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Our star encounters British currency, fox hunting, driving on the "wrong" side of the road and life in an English cottage visited upon by a nosy neighbor dressed in plaid who calls everyone "love." Our star is then whisked away to Paris by a libidinous French guy who gets her drunk and tries to make whoopee with her.
Have we covered all the stereotypes yet?
Then the movie takes a sharp left turn to a completely other storyline involving her husband's (Rod Taylor) business conference and a golden, backless ensemble into which a party guest tosses a grape which causes our star to dance the Shimmy.
If Doris Day is one of America's favorite "dolls," then Do Not Disturb is the equivalent of someone taking the doll away, ripping the stuffing out and sticking pins into her. It's difficult to watch.
Day was in a rough patch career-wise and personally at this point. She was married to an abusive husband -Marty Melcher, who is also a producer of this film- and the material that she worked with lacked quality.
Today those who refer to Disturb mostly remember it as Australian actor Rod Taylor's first film with the megastar Hollywood actress.The title song by Ben Raleigh and Mark Barkan, which is performed over the credits, is catchy enough to stick in your brain long after the film is over.
Do Not Disturb is heavy on slapstick and light on witty dialogue, but it is fine for Doris Day fans who must watch her entire oeuvre.
I was so loving this movie when I saw it, for about the first 30 minutes... I thought it was adorable and Doris trying to find her way on those English country roads...hilarious! Then it went downhill and got silly. I was so disappointed. It had so much potential and it was just plain odd how the funny and cute story line took such a nose dive!
ReplyDeleteJava, this is one of the rare Doris Day 1960s vehicles that has eluded me. It doesn't sound like one of her best...but I'd still like to see it.
ReplyDeleteI always get a kick watching Doris playing someone who has had too much to drink. Not one of her better films... I admit.
ReplyDeleteI have such mixed feelings about "Do Not Disturb." On one hand, I do think it is very beautiful to look at. The color is gorgeous, and so are the sets. Doris is at her loveliest. I really like her hair and makeup and clothing in this movie. At the time there was a lot of publicity about how many outfits she wore in the movie. I do not know if it was some kind of record, but it was quite a lot. And it is somewhat amusing. My favorite is the scene with the hunting dogs. I love it when Doris asks Hermione Baddeley if she has ever seen anything like that, and Hermione answers, "Frankly, no."
ReplyDeleteThe best part of the movie is the first 30-40 minutes. One thing that really stands out is the difference in the dialogue from her Rock Hudson movies, or even her James Garner movies. In "Do Not Disturb" the dialogue is not particular witty or clever. At the time it got average reviews, and while it did OK at the box office, it did not match her earlier 1960s comedies. She did come back about a half a year later with "The Glass Bottom Boat," which was #15 on Variety's list of top-grossing movies in 1966.
Basically, I always thought that "Do Not Disturb" feels like three or four episodes of a sitcom edited together to make a feature-length film. They did that a few times in the 1960s. One that I recall was a Tammy movie released in 1967, and was a few episodes of the one-season sitcom from 1965-66.