1963 film by Michael Gordon
Move Over, Darling
is a 1963 American comedy film starring
Doris Day
,
James Garner
, and
Polly Bergen
and directed by
Michael Gordon
filmed in DeLuxe Color and
CinemaScope
released by
20th Century Fox
.
[3]
The film is a
remake
of a 1940
screwball comedy film
,
My Favorite Wife
, with
Irene Dunne
,
Cary Grant
and
Gail Patrick
. In between these movies, an unfinished version, entitled
Something's Got to Give
, began shooting in 1962, directed by
George Cukor
and starring
Marilyn Monroe
,
Dean Martin
and
Cyd Charisse
. The supporting cast of
Move Over, Darling
features
Thelma Ritter
,
Fred Clark
,
Don Knotts
,
Chuck Connors
,
Edgar Buchanan
,
Pat Harrington, Jr.
and
John Astin
.
Move Over, Darling
was chosen as the 1964
Royal Film Performance
, and had its UK premiere on 24 February 1964 at the
Odeon Leicester Square
in the presence of H.R.H.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
.
At the
21st Golden Globe Awards
,
Doris Day
was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical but lost to
Shirley MacLaine
in
Irma la Douce
.
Plot
[
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]
Lawyer Nick Arden is in court to get two petitions approved: he wants his first wife Ellen Wagstaff Arden
declared legally dead
after she went missing five years before when the plane they were traveling on went down in the
Pacific Ocean
and he wants to marry Bianca Steele. After some confusion, the judge declares Ellen legally dead and marries Nick and Bianca, who then immediately leave for
Monterey
for their honeymoon.
On the same day, Ellen returns to shore on a
U.S. Navy
submarine
, which had rescued her from a deserted island where she had spent the last five years. When she returns to her and Nick's home, she encounters her young daughters, who do not remember her, but she does not have the heart to tell them the truth. Her mother-in-law Grace Arden tells her of the new marriage and puts her on a plane to Monterey so that she can prevent its
consummation
.
Ellen arrives at the hotel and manages to alert Nick of her presence, who is overjoyed to reunite with her and wants to stay with her. Ellen requests that he tell Bianca the truth first. When Nick returns to a confused and angry Bianca, Ellen eavesdrops on their conversation. Nick cannot bring himself to tell Bianca the truth and Ellen leaves the hotel angrily. When Nick sees Ellen leave, he fakes an injury to prevent further advances by Bianca.
The next day, when Nick comes home, he meets Ellen who is masquerading as a Swedish masseuse employed by Nick's mother to help him with his back. As Ellen and Bianca tussle, the doorbell goes. An insurance man is there with papers for a Mrs Arden to sign regarding a Stephen Burkett. Nick is informed that Ellen was on the deserted island with a man called Stephen Burkett for the whole five years and they were rescued together. They called each other "Adam" and "Eve". Nick is furious that Ellen did not tell him about Burkett and confronts her. She tells him that Burkett is a nerd and that nothing happened between them.
Later, with her mother-in-law's advice, she convinces an awkward-looking shoe clerk to pose as Burkett. Nick is not convinced and looks for Burkett himself. When he finds him at a hotel pool, he notices to his horror that Burkett is young, attractive, and athletic. Nick invites Ellen to the same pool bar to confront her with Burkett. But before she sees Burkett, she tells the truth about him but still swears that nothing happened between the two in the five years and asks for Nick's forgiveness. But when she notices Burkett, she angrily accuses Nick of trying to embarrass her and storms off.
Nick tells Bianca the truth about Ellen but is informed that Grace has reported him for
bigamy
earlier to force him to make a decision regarding Ellen and Bianca. This leads to another chaotic court date, where several matters are put to the decision of the same judge, who is even more confused: Nick's charge of bigamy, Bianca's request to
annul
their marriage, Ellen's request to void her death certificate, and Ellen's request for a divorce from Nick. The judge dismisses the bigamy charge, annuls Nick's and Bianca's marriage, declares Ellen alive again and postpones judgement on the divorce proceedings.
When Ellen returns to her home several hours later, devastated, Nick has already told his daughters that she is their mother and all happily reunite.
Cast
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]
Production notes
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]
The film's script was written by
Hal Kanter
and
Jack Sher
, reworking an earlier script written by
Arnold Schulman
,
Nunnally Johnson
and
Walter Bernstein
that was an update of 1940's
My Favorite Wife
by
Leo McCarey
and
Samuel and Bella Spewack
. The script includes a reference to
My Favorite Wife
during the scene in which Ellen gives Bianca a massage.
The story is a comedic update of the 1864 poem "
Enoch Arden
" by
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
, and the poem's title is the source of the lead characters' surname. This was the seventh film based on "Enoch Arden".
The film was originally to be a vehicle for
Marilyn Monroe
under the working title of
Something's Got to Give
, with
George Cukor
as director.
Dean Martin
was cast as Nick Arden after initial choice
James Garner
was committed to doing
The Great Escape
.
[4]
Monroe was fired early in the original production cycle following repeated absences on filming days, ultimately appearing in only about 30 minutes of usable film. At first, it was announced that
Lee Remick
would step into Monroe's place; though some press pictures were released and some scenes were shot with Remick, Martin balked at working with anyone but Monroe. Monroe was rehired but died before she could resume filming, leaving the original version incomplete. Unable to complete the film, and having already sunk a considerable amount of money into the production and sets,
20th Century Fox
went ahead with the project, albeit with a new title, new director Michael Gordon, and a new cast (with the exception of Thelma Ritter, who was also cast as Grace Arden in the Cukor version). Garner, now available following the completion of his work in
The Great Escape
, was cast as Nick Arden.
Garner accidentally broke Day's rib during the massage scene in which he pulls Day off of Bergen. He was not aware of what had happened until the next day, when he felt the bandage while putting his arms around Day.
The film utilized most of the interiors and stage-built exteriors from the original Cukor production for the Arden home, which was based on Cukor's
Beverly Hills
home. The on-location exterior scenes at the Arden home were filmed about three miles west, at 377 South Mapleton Drive in
Holmby Hills
. The original
neoclassical
house seen in the film has since been replaced by an enormous
Italianate
structure.
The producers scheduled the scene with Day riding through a car wash for the last day of shooting because they feared that the chemicals in the detergents might affect her complexion. When the scene went off without a hitch, they admitted their ploy to Day, then used the story in promotional materials for the film.
Box office
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]
The film grossed $12,705,882 in the United States,
[2]
becoming
one of the biggest hits of the year
and helping keep 20th Century Fox afloat after the losses it had incurred in the making of
Cleopatra
.
Move Over, Darling
earned $6 million in U.S.
theatrical rentals
.
[5]
According to Fox records, the film was profitable, as it earned $8,750,000, exceeding the $8,300,000 needed in order to break even.
[6]
Reception
[
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The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics. In 1963, a review in
Variety
stated: "Doris Day and James Garner play it to the hilt, comically, dramatically and last, but not least (particularly in the case of the former), athletically. What is missing in their portrayals is a light touch, the ability to humorously convey with a subtle eyelash-bat or eyebrow-arch what it tends to take them a kick in the shins to accomplish."
[7]
However, more recent reviews have been more positive. David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews praised James Garner’s performance
[8]
and Sue Heal of
Radio Times
gave the film four out of five stars, stating: "Slick, utterly professional and without a wasted scene, this is a sheer delight from start to finish."
[9]
Soundtrack
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]
- "
Move Over Darling
" ? The film's title theme, with music and lyrics by Joe Lubin,
Hal Kanter
and
Terry Melcher
(Day's son), arranged by
Jack Nitzsche
, is sung by Day and chorus (featuring ace West Coast session singers
the Blossoms
, featuring
Darlene Love
, Fanita James and Jean King) during the opening credits and played as background music at the end. The song reached #8 on the British singles chart in 1964 for Day and charted in 1983 for
Tracey Ullman
.
[10]
- "
Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)
" from
Lohengrin
(1850) ? Written by
Richard Wagner
, the song is played when Nick and Bianca arrive at their honeymoon hotel.
- "
Beautiful Dreamer
" ? With music and lyrics by
Stephen Foster
, it is heard as background music during the memorial service for Ellen.
- "Twinkle Lullaby" ? Ellen sings this song, with music and lyrics by Joe Lubin, to her children.
Novelization
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]
Slightly in advance of the film's release, as was the custom of the era, a paperback
novelization
of the film was published by
Dell Books
. The author was renowned crime and western novelist
Marvin H. Albert
, who also made something of a cottage industry out of movie tie-ins. He seems to have been the most prolific screenplay novelizer of the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, and, during that time, the preeminent specialist at light comedy.
The book can be classified as an "inferred novelization" as none of the screenwriters is given attribution, but the copyright is assigned to
Twentieth Century Fox
. The cover displays a painting of Garner carrying Day in his arms against an all-white background, a typical Dell cover to a romantic comedy tie-in. The book also contains a four-page insert of black-and-white movie stills. The cover price is 40¢.
See also
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Solomon, Aubrey.
Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)
. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989.
ISBN
978-0-8108-4244-1
. p253
- ^
a
b
Box Office Information for
Move Over, Darling
.
The Numbers
. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
- ^
p. 170 Reid, John Howard
Cinemascope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge
Lulu.com; First edition January 18, 2006
- ^
Garner, James, and Winokur, Jon.
The Garner Files: A Memoir
Simon & Schuster; (November 1, 2011)
- ^
Solomon p 229. Please note figures are rentals.
- ^
Silverman, Stephen M (1988).
The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox
. L. Stuart. p.
323
.
ISBN
9780818404856
.
- ^
"Move Over, Darling"
.
Variety
. December 31, 1962
. Retrieved
December 21,
2018
.
- ^
"Move Over Darling 1963"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
December 21,
2018
.
- ^
Sue Heal.
"Move Over, Darling"
.
RadioTimes
. Retrieved
December 21,
2018
.
- ^
spectropop.com/TerryMelcher
External links
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]