That Touch of Mink

Great writing, cool gowns, and Cary Grant panache only begin to describe the pleasures of this surprisingly refreshing film. Cary Grant is an overly-controlling business executive; Gig Young plays his side-kick, junior, and alter-ego. Doris Day is strong-willed and fun to watch, but Audrey Meadows is sensational in her over-the-top performance as Doris Day's older and wiser roommate. Two scenes stand out: one in the fabled NY quick-meal restaurant, the Automat, the other a computer room scene that has to be seen by anyone who knows what IBM stands for. See this movie. It will surprise you.

"That Touch of Mink" has its high points as well as its lows. The film's main theme revolves around undulating social morays of a cultural transition which, if one examines history, aren't all that transitional as they would appear to be. Day, Grant, Meadows and Young give some solid performances in an early 60's "sex" comedy. The humor is suggestive rather than explicit, which should create some fun for the more conservative minded. I can't say I laughed a whole lot (if at all), but I did enjoy the film on its own terms.

Regrettably the currant DVD offered by Artisan Entertainment is sub par. "That Touch of Mink" isn't the greatest film ever made, but, like so many other offerings of the period, it is a solid piece of cinema, and deserves a better visual release.

Currently Artisan Home Entertainment bolsters a "Digitally Mastered" disk, but the only mastering that was done was to put the film onto DVD format in the first place, and nothing more. I say nothing more because the film image is absolutely horrible. There's lots of video noise overlaying the film image, and where the film is shown in widescreen format, it's hardly an anamorphic transfer. Instead the consumer is given a low resolution transfer which, were it not for Day, would not be worth watching.

The audio is clear, even though its monaural. A remastered soundtrack really isn't required for a film like this, as there's really nothing more to listen to other than dialog and incidental music. That is there're no explosions, gun shots, rockets, bands or other things demanding a digital 5.1 mastered soundtrack. Still, having said all this, good clean audio should accompany a good clean image.

Too bad this disc is missing both.

While going to receive her unemployment paycheck and to a job interview later, the coat of the naive Cathy Timberlake (Doris Day) is splashed with mud by the Rolls Royce of the millionaire businessman Philip Shayne (Cary Grant). Later he sees her going to have lunch from his office and sends his financial adviser Roger (Gig Young) to give some money to Cathy to compensate her loss. Cathy feels offended with the offer and she goes to Philip's office with the intention of throwing the money on his face. However, when she sees the handsome Philip, she immediately falls in love with him. They date and Cathy expects that Philip proposes to marry her, but he does not have this intention.

"That Touch of Mink" is a silly and naive but funny romantic comedy. The premise is dumb and is irritating to see Cathy buying expensive clothing and traveling to Bermudas with a playboy expecting to give nothing in return. But the comedy has many funny situations, like the just married couple in the motel or Roger being mistakenly taken as Philip in Cathy's apartment building. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Carícias de Luxo" ("Caresses of Luxury")

This is a movie that I can enjoy watching over and over again, and every time there's something new to notice. It would be a difficult movie to re-make today, morality having changed the way it has, but as a slice of history, it works well. The script is really well-written, with some great one-liners and sharp dialogue, and who can resist Cary Grant? A hot drink, a plate of cookies, and "That Touch of Mink" add up to a very pleasant way to pass an evening.

This was probably the fourth or fifth early sixties sexual innuendo comedy that I've caught up on during the 2020, now 2021 pandemic. By caught up, I mean I've been trying to screen one film a night, that I've been meaning to watch for years, from my eight thousand plus video collection. The script was funny, the actors were good and the direction was fine. I just had a couple of problems.

Cary Grant was an entity onto himself in not less than ten brilliant, classic comedies of the late thirties and early forties. He was a suave middle aged leading man in Hitchcock suspense films of the forties and fifties. By the early sixties, while he was still sophisticated and sharp, he didn't quite have it as the romantic comedy Lothario. And Doris Day, at age forty, while still quite beautiful, charming and witty, didn't convince me that she was the nervous, starry eyed young virgin who was living the lifestyle of a twenty two year old, trying to find herself.

The original idea for the Mary Tyler Moore show had Mary Richards newly divorced and starting over in a new city. They decided to change it and have her fresh out of a long term relationship. She was thirty years old and they knew the idea that she was still a naive virgin wouldn't quite fly. If Doris' character in this one was divorced from the only man she'd ever been with, and nervous and anxious with someone new, it would have worked for me. A forty year old woman, living in a tiny apartment with a roommate, working at temp jobs and staying in a room with a man for the first time was less than credible. Yes, women like this exist and I've met them. They're usually not the type that a suave billionaire playboy who looks like Cary Grant would do an immediate backflip over.

Okay, now I sound like a sexist and an ageist. The fact is, a forty year old virgin, male or female, isn't usually the most sought after partner in New York. To leave on a positive note, Audrey Meadows was perfectly cast as the wise and cynical best friend. I wish she had done more films but I guess I should be happy that Alice Kramden is forever a part of my DNA.