Doris Day is one of my all-time favorite actresses. Yes, audiences like her movies more than critics but I love most of them. Here are the ones we determined to be the best:
#1 – On Moonlight Bay
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 83% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – I love this movie so much. It is wonderful. Doris Day does an amazing job. This is one of her first and best movies. She is a teenager in this one. I was happy to see this made number one.
Summary – “Try not to walk like a first basemen,” Mama (Rosemary DeCamp) tells tomboy Marjorie (Day) as she prepares to date college man Bill (MacRae). The advice takes. The lovebirds hear wedding bells ahead, just as soon as Bill gets his sheepskin. But World War I rages “over there.” And Papa (Leon Ames) rages at home after a flap with his prospective son-in-law. Will harmony return to this Hoosier home? Surely Day and MacRae will make musical harmony. And On Moonlight Bay will have you sailing along.
#2 – Pillow Talk
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 83% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – Oh Pillow Talk is such a classic. This has to be my favorite of her when she is an adult. It is such a clever plot and keeps you enthralled the only film. The romance in this movie is top notch!
Summary – When Jan Marrow (Day), uptight interior decorator, is forced to share a party line with a carefree playboy Brad Allen (Hudson), there’s no connection between them. But when the two accidentally meet, the smitten Brad pretends to be a wealthy Texan, wooing Jan with seductive late-night calls. Their phone line is sizzling until Jan discovers her caller’s true identity and calls his bluff.
#3 – The Man Who Knew Too Much
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 81% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – This is a typical Hitchcock film where he is able to build up so much suspense. A great combo with Doris Day and Jimmy Stewart.
Summary – James Stewart and Doris Day give magnificent performances as Ben and Jo McKenna, an American couple vacationing in Morocco, whose son is kidnapped and taken to England. Caught up in international espionage, the McKennas’ lives hang in the balance as they race to save their son in the chilling, climatic showdown in London’s famous Royal Albert Hall.
#4 – By the Light of the Silvery Moon
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 80% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – Just as good as the first this sequel of By Moonlight Bay is a wonderful film. I have seen this many times and still love it!
Summary – Young lovers Doris Day and Graham MacRae return in a moonlit sequel to On Moonlight Bay. Doris and Gordon spin through the Winfield kitchen to Ain’t We Got Fun, Doris crows to King Chanticleer at a stage pageant and the whole town heads to Miller’s Pond and laces up ice skates for the title-tune finale. Like its predecessor, this draws from Booth Tarkington’s Penrod stories for its portraits of heartland mirth, values and “warm hearts, cold feet” romance.
#5 – Move Over, Darling
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 79% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – This movie is not my favorite of Doris Day but it is still good. It is just a little bit too silly for my taste.
Summary – Five years after losing his first wife Ellen (Day) at sea, Nick (Garner) is finally ready to have her declared legally dead, get remarried and settle down to a peaceful second marriage! But wedded bliss becomes marital mayhem when Ellen turns up alive – with a hilarious, hair-brained scheme to win back her husband, put a stop to the honeymoon and give first love a second chance at happily-ever-after!
#6 – Lover Come Back
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 79% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – This one was alright. It was not my favorite plot. It was not that original and somewhat boring. It did have its funny parts and you see the charming Doris Day!
Summary – Jerry Webster (Hudson) and Carol Templeton (Day) are rival Madison Avenue advertising executives who each dislike each other’s methods. After he steals a client out from under her cute little nose, revenge prompts her to infiltrate his secret “VIP” campaign in order to persuade the mystery product’s scientist to switch to her firm. Trouble is, the product is phony and the “scientist” is Jerry, who uses all his intelligence and charm to steal her heart in this outrageous comedy of mistaken identity, co-starring the ever-delightful Tony Randall.
#7 – Calamity Jane
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 78% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – I am surprised she could actually do western and is very decent. it very different from any of the other Doris Day films.
Summary – Doris Day and Howard Keel fuss, feud and fall in love as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in this entertainment mother load. At first curvaceous Calamity is too durned busy fighting Indians and cracking a bullwhip to pay mind to such girlie what-alls as dresses and perfume. And Wild Bill is too danged busy wooing a dainty chanteuse (Allyn McLerie) to give a hoot about a hot-headed tomboy. But things change in a rootin’, tootin’, big way when each becomes love’s target.
#8 – The Thrill of it All (78/100)
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 78% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – She doesn’t just play a single person. In this film is she a mother and wife. It is nice to see her in this role. I like the swimming pool scene – it is memorable.
Summary – Dr. Gerald Boyer (Garner) and his lovely wife Beverly (Day) are living the American dream. But their suburban bliss turns to media-driven frenzy when Beverly is selected as the national advertising spokeswoman for “Happy Soap”. As her career begins to skyrocket, her neglected husband is increasingly put out by the fact that when his family does get to see her, it’s on TV!
#9 – With Six You Get Eggroll (75/100)
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 75% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – I like this film because it is funny and is not too silly. It is one of her last movies cause it is not so ridiculous. Any body that has ever dated someone who already has kids would like this film. It is a story about combining two families.
Summary – The effervescent Doris Day (Pillow Talk) and rugged Brian Keith (The Parent Trap) star in a comedy romp that focuses on love and marriage, and the trials and tribulations of an instant family! Day, in her last feature-film role, plays Abby McClure, an independent single mom with three rambunctious sons. Keith portrays Jake Iverson, the father of a headstrong 18-year-old daughter (Barbara Hershey of Beaches). When Abby and Jake meet, fall in love and marry, it’s a union perfectly suited for towels marked “His” and “Hers” – that is, until his and her kids bring chaos and turmoil into the house as they attempt to blend into a single family unit.
#10 – Send Me No Flowers
Is it any Good? Bear-ometer score: 75% like it
Mommy Bear’s Opinion – I like this one more than other ones. I can relate to this film and I find it funny. It has a great cast with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, how can that go wrong?
Summary – When he overhears a doctor discussing the imminent death of a patient, hypochondriac George (Hudson) believes the doc is referring to him. Convinced he’s living on borrowed time, George enlists the aid of his best friend Arnold (Randall) to find a new husband for his soon-to-be-widowed wife Judy (Day). Already alarmed by her husband’s increasingly strange behavior, Judy is even more bewildered when an old flame shows up — and George bends over backwards to encourage his advances!
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