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53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Clean Fun, December 31, 2004
This is a typically formulaic Doris Day light comedy vehicle, but an entertaining one, nonetheless. The film centers around Day, a Public Relations expert and part-time mermaid impersonator, and her error filled romance with Rod Taylor, a genius engineer with a Jetsonesque house. The two of them do well in their respective roles, and the rest of the supporting cast is generally good as well. Dick Martin is particularly good as Taylor's partner, and Arthur Godfrey is great as her Dad. Paul Lynde shines as a paranoid security guard, and is rewarded with a scene in drag (you must see the wig to believe it.) The only weak link is Dom DeLuise as an inept spy. DeLuise is responsible for the one star downgrade, as I feel he frequently brings down otherwise perfect scenes.
The plot isn't heavy duty, it involves an artificial gravity machine, incompetent spies, and romance, but although lightweight, it is fun, and is certainly upbeat and suitable for all audiences (what little innuendo there is will fly right past children, anyway.)
For a lighthearted, fun experience, I recommend "The Glass Bottom Boat."
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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Clean Spying- Or Is It?, June 1, 2005
The Glass Bottom Boat is about everything that life was about in the 60's. The Cold War was in full swing, James Bond had become a household name and Doris Day was still the top box office actress. With all of this, how could the film go wrong- what could they lose? Doris Day and Rod Taylor had already lost alot in their previous film Do Not Disturb which many have never even heard of unless you are an avid Doris Day fan. All believed including the man responsible for many Jerry Lewis movies, Frank Tashlin that this would be a success. With Tashlin's talent for spoofing the times the world was in, Glass Bottom Boat was just what the doctor ordered.
The film begins by introducing the widowed Jennifer Nelson, played by Doris Day. She works at NASA with a part-time job as a mermaid for her father's Glass Bottom Boat service. When Jennifer gets caught up, literally, she meets Bruce Templeton, played by Rod Taylor. She is not immediately impressed, and thankful that they will never see each other again, or so she thinks.
She soon finds out that she and Bruce are not only co-workers, but worse- he's her boss! She then becomes his personal assistant who makes mysterious phone calls, which the bumbling security guard played by Paul Lynde believes to be to the spy she is working for to get Bruce's top secret GISMO to the Russians. This assumption soon becomes an ultimate security problem, and everyone is out to get her.
Frank Tashlin really does a great job with his characters. Some unforgettable highlights of the film include Dom Deluise as a Public Address Installer (who uses the job as a cover for his real one) who ends up with he and Doris Day covered in banana cream cake and their legs stuck in a trash can, Paul Lynde dressed in drag to get into the women's restroom to see what Jennifer was up to, and finally where Edward Andrews and Dick Martin meet up unexpectedly when they were supposed to be meeting with Jennifer for a twilight rendezvoux.
This really is a film that does not get old. It holds up with some of the other comedy films of today. The acting wasn't Oscar-worthy, but it wasn't intended to be. The movies from this time were intended to be fun and to get your mind off of the serious things going on around the world. For a good laugh, watch this film. It still works 40 years later- it puts a smile on your face and reminds you that things can always be worse!
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DAY'S BUOYANT "BOAT" CRUISES TO LAUGHS, October 13, 2000
Variety, the "Bible" of Show Business noted the following in its Wednesday, July 13, 1966 edition. The top five moneymaking movies in America were, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", "The Russians are Coming", "Doctor Zhivago", "The Sound of Music" and "The Glass Bottom Boat". After 18 years in films and with only two years and 4 films remaining, Doris Day, the star of "The Glass Bottom Boat" remained a major figure in the entertainment industry. "Boat" proved to be one of MGM's and the industry's top box-office successes in 1966. Watching the film today in its exquisitely restored DVD version replete with wide screen and luscious color, a viewer can easily understand why audiences at New York's Radio City Music Hall and throughout the country guffawed long and loud at the on-screen antics.
The DVD, which comes with lots of extras including some great newsreel footage of Miss Day modeling some of the outfits from the film, should be required viewing by anyone with an appreciation for comedy delivered with gusto and zeal by an exceptional cast headed by Miss Day.
Our girl Doris plays a guide at a space plant who goes to school nights and moonlights on weekends as a mermaid on Catalina Island. Her father, played with obvious relish by Arthur Godfrey in his film debut, owns the Glass Bottom Boat of the title and Day as his daughter Jennifer provides the tourists with something special to see. In her 40's at the time of the film, Miss Day looks stunning, absolutely radiant in her cute hairstyle and looking bronzed, freckled and very, very sexy. It was reportedly this film that Director Mike Nichols saw and which made him determined to cast Miss Day as Mrs. Robinson in his soon to be filmed, "The Graduate". One can understand why he would proffer the role to Miss Day as she is a stunner.
Into the life of Jennifer comes Rod Taylor, a genius at the space plant who has designs on Miss Day and attempts to dupe her as a means of getting close to her.
While the resultant situations could be deemed predictable, they are nevertheless hysterically funny and surprisingly romantic in the hands of this cast who, under the direction of Frank Tashlin, keep the two hour proceedings moving quickly from one great set-up to another. Celebrated Oscar-winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy lushly captures the ensuing madness.
Miss Day, in her first out and out slapstick comedy reinforces her reputation as one of the screen's best comic actresses in history. She never loses her femininity even when subjected to all sorts of indignities. On hand to add to the nuttiness are Dom DeLuise, in his screen debut, Paul Lynde being Paul Lynde which is to say being very funny. Also featured are such durables as John McGiver, Eric Fleming, Elisabeth Fraser and Alice Pearce and George Tobias doing a variation of their busybody neighbors on "Bewitched" but somehow making it seem fresh and new.
In the midst of all this non-stop frivolity, Miss Day and Mr. Taylor, who had teamed the previous year in Fox's "Do Not Disturb", manage to inject some very real romance into the proceedings. Their chemistry is very real and their scenes together most believable.
There are remote control boats, vacuum cleaners going amok, banana creme pies, phone calls to dogs, Lynde in drag and a guest appearance by Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo the character he as then essaying on television's "Man from U.N.C.L.E." Miss Day's wardrobe was designed by Ray Aghayan and his uncredited partner, Bob Mackie who was responsible for the eye-popping Mata-Hari outfit that Miss Day vamps so effectively in. She also finds time to sing a couple of songs including the title tune, "Soft as the Starlight" and with Godfrey, in one of the most delightful scenes in the film - it seems improvised - her trademark hit, "Whatever Will Be Will Be" with Godfrey plucking his uke.
Tashlin, who would die within a few years, enjoyed working with Miss Day so much that they reteamed in 1967 for Fox's "Caprice", a collaboration that was interesting for its premise but failed to deliver the laughs that "Boat" did.
By all means buy the DVD of "The Glass Bottom Boat" and watch it whenever your spirits flag. This is one boat ride that won't produce sea sickness but will instead make you laugh until your sides ache and anything that can make that happen is something very special.
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