Happy 90th Birthday, Doris Day!
The great Doris Day, a national treasure, turns 90 years old today.
Doris was born in Cincinnati on April 3, 1924. (2017 Update: Doris has adjusted her age upwards by two years. Her birth certificate was found and revealed she was born in 1922.)
Click here for a new audio interview Robert Osborne conducted with Day. There's more from TCM on Day's birthday and the interview here.
TCM will be running Doris Day movies all day today! The 12-film marathon begins at 3:00 a.m. Pacific Time, 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
The schedule includes one of my all-time favorite Day films, CALAMITY JANE (1953), which also stars Howard Keel. The highly hummable score includes the Oscar-winning "Secret Love."
Alas, another favorite Day musical, THE PAJAMA GAME (1957), isn't airing today, but there are many other good films being shown, including THE THRILL OF IT ALL (1963) with James Garner and LOVER COME BACK (1961) with Rock Hudson.
Below is a photo of Doris from my personal collection, taken on the set of PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES (1960). She's pictured with director Charles Walters, who autographed this for me a year or two before he passed away.
I've seen the vast majority of Doris Day's films and need to revisit more of them and write about them here! And there are still a few of her titles I need to catch up with for the first time, such as THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956) and MIDNIGHT LACE (1960).
Doris Day films which have been previously reviewed here are: ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (1948) (also here), MY DREAM IS YOURS (1949) (also here), IT'S A GREAT FEELING (1949), THE WEST POINT STORY (1950), JULIE (1956), THE TUNNEL OF LOVE (1958), IT HAPPENED TO JANE (1959), PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES (1960), DO NOT DISTURB (1965), and THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT (1966).
Update: Here are additional reviews of YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN (1950), ON MOONLIGHT BAY (1951), STORM WARNING (1951), LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (1955), THE PAJAMA GAME (1957) (also here), TEACHER'S PET (1958), and BILLY ROSE'S JUMBO (1962), plus an account of seeing ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS on a big screen.
Previously: TCM Star of the Month: Doris Day.
2018 Update: Happy 96th Birthday, Doris Day!
2019 Update: Doris Day Dies at 97.
posted by Laura @ 12:10 AM
4 Comments:
Lovely tribute,Laura. And the link to the Robert Osborne interview which is so exciting.
You must see Midnight Lace. Great thriller and Myrna Loy as Doris's aunt.
Lucky you,that signed photo with Doris and Charles Walters.
One of the all-time greats for sure. Hard to think of many in front of the camera who were more talented and she could do it all.
Laura, I think you should bite the bullet and go ahead and see THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. Day was never better than in this--there are few better performances in any Hitchcock movie in my book.
I don't think the movie will trouble you (and I know why you've avoided it) though I will say it is very suspenseful but in a supremely entertaining way.
A few you didn't mention and wonder if you've seen them--LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME for one (she is great in this and was proud of it) and the still underrated YOUNG AT HEART. Along with CALAMITY JANE and THE PAJAMA GAME (and I must admit her debut ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS), the ones I've named here are my favorites of her movies.
Thank you, Vienna! I'll look forward to seeing MIDNIGHT LACE. I didn't realize Myrna Loy is in it too! :)
Blake, I definitely need to see THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, finally catching that one and THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY are on my "to do" list.
I was fortunate to see LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME in 35mm at the Vagabond in the late '70s or early '80s. She was great! I haven't revisited it since and should do that. I've always been fond of YOUNG AT HEART and saw it on TV often growing up, but again haven't revisited it in recent years.
I did revisit ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS a couple of years ago and was just entranced by Doris's confidence in her screen debut. Looking forward to going back to re-watch more old favorites -- I've also always been partial to ON MOONLIGHT BAY and BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON.
Thanks to you both!
Best wishes,
Laura
I have just heard that Doris passed away today, May 13 2019.
RIP.
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