that Janet is clueless. She complains that he husband is never home, but she's rented a house in the country - it takes him hours to get home from work (and Janet can't even find the train station). She says she wants to learn to use English money (back in the days of farthings and shillings) but never really figures it out. She also jets off to Paris with another man, and proceeds to get blind drunk. Unlike other Doris Day heroines, Janet is a dimwit, with little regard for her husband's feelings.

Not that he's all that liberated.  Mike is told by his colleagues that he needs to attend stag parties, which he does (without telling his wife). He's also hired an assistant, Claire Hackett (Maura McGiveney), who is eager to use Mike as a stepping stone for her own career in any way he might want.

There is also a problem in the relationship between Ms. Day and Mr. Taylor. He's a much better dramatic actor; he doesn't have the comic flair of, say, Rock Hudson or James Garner.  Even with a weak script, the chemistry between Ms. Day and the these wonderful actors mitigates some of the chauvinism in their respective films (Pillow Talk, The Thrill of it All). Because you don't feel that special relationship between Mike and Janet, it's hard to believe they're really married.

Despite a negative review from  New York Times critic, Bosley Crowther, the film did well financially (AFI Catalog) (proving indeed that times were different then). Though it was not her choice to do this film, her manager/husband Marty Melcher signed her up for it without her knowledge or consent (Doris Day: All American Girl). Here is the film's trailer:

This post is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association's blogathon Laughter is the Best Medicine. Please visit the link to read the other noteworthy posts in this blogathon.