The Thrill of It All (1963)

Housewife Beverly Boyer (Doris Day) accidentally becomes a TV star overnight selling soap on commercials. Her successful doctor husband (James Garner) isn't too happy about it and believes she should stay at home and bring up their kids like all women do. This leads to "hilarious" complications.Day and Garner are both charming and great in their roles but the sexual politics and unfunny comedy sometimes make this heavy going. The movie is continuously making it clear that a woman having a career is not a good thing and Garner's antics to get her to stop working are hardly funny. Also some of the comedy is beyond silly--the section with the back yard pool (all installed in a few hours) and soap is just dumb. Still, it was well done and the Garner and Day play off each other very well. If you can ignore the outdated attitudes in this movie you should enjoy it. I give it a 5.

Spoilers Warning: Yes, Doris Day is as perky as ever; yes, James Garner is rugged & handsome, yes the colour is great, BUT all the screaming by many of the characters is terribly off-putting and immensely irritating. Even Doris at times raises her voice unnecessarily.You might enjoy this comedy offering if you can ignore the grating loud voices and the at times stupidly-written script (little boy nods several time to answer yes to his father on the phone, utterly ridiculous even for the early 60s).Particularly objectionable with his raucous yelling was the old man. Perhaps another actor could have given him some amusement appeal, but in this film he is just plain coarse and annoying.Generally, I love Doris Day movies, but this flick really tested my patience. I put great blame on the director. It is very dated now.

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.

This movie has always been one of my two top favourites. I love many of Doris Day's pictures, but "The thrill of it all" stands out for me. Probably that is because of James Garner's involvement, (he is another of my favourite stars). I love the chemistry between these two in this movie. I had seen it a couple of times on TV growing up, and then not for many years. My memory of it had faded a bit over time, but I remembered enough to motivate me to track it down about a year ago,(after doing a bit of research to find out the title), and now the DVD is in my collection.It's light-hearted, funny, witty, romantic, and easy to watch many times over. I never get sick of it, as with most Doris Day movies. Maybe part of my romance with this sort of film is that it takes me back to a time when life was simpler and more innocent than today, and made more sense.It's good to see the likes of Bernie Kopell and Hayden Rorke in roles other than those which made them so familiar to us. I noted the query on the Message Board re Buddy Hacket in the swimming pool soap sud scene, and had already picked the voice as one of the actors from Top Cat, Maurice Gosfield, but I didn't know his name. I also like seeing Robert Strauss, the guy who is the chief of the clean-up gang. You'll pick his gruff voice straight away as "that guy who's in all those movies"; and watch out for the butler, he's a real crack-up!!I love this film for so many reasons, and I highly recommend it for all the family. It's even safe for the kids to watch, which is getting harder to say these days!! By the way, the kids really make this movie for me. The twins are so natural that they make the whole family even more believable. You can just imagine them being in your own household. This is a fantastic film. 10/10 !