This Happy Feeling

This is not the most sophisticated comedy in the world but it has a sweet breezy charm and is loaded with enjoyable performances.

Set in the Connecticut countryside the film stars Curd (here billed as Curt) Jurgens usually found in heavy duty drama in a nice change of pace as a distinguished, respected and retired actor who is trying to be lured back to the stage. He crosses paths with Debbie, sprightly as always but fed up with men on the make, who he takes on as his secretary and complications ensue with misunderstandings aplenty.

Hardly new or novel what puts this over is the cast. Curt Jurgens is relaxed and charming and Debbie her usual perky self but where this really excels is the supporting players. Mary Astor, Gloria Holden, Hayden Rorke and even the usual stiff Troy Donahue all have little moments to shine and John Saxon certainly cuts an attractive and personable figure but there are two performers that stand out from the rest.

The criminally undervalued Alexis Smith is grace and style personified as the sly and sexy Nita Holloway, a famous actress and former flame of Curt's who is anxious to both relight the flame and get him back on stage. The other is Estelle Winwood as the daffy, eccentric housekeeper Mrs. Early. Her scenes with Curt have the snap that comes from years of experience and great skill. Both ladies are great!

Curiously obscure considering the director and cast catch up with this if you have the chance.

Lifeless suburban-comedy has Blake Edwards' name on it, but nowhere is there evidence of his comedic spirit or comic timing (true, he's an uneven filmmaker, but this is way off the mark). Debbie Reynolds plays a virginal secretary holding strong to her virtue while working for handsome actor Curt Jurgens; John Saxon plays a neighbor boy who befriends her. Blake Edwards adapted the screenplay from the theatrical piece "For Love Or Money" written by a fellow named F. Hugh Herbert--HIS name alone is funnier than anything in Blake's script! Is this material supposed to be sophisticated? If so, it's about as satirical and sparkling as dinner theater in the Amazon. * from ****

The only people in which this movie will produce the titular happy feeling are the kinds of people who strongly believe that age similarity is an essential factor in romance. If the idea of a May-December romance turns your stomach, and you think it would be funny to laugh at an older man trying to show masculine prowess in front of a younger girl, by all means rent This Happy Feeling.

I was probably the last person on Earth who should have watched this movie. Not only do I have a soft spot in my heart for any May-December romance, but I had been in one prior to renting this "comedy". The very day that my relationship ended, This Happy Feeling was selected for movie night. The man responsible for my terrific heartbreak looked, moved, and wore expressions very, very similarly to the lead actor Curd Jurgens. He loved horses, the younger girl feigned interest in a boy her own age to make Curd jealous, and Curd gave a big speech about living in two different worlds - all elements that were too close for comfort. Can't a girl catch a break? I bawled my way through the entire movie.

From an objective perspective, there's something about this movie that just doesn't work. First, there's Debbie Reynolds, who has zero sex appeal or charm. Curd starts the movie in a relationship with the sultry Alexis Smith, who makes it very clear that she loves her bedroom activities with him. If he has that, why would he ever be attracted to Debbie? If everyone were treating him like an old man who can't enjoy life anymore, it might make sense that he finds Debbie's attentions refreshing - but clearly, that isn't the case. Debbie's character is just a series of mistakes, confusion, and stupidity.

If you can get past her, there's John Saxon: the younger, "more suitable" part of the love triangle. He has nothing going for him except his age. He looks up to Curd like a father figure, but he has no substance of his own and is quite immature. There's really no reason for a triangle at all, since he comes in a distant second to Curd in every particular.

If you can get past him, there's the biggest problem of all: Curd. Again, I'm being as objective as I can, so trust me when I'm not just trying to nobly defend my ex-boyfriend. Curd is masculine, strong, and sexy. At the start of the movie, he has dinner with Alexis and she complains that they haven't spent quality time together in two weeks. Accusing him of slowing down, he remarks, "When a man reaches my age, it's not slowing down. It's conservation." Translation: he still has a healthy appetite and will use his energy when it really counts. In that scene, yes, he was well cast. However, for the rest of the movie, he was terribly miscast. He's made out to be an old buffoon, fodder for audiences' laughter. Just as For Love or Money was extremely disrespectful to Kirk Douglas, this movie was insulting to Curd. He tries to impress Debbie by keeping up with her on the dance floor and pulls his back out. He makes an abrupt exit, claiming he forgot to take care of something on the farm. Later, it shows him in bed in agony as his housekeep tries to work the kinks out of his back. In another scene, he chases after Debbie as she leaves on a train. He romantically runs after the train, then falls into a construction pit. These "jokes" about his age and infirmity aren't funny. If someone else were cast, like Danny Kaye or Bob Hope, the humor would have been funny. Bob Hope would have been a great choice, since he normally made sex jokes during his movies; the idea of him chasing after Debbie Reynolds and getting a backache would have been very funny indeed. But if they're going to cast someone who has an intensely attractive energy, they might as well cast Burt Lancaster - and no one would have wanted to laugh at him, either.

Whatever Blake Edwards did to the screenplay (since he received the credit, he wrote at least 51% of the material) just didn't work. Is the leading man supposed to be a stud or over the hill? Is he supposed to realize he's old enough to be Debbie's father, or is he supposed to strut around with his shirt unbuttoned as he comes into her bedroom late at night? The theme of the story could have been showing that finding love, no matter what age, makes a man feel youthful and hopeful. It could have been sweet, touching, and charming. Audiences could have held back happy tears as the end credits rolled; instead, it was lousy and insulting.

And girls, if you've just broken up with (or been broken up with) an older man, don't even think of renting this movie. You don't need to be tortured any more than you are already.

Veteran actor Preston "Mitch" Mitchell (Curd Jürgens) refuses to come out of retirement for a Broadway play as the father of the new teen idol. At a party, Janet Blake (Debbie Reynolds) needs to escape from her drunk lecherous boss. Bill Tremaine (John Saxon) gives her a ride. When he starts making suggestions, she makes a run for it in the pouring rain. She makes it to his neighbor Mitch and is forced to spend the night. People mistakenly assumes some hanky panky and Mitch hires her as his secretary.

The starting premise has some interesting aspects and some icky aspects. It would be written a little differently today. I can see Janet as the butt of the joke back in the day. This is one of those May to December romances. I rarely like them reaching fruition and this one is no exception. Also, Mitch is rather stiff and the chemistry is mostly coming from Reynolds. Saxon is too angry and isn't much better either. She has all the abilities to sell this, but I'm not eager to buy.

A late Eisenhower era rom com with all the sparkle and verve of a John Foster Dulles presser, this has to be Blake Edwards' most dispiriting film until the curdled and worn out "SOB" came along. I can think, off the top of my head, of at least fifty actors who would have been better than Curt Jurgens, from Leon Ames to Robert Young. John Saxon, as per usual, soon descends into a pool of ennui while Debbie Reynolds, also per usual, is engaging but is given absolutely none of the script's (also by Edwards) few good lines. Those are instead mostly outsourced to Estelle Winwood, as a dipso house keeper with an unfunny pet seagull and, in the film's only interestingly surprising turn, Alexis Smith who shows that, had she not chosen the love interest career path, she could have been a better looking Eve Arden. Solid C.

PS...A crappy print and terminally perky music didn't help matters, either.