Opération Caprice

The talents of Frank Tashlin and Doris Day would seem to be a Hollywood combination made in heaven but, with "The Glass Bottom Boat" (made at M-G-M a year earlier than "Caprice') and this one, their fans were doomed to a certain degree of disappointment. The main trouble with this film is its impossibly convoluted and ridiculous script, giving little opportunity for anyone to shine, except, perhaps, the set and clothes designers, though one must appreciate that their efforts look very, VERY much of the dreaded "Mod" period when this one was conceived.

Technical credits are, for the most part, top-notch, especially that old pro Leon Shamroy's lush cinematography (although I do recall that the back projections were very obvious when I saw this on a 40-foot wide CinemaScope screen when it was first released).

I've never been a particular fan of Richard Harris and he was most definitely miscast opposite Doris. His too-clipped delivery of some of his lines can be attributed, I suspect, to Mr. Tashlin's rather slack direction (unusual for that comic master).

All in all, when one considers that producer Martin Melcher, Doris's husband, was, at the time, squandering her hefty paychecks in unwise investments, it's easy to understand why Ms. Day has since been content to retire form the screen and allow us to remember her better, earlier efforts.

Surely Fox had intended this one for Raquel Welch but dusted it off when Doris needed to complete her three picture deal with the studio. She had saved their necks at Christmas time in 1963 with MOVE OVER, DARLING (the re-tooled SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE), but two years later she was rewarded with DO NOT DISTURB, a second-rate farce based on a third rate play. Then along came this attempt to turn Doris into a go-go mod spy with BATMAN trimmings. Well, Doris is always watchable and there are a few funny and/or exciting set pieces, and the photography is gorgeous, but really, I am shocked that a major MAJOR talent like Doris Day settled for this feeble outdated-the-minute-it-was-released effort. There isn't even a decent ending! The way films were being made and watched and reviewed and studied was changing rapidly (mostly for the good) in 1967, and it is a shame that an iconic performer like Miss Day could not ride the wave to a nice third act to her movie career. Still, this does have the makings of a cult film, and perhaps when viewed in context of the time it was made and released (Spring of 1967) future audiences will appreciate it for what it is rather than what it is not. Watch anyway!

This is one of those movies that was originally panned but holds up today, probably because the story and fashions are so of the era as to make it somewhat interesting.

Doris is bedecked in all sorts of fabulous mod clothes in this confusing story about double agent cosmetic spies. There are some cute scenes, one in a restaurant and another in a movie theater (which is disconcerting because of the 20th Century Fox logo and their music starting - you think the movie may be starting over).

Anyway, Doris sings Caprice on the movie screen while her character attempts to get a lock of hair from the woman in front of her. Meanwhile, the woman's boyfriend, embracing his girlfriend, has one hand on Doris' leg.

I disagree with one of the comments that said that Doris was a 45-year-old who thought she was 20, due to her outrageous makeup. In actuality, that was the makeup of the period, and she didn't look strange to me at all.

This is a terribly silly film but enjoyable for the cast, some good scenes, and as a '60s artifact.

While skiing, an Interpol agent is shot and killed in the Alps of Switzerland. Not long afterward, "Patricia Foster" (Doris Day) is caught red-handed trying to sell industrial secrets from the cosmetics firm she is employed with to a rival company. She is immediately terminated and subsequently hired by the rival American firm to become an industrial designer for them. This results in her working with a man named "Christopher White" (Richard Harris) who is actually a secret agent employed by the same firm that initially fired Patricia. Or so it all seems. What follows is a complicated story involving industrial espionage, double agents, secret formulas and murder. Anyway, as I said before, this is a complicated story and in order to fully understand it a person has to see this movie all the way to the end. Along with that, I think a person needs to take into consideration the fact that this movie was filmed in 1967 and as a result some of the action may seem rather basic by today's standards. Likewise, some of the humor may seem a bit tame as well. Even so, although some of it seems quite mild, it was still an enjoyable movie for the most part. Additionally, as far as the actors are concerned, both Doris Day and Richard Harris performed reasonably well together and, along with that, Irene Tsu (as "Su Ling") also looked quite nice--even if her role was somewhat limited. Be that as it may, while certainly not a great spy film by any means, it still managed to pass the time, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

For me, this movie had two strengths: 1) Doris's FABULOUS late '60s wardrobe (I would die to have a few of her coats hanging in my closet) and 2) a surprisingly sexy and appealing performance from Richard Harris as the male lead. Having experienced Hawaii and about fifteen minutes of Camelot (at which point I puked and felt it unadvisable to risk my health by watching any more), I have always thought of him as irritating and gross. For some reason, I ate him up in this role, though. The movie thankfully finds a number of opportunities for him to lose his shirt, which is a blessing.

The plot, however, is a mess. Not only does it become impossible to follow who the characters are working for and what they are trying to do, it even becomes difficult to discern what city we are in at any given time (the action veers back and forth between Paris and L.A., with some scenes in Switzerland thrown in and certain sequences on a plane flying God knows where). It mainly held my interest until the stupid ending, which is like a kick in the face to anyone who has devoted an hour-and-a-half of their life to this movie. Halfway through it becomes a whodunit, except with no suspects, and the "resolution" is even less satisfying than you fear it's going to be.

I would also like to have a few serious words with Doris's hair and makeup designers... She looks like a 45-year-old who thinks she's still 20, and it's not a pretty sight. Her wigs are way too light, and her dark eye makeup and layers of false eyelashes border on the grotesque. It's almost astonishing to see her in the shower scene because she looks so natural and charming, and it's quite a contrast to the borderline-Mae-West-in-Myra-Breckinridge look she is going for during the rest of the picture.

I don't know whose idea it was to have Doris go see the movie Caprice starring Doris Day and Richard Harris, and then to have her voice singing the film's title song when she gets in the movie theatre. But it wasn't funny, it was just disconcerting and bizarre. For a minute when they first showed the marquee I thought it was going to turn all meta and reveal that everything up to then had just been scenes from the movie and we would now commence with a story of the "real" Doris Day and Richard Harris. But no such luck. The scene in the movie theatre did at least provide the film with its best performance, by Michael J. Pollard.

Final note... I now have the first two notes of the title song stuck in my head. I can't remember any other parts of it, but I am sure Doris will be singing "Ca-price" in her coy annoying way inside my brain for many days to come.