I bought the DVD on this film mainly because I wanted to get the extras. I was pleased to see what a great job they did with the restoration. And, after watching
Marilyn Monroe:
The Final Days (which I have on VHS and tells the story of Marilyn and SGTG) and seeing what an unprofessional (and probably mentally unstable) Monroe was, I can appreciate Day even more.
Fox was nearly a ghost town by 1962 with the spoiled
Elizabeth Taylor making "Cleopatra" in Rome and Marilyn, not taking her work too seriously in Hollywood. Fox put up with a lot from Monroe, when most other out-of-control actresses would have been fired much earlier.
After she
was fired, both
Kim Novak and
Shirley MacLaine turned down the chance to replace her.
Lee Remick, who probably needed the work, accepted, but
Dean Martin rebelled: "No Marilyn, no Dean."
Doris Day owed Fox one more picture and wanted to get rid of that obligation, so she accepted the part after Monroe's death. Doris brought all of her professionalism to the set and was the complete opposite of Monroe: no absences, showed up on time, knew her lines, gave the role 110%, finished the film on schedule. Despite the triteness of the story, Day, even though some of her performance was partially overplayed, did a wonderful job with most of the weak material. Comparing her scenes with Marilyn's is like night a DAY, however. Poor Marilyn looked confused, nervous and certainly, unprepared. As one of the producers said, "they wasted a lot of time with the dog and the children when they
did get her on the set!" Day, on the other hand, handled the scenes with a professional air that directors came to expect from a star of her standing. The result?
A BIG BOXOFFICE HIT.
In the extras, I particularly loved
Polly Bergen's interview. After having been the female star of all of her films, she had been skeptical about "supporting the biggest star in the world," thinking that Day
must be spoiled and demanding. Assured that her role was a second female lead, she accepted the part (receiving equal billing with Day and Garner). Polly's performance, though rather "obvious" was miles better than the phoniness of
Cyd Charisse, who was even more "over-the-top" than Bergen.
Don Knotts, Edgar Buchanan, John Astin, Elliot Reed were miles better than
Wally Cox, John McGiver, Phil Silvers and
Steve Allen in respective roles.
As we all know, the biggest problem with Move Over Darling" was Doris' wigs. I just couldn't
believe how they could allow her hair to change two or three times in the
same scene! A case in point was when Nick meets Ellen on the terrace of the hotel. She turns wearing one wig and when he approaches her, she's wearing completely
different hair! But, we are movie-goers and are
not expected to notice such things (remember "The Thrill of It All"?)
