Le piment de la vie

I know a lot of people may say this movie is sexist,and it certainly does focus on a man's ego(which still exists within many men today)but this movie is one my all time favorites.I love Doris Day and James Garner was so attractive in this movie that they make a very sexy,cute couple.I love the atmosphere of comedies from the early 60's,nothing can compare to them today.As far as so many people making comments on older women not having babies in the 60's,tell that to my mom who had me in 1964 at the youthful age of 41.The commercials are a hoot that Doris does and her daughter is adorable!!I found the Spot Checker chick much more offensive,with her non-existent intelligence, than the sexist view of Mr.Garner in this movie. 9 out of 10 stars from me on this timeless gem of a movie.

This is the first time I write a comment about a film. Considering that my favorite films, since I discovered the movies, are by Scorsese, Gonzalez Inarritu, Polanski, etc. What am I doing selecting a Doris Day comedy for my first review. Okay, let me tell you. I was overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance of the lady. I've always heard about Doris Day but I had never seen her (The Man Who Knew Too Much is my next one). She is extraordinary because in the midst of all the zaniness there is an unquestionable truth. I believed completely in her character I never thought for a moment she was trying to sell me something. I recognized her, I knew who her character was and then, of course, I laughed, loud and hard. So the reason that I've selected "The Thrill Of It All" as my first review is because that's what cinema is all about. Surprises and discoveries. Thank you Doris Day, you've given me something new to look forward to.

If you've seen TTOIA before, even once, even long ago on its first release in 1963, you may not remember ALL the treats you're in for under the tree, but you know it's one of Santa's most memorable Romantic Comedy deliveries in motion picture history.

If you've NEVER seen it, you still can't help grinning, from the opening frames until the brilliant payoff.

"Santa" being, in this case, one of Hollywood's finest collaborative teams at the top of their game. It's a huge team! Carl Reiner (Dick Van Dyke show), Larry Gelbart (M*A*S*H) conceived it. Reiner wrote the screenplay.

Ross Hunter produced it, along with Day's then-husband, Marty Melcher, who got titular co-producer credit and a nice paycheck, but whose actual contributions are questionable at best. It's a Ross Hunter Production all the way. "Hire the best and keep them happy."

Reiner's script is tight as a drum. The continual builds and arcs he and Gelbart constructed are emotionally riveting, revealing of character, increasingly funny and broad (just pushing the edge of believability without ever violating it), with a foolproof "ticking clock" and jaw-dropping tender-yet-hysterical climax sequence unlike any before or since.

Amazing! The production visuals are as brilliantly developed as the script. This is a lavishly complex and technically challenging piece of film-making.

Ross Hunter nailed down the script, brought in Norman Jewison to direct. He cast Doris Day and James Garner as the irresistibly appealing leads. He also cast second leads to perfection: Arlene Francis and Edward Andrews. The supporting players, from Zasu Pitts to the two children – Jewison got stunning work from them too! Jewison's coordination of camera and technical work, color, set design, physical comedy touches, tweaks of his actors' close-ups – flawless.

He hired Jean-Louis to design the most beautiful costumes (LOTS of them!) Miss Day ever graced. The man was a genius and Day never looked lovelier.

But it's the grins that start from the first frames, with Miss Francis' deliriously happy laughter – soon explained – that grow and balloon into remarkable comedy set-pieces (punctuated with razor-sharp satirical on-screen bits featuring Carl Reiner himself) – and gradually explode into eye-popping visual comedy sequences that hark back to silent-film pioneers like Chaplin and Keaton – ending in the must-be-seen-to-be-believed, brilliantly staged and directed and played and edited, final sequence in stalled traffic – that lands TTOIA in the top ten Romantic Comedies of the last 100 years.

As good as all Doris Day's romantic comedies were – and they WERE – TTOIA is as good as this incredibly difficult, deceptively "easy," genre gets.

Watching it is a privilege.

The Thrill Of It All finds James Garner and Doris Day as typical suburban couple, two kids, big house, live-in maid, and he's a doctor. Could a girl ask for more.

But Garner's the doctor for Arlene Francis who's having one of those late in life babies and she and husband Edward Andrews are excited as all heck. He and Doris get invited to their house for a little get together where Doris spontaneously extols the virtues of Happy Soap to the delight of Reginald Owen who is Edward Andrews's father. Owen is less excited about becoming a grandfather than he is with discovering Doris whom he insists become the new Happy Soap spokeswoman.

After that it's Garner who has a really difficult time in adjusting to his wife's new found celebrity. And Doris is liking the idea of making tons of money, more than Garner's practice brings in.

This was the first of two films James Garner and Doris Day are teamed and while they never became as famous as Rock Hudson and Doris Day they certainly had good chemistry together. Both by this time were becoming pretty old hands at screen comedy.

Best sequence in the film is when the spontaneous gift of a swimming pool for Garner and Day from Reginald Owen plus several boxes of bars of Happy Soap and the chain of events caused. It's still side splitting funny after 45 years.

Owen wanted a wholesome celebrity created for Happy Soap and you can't get more wholesome than Doris Day. The film bears certain similarities to the Jack Lemmon comedy Good Neighbor Sam where company owner Edward G. Robinson sees in Jack Lemmon's family wholesome spokespeople for his dairy products.

So if you want to see Doris Day morphed into Mrs. Butterworth, The Thrill Of It All is your film. Fans of Doris and Jim will be wanting more and they soon got it.

Doris Day was one of my favorites in the 50s and 60s, even in her

final clunkers, she always rose above the material. Thankfully in

the early 60s she was at her most productive, giving really fine

comic performances that not even Goldie Hawn could match in

quality. Here's she's the attractive housewife to James Garner's

equally attractive pediatrician husband. They live in the burbs, and

at a dinner party, she's suddenly offered the opportunity to become

a pitchwoman for a line of laundry detergent. It's not a hard

job--the advertising agency simply shoots the TV spots in her

home. But Doris becomes a star, and her well-ordered life veers

completely out of control. Her mildly chauvinistic husband (typical

of the times) hates her working, taking time from him and the kids

(okay for him to be constantly busy and challenged by his work).

You need know nothing more of the plot, which involves the head

of the agency's wife giving birth in a limousine, and the by now

somewhat separated Day/Garner partnership finds their spat over

with a big embrace before the final credits.

A smart script by Carl Reiner and Doris at her comic and

glamorous best (the costumes are really gorgeous early 60s

knockouts) with wonderful chemistry supplied by hunky Garner.

The kids are cute, Arlene Francis and Edward Andrews are fine

comic foils. I've seen this movie a half a dozen times, and always

watch when it's on late-night TV. The scene where Doris finally

loses her temper over her husband's un-reasonable jealousy and

anger over his wife's career, is a howler. As she demonstrated in

all her movies with Rock Hudson, nobody can boil over in comic

rage better than the adorable Miss Day.