La blonde défie le FBI

This fast and wild James Bond spoof is not the usual Doris Day bedroom comedy of the 60s. It's different in that it has a bevy of talented comic actors in supporting roles, who all have their moments to shine.

Paul Lynde in drag is sublime. He looks spectacular in a red bouffant wig and aqua satin gown, and looks even more glamorous than Doris. They have a "powder room" scene together that is hilarious slapstick.

Alice Pearce recreates her Gladys Kravitz-type character from "Bewitched" and is wonderful as usual. It's her last movie role, unfortunately, as she died too young.

A young Dom DeLuise has a couple of funny scenes that he does mostly in pantomime. Dick Martin shows up with good reaction takes, and the great character actor Edward Andrews is in fine blustering form.

The stars, Doris and Rod Taylor, are quite appealing, although looking a bit too mature for their fluffy romance.

I saw this film when I was ten years old, during its initial release. A typical family night out at the movies. For some reason this otherwise ephemeral event has stayed with me as a freeze frame of the more pleasant, uncomplicated memories of that era.

I bought the DVD after not seeing the film since that long ago 1966 night--incidentally, I vividly recall the huge waves of laughter from the audience during several scenes; anyone who dismisses this film as a fiasco or whatever obviously didn't experience a very happy crowd seeking some light entertainment. On seeing the DVD, I was impressed by the sharp editing (I'm an editor--believe me, the timing of various sight gags etc. are very well done), creative use of colors and consistently high level of comedic performances. The naysayers who have posted otherwise don't know from squat. Overall, a totally innocuous movie that has retained a nice reputation as a still enjoyable memento of the mid-'6os.

This picture wasn't thought to be much when it was released. Most people thought it was a silly sitcom style comedy not up to Day's earlier romantic comedies. Arthur Godfrey gave it some air play on his daytime radio show, with Day and Taylor as guests, but there wasn't much else as I remember. By this point in his career Godfrey had lost his star lustre of just ten years before and his network radio show on CBS was just about all that was left, so his appearance in a major Hollywood movie was a big deal for him.

The picture did get a Music Hall premiere run in New York, but as I say, most people just yawned.

Seen forty years later it has a lot going for it, especially compared to today's cinema "comedies": good writing, expert direction, good pacing and editing, colorful location shots of Catalina and vicinity, good playing by the leads, who look to be having fun, and really good support from that amazing cast of 60s character actors.

There is a surprising amount of frank sexuality in this picture for the time, without nudity or profanity (Doris' character is a widow so she plays her as sexually mature and sophisticated), Godfrey's character has a wife/girlfriend about whom he's absolutely crazy and shows it, often (!), and there's even a surprising gay subplot that's played for laughs of course, but not offensively so. There's even Paul Lynde in drag...priceless!

Forty years later, it still makes me laugh. You will too.

A star-studded cast with the purist of early 60s silly humor. I first saw this movie on an airplane at age 6. It made me laugh then and it still makes me laugh to this day. Dom DeLouise and Paul Lynde are hysterically funny. Doris Day is as Doris as ever and Rod Taylor made a very dashing scientist! I love watching this movie for all the old styles and realizing that they are all back again. The jokes, though simple and harmless, are still humorous today and they were in 1966.

Amazing how silly I though it was to have vacuum that did the cleaning without the assistance of a human. Amazing how they have those now ... a bit smaller that the movie version and I doubt that they would vacuum up a flip flop, but amazing that even a musical romantic comedy of the 60s would foretell us inventions to come.

Dig those computers in this flick! And Dom DeLouise has been known (and seen) to eat many a gourmet item, but a transistor hors d'oeuvres? Silly, but sooooo funny.

Take a trip to the blue room or red room and enjoy this fun film. But be careful, Doris Day just might be spying on you!

What a warm, wonderful actress Doris Day is, what a knockout, what a screen presence. And just think, at the age of 42 (ancient by Hollywood standards in 1966) she was playing a desirable woman lusted after by several men. Glass Bottom Boat is a very '60s comedy in look and subject matter - the space age and spies. Taylor has invented a gizmo and when there's a leak from his project team, suspicion falls on Day, who works for the company and calls someone named Vladimir several times a day. Vladimir, however, is her dog, and she's calling him so he'll run around while the phone is ringing and get some exercise.

The film is loaded with space-age gadgets. Taylor's computerized, motorized kitchen is great, complete with a floor-cleaning robot - wonder if the inventors of today's robot vacuum saw this movie. He also pilots his boat via a remote - but as he points out during a scene where the boat runs amok with Day inside, that needs further work.

There's lots of slapstick and comedy support from Dom Deluise, Dick Martin, and Paul Lynde. Lynde, by the way, looked great in drag, and has some great delivery in his scenes. Some of the scenes, especially those of Deluise, had an improv feel. The late Eric Fleming, Clint Eastwood's boss on "Rawhide," plays a CIA man. This was his last film; he drowned shortly afterwards. Rod Taylor, who, by the way, is younger than Doris Day, is effective as Day's romantic interest. Of note, radio personality Arthur Godfrey plays Day's father. There's also an appearance by Robert Vaughan as an homage to his "Man from UNCLE" character.

Frothy fun, and Doris Day is always a delight.