Romance en alta mar

One of the delights of "Romance on the High Seas" is the remarkable debut of Doris Day. Having replaced an indisposed Betty Hutton, Day stepped into this role with all the zest and zip that she brought to her total career.

It's rather amazing to me how accomplished Day was in her initial screen effort: her comedic work, singing, and general enactment was like that of a seasoned professional. All the infectious Day sparkle and spirit was there from the beginning, after only a brief period as a band singer.

Ably assisted by the multi-faceted Jack Carson, pretty other-woman Janis Paige, vulnerable foils Don DeFore and Oscar Levant, and top character actor S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, this Warner Bros. musical bounces along merrily. Fetching songs, a witty script, nice settings in Rio and Cuba, and a stylish specialty number by Avon Long keep things moving along right to the kaleidoscopic finale staged by Busby Berkeley.

"Romance on the High Seas" is a pleasurable way to spend an evening. As Doris's song goes, "It's Magic."

This was Doris Day's first film and what a fun one it was. I saw it as a kid in the old Monache Theater and then later on TV. I was surprised how well it had worn and was delighted to hear Doris Day, 23 years old at the making of this film, using the slang of the day, such as "Natch...Natch but def." Carson, Paige and DeFore were great as was the ever-insufferable curmudgeon, Oscar Levant alongside "Cuddles" Sakal, the perennial loveable Jewish uncle. Carson is especially good doing a Calypso number and the story is pure 1940's cotton candy.

Make no mistake, this is Doris Day's movie, first one or not. And that's no small accomplishment. She is up against not just two, but three veteran scene-stealers in Oscar Levant, "Cuddles" Szakall and Jack Carson. Yet the sheer naturalness of her winning personality is enough to launch one of Hollywood's most successful screen careers.

On the whole, it's an entertaining film, especially the first third where Day's high spirits are allowed to shine. Once the shipboard romance takes over, things slow down and the mood shifts. Whatever his other many talents, the versatile Jack Carson is a character actor, not a leading man. Too bad he gets romantically serious and we lose his light comedic talents. And, of course, there's the professional wit, the very unHollywood-looking Oscar Levant, always livening things up with a mordant quip.

What a gorgeous movie to look at. The Technicolor is outstanding. Note how well the colors are coordinated, especially the scenes in Rio. This is a neglected phase of movie-making, and here the art director and set designer both deserve industry awards. The plot's fairly clever, having to do with a marital mix-up that keeps the audience interested without straining. Nonetheless, it's Day's movie, showing what an engaging screen personality she is-- too bad she became mockingly identified as America's "professional virgin". Here, her rendition of "It's Magic" is just that. Magic!

Watching Romance on the High Seas I could have sworn that the Brothers Warner hijacked one of the plots of an RKO Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film. It's got that kind of silliness in the plot, the usual case of mistaken identities and false suspicions that characterized the Astaire- Rogers films.

Don DeFore and Janis Paige are a couple each of who swears the other is cheating. When a mix-up from a travel agency in passport photos where Paige's is exchanged for Doris Day's she contacts Day and offers to pay Day's way on a South American cruise if she just travels in Paige's name. She wants to catch DeFore cheating.

Of course DeFore goes one better. He hires private detective Jack Carson to go on the trip and catch Paige cheating. Of course he latches on to Day.

If you are a fan of Astaire-Rogers films you know exactly where this one is going. Romance on the High Seas has all the ingredients of one of their films except the dance numbers.

It doesn't lack for a good musical score though. Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn came up with a good one where Day sings several songs, including the Academy Award nominated, It's Magic. It's Magic lost that year to Buttons and Bows. It's Magic happens to be a favorite one of mine of Doris Day hits.

Doris firmly establishes her image in this one. She's so radiant and sings so well, I can't believe she was a third choice for this film behind Judy Garland and Betty Hutton.

If you hear violins coming from some unknown source it will be the magic when you're watching Romance on the High Seas.

Fortune certainly smiled on the talented Doris Day when she landed her first movie role in this typical late-Forties musical comedy confection. She looks great, sounds terrific and acts with confidence, supported by the best that Warner Brothers could muster (except for the annoying Oscar Levant, an all-time UNfavorite of mine). And, as always, the Warners music department and sound technicians provide a wonderfully lush treat for the ears.

Turner Classic Movies, bless 'em, occasionally hauls this one out of their vaults and it's fun to see it uninterrupted and causing one's TV screen to glow with that particularly cool, yet warm at the same time, three-strip Technicolor that Warners seemed to specialize in before Warnercolor's less vibrant tones decorated the studio's color output. Of course the clothes, the elaborately formal sets, and those hairdos (Could any woman back then achieve those coiffures without the aid of a platoon of hairdressers?) all are quintessentially Hollywood just before the Fifties demanded that everything look very modern and somewhat more sleek. But as a way to enjoy a bit of still very entertaining nostalgia, this one is hard to beat!