Mis seis amores

Caught this on late-night cable and stopped flipping when I caught Champion's director card in the opening credits. Now I understand why he wasn't given Birdie or Dolly to translate from brilliant Broadway stagings. Debbie Reynolds heads a cast of gold, including Eileen Hecket, Cliff Robertson, Alice Ghostly, Hans Conried and John McGiver. Unfortunately the plot is less than a standard Doris Day flic of the time - worse than wooden dialogue. Edith Head provided the dowdiest "star" wardrobe of her career (if they are her designs - she may just carry the credit as head of the costuming department). Gratuitous musical number mid-way through ingratiating Reynolds character to her new-found and distrusting orphans.

A curiosity at best.

I saw this movie at a drive-in theatre with my family when I was 4 years old. I remembered parts of it, most notably the six orphans living in the woods behind Debbie Reynolds' house. Those memories have stayed with me my entire life, but couldn't remember the name of it, or its stars.

While channel surfing the other night, it was just beginning, and I didn't recognize it (I'd completely forgotten the beginning of the film). Within minutes the hair was standing on the back of my neck as I recognized this as "that movie" I saw almost 40 years ago! I stayed up half the night watching it, and remembering my childhood.

Hopefully this will make it onto DVD. As a jaded 40 something year old, I was surprised how moved I was by this little movie, and I can't get the song "It's a Darn Good Thing" outta my head!

Wonderful family viewing.

I don't quite know why I loved this movie, but I did! It had some great one-liners and everyone was perfect in their respective roles. Eileen Heckart was hilarious as the personal assistant to Debbie Reynolds and Mary McCarty and Max Showalter were equally hilarious as the beer-guzzling, welfare collecting and neglectful "step parents" to the kids. When they showed up in their broken down trailer, burping from drinking too much, the Reverand asked them "Can we help you?" Heckart looked up at him and said "Are you serious?" Alice Ghostley was also fantastic as the goldbricking "housekeeper" who was taking care of Debbie Reynolds' Connecticut house while Raynolds lived and worked in New York.

I have always loved this movie. Is it sophisticated? No. Are there Oscar worthy performances, directing or writing? No. But what it does have is a charming and likable cast, an endearing story line and a happy ending. It is one of the most pleasant of the many feel good light comedies that came out in the early 60s.

If you are looking for deep meaning, this not the movie for you. If you spend your movie watching time picking apart flaws in movies, yes, you will find plenty in this movie. But if you just want to enjoy a movie and feel good when you are finished watching it, I can highly recommend this movie.

A romantic domestic comedy with songs, in glossy Technicolor (mainly set in Connecticut but which plainly never leaves the studio, even for the church fete or the bus ride), with surprisingly liberal lashings of God and rugged hunks David Janssen and Cliff Robertson both looking decidedly out of place amidst all this sweetness & light.

The rest of the adults include the voices of several cartoon characters, including Sterling Holloway (later Winnie the Pooh and and Kaa the snake) in an ironic unbilled cameo as a local who has lost his voice. It would all have worked much better with Doris Day, but fortunately there is also a quartet of cynical females, two of whom (Alices Ghostley and Pearce) later featured in 'Bewitched; which this rather resembles, minus the magic.