Customer Reviews

Thrill of It All [VHS]

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When housewife, Doris Day, is asked to do live tv commercials for Happy Soap, her doctor husband, James Garner is not pleased. But when things start getting really crazy (like when the owners of Happy Soap install a swimming pool in their backyard without telling them and James Garner drives his car into it ) things start going downhill. This is one of the funniest and at the same time most adorable family movies I have ever seen. When Doris Day gets frustrated in her first live commercial and introduces herself by saying "Hello, I'm Beverly Boyer, and I'm a pig..." you start laughing and don't quit. It's a rare movie that doesn't resort to bad language, nudity or sex to find its audience. I enjoyed every minute of it and recommend it to anyone wanting to find a movie for the whole family that you don't have to censor.

Beverly Boyer a stay at home mom, and perfectly happy doing so for her obstetrician husband Gerald. During a dinner party thrown by a patient of her husband, Beverly relates a story of how much her daughter loves Happy Soap not knowing her hosts are Happy Soap. When she is asked to be the spokesperson for Happy Soap, it throws the family in a tailspin. Beverly never has any free time, and Gerald is not happy playing second fiddle to his wife. Gerald decides to teach his pretty wife a lesson.

This is a great old classic. Doris Day and James Garner are wonderful together with great chemistry.

Doris Day and James Garner had a wonderful chemistry, first-evidenced when Universal paired them in THE THRILL OF IT ALL!, a bubbly romantic comedy about the tenacious power balance between husband and wife.

Beverly Boyer (Doris Day) is a devoted wife and mother who suddenly finds nation-wide fame as the star of the "Happy Soap" TV commercials. Her successful obstetrician husband Gerald (James Garner) finds himself thrust into the position of being "Mr Beverly Boyer" as their marriage and private-life careens into a media frenzy. Can marriage survive life in the spotlight?...

Adorable romantic comedy with Doris Day at the top of her form. The Boyer children are played winningly by Brian Nash and Kim Karath (best-remembered as little Gretl in "The Sound of Music"). The cast also includes Arlene Francis, Elliott Reid, ZaSu Pitts and Edward Andrews. This was one of the first major screenplays by Carl Reiner, following years of solid TV comedy writing.

Not a lot of people remember that next to the three classic bedroom farces that Doris Day made Rock Hudson, she had made two pretty good ones with James Garner. THE THRILL OF IT ALL (the other being MOVE OVER DARLING) is noteworthy for a classic scene in which James Garner drives a car into a swimming pool (the pool still exists in the Universal Studios "suburban neighborhhood" lot section where you can see the houses of "Leave It to Beaver" and "The Munsters" etc.) Garner plays a physician of a middle aged woman finally becoming pregnant. The husband (a television advirtiser) is so greatful that he invites the Doctor (Garner) and his wife (Doris Day) to a party with a bunch of other television advirtisers. By accident, these execs see Doris Day and she is hired to do commercials for their "Happy Soap" products because of her natural homemaking persona. She then becomes so popular, that it begins to turn-off Garner and it puts a strain on their marriage as she neglects her wifely and motherly duties. Funny and plausible plot, comedic moments, and funny characters make this a classic 60's bedroom farce worthy of the Hudson/Day farces. Script also noteworthy because it's co-written by Larry Gelbart (tv's M.A.S.H.) and Carl Reiner (The Dick Van Dyke Show). Reiner also is featured in some hilarious spots in the movie playing an actor on the dramas that "Happy Soap" is sponsoring. Hilarious because the scripts are exactly the same, but the time periods are changed (i.e. WWII Germany to the American Wild West). Note: Look for veteran character actor Edward Andrews (16 Candles) and Kym Karath who played Gretl - the youngest of the Von Trapp family -- in the movie musical of THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

A hip and happening Doris Day comedy in which the girl next door becomes a media sensation. Doris stars, not surprisingly, as a wholesomely sexy suburban housewife who is hired to become the spokesperson for the Happy Soap company, because Happy Soap's crotchety old president finds her stammering, unprofessional endorsements to be refreshingly honest and -- more importantly -- so does the soap-buying public. In fact, the only one who doesn't like her ascent into the media is her grouchy, fragile-egoed husband (played by James Garner), who can't stand the thought of his own wife having a job -- it's just too much of a blow to his masculinity, and besides, who will raise the kids if mommy goes to work? The depth and sheer matter-of-factness to the sexism in this pre-women's movement comedy will be both astounding and instructive to a modern audience, but besides all that, it's also a great vehicle for Day's bubbly, frowsy charm. Garner's character is a bit hysterical, but it's all worth it for the big payoff: his double-take during the swimming pool scene is a golden comedic moment. Scriptwriter Carl Reiner's touch is easy to pick out; Reiner also has some choice cameos as a hammy TV actor on the show that Happy Soap sponsors. There are also plenty of great early '60s character actors, such as Edward Andrews, who you may recognize from old TV re-runs and the like. [Crazy cast note: the Pamela Curran, who plays "Spot Checker," the glamorous model who was the former Happy Soap Girl, is a dead ringer for Drea de Matteo (best known as Adriana, of the Sopranos...) The likeness must be seen to be believed.] Anyway, this is a fun movie, entirely enjoyable and also a real blast of Kennedy-era camp.

In the early 1960's, a time when Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Shirley MacLaine were starring in films, the number one box-office draw was a woman whose success was not built on notoreity but on a natural and skilled ability to play mothers and working women. She was Doris Day and the 1963 blockbuster, "The Thrill Of It All" is a perfect example why the distinguished Quigley Polling of top box-office attractions for the past 70 years finds Day the number one box-office female star in film history.

Skillfully directed by Norman Jewison who later helmed such successes as "Moonstruck" and "In The Heat of the Night" among others, "Thrill" also benefits from a witty script penned by Carl Reiner and a glossy and typically opulent production by Ross Hunter. Jean Louis decks Doris out in some gorgeous outfits that accentuate her luscious figure and the supporting cast is headed by Arlene Francis and Edward Andrews in roles that Hunter originally offered, in 1962, to Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.

As Beverly Boyer, wife of a successful doctor and mother of two, Doris is offered a chance to work as a spokeswoman for Happy Soap and leaps at the chance to do more than make homemade bottled ketchup and attend PTA Meetings. While it may sound pat and simple, the scenes are often hysterically funny and Zasu Pitts makes the most of what is little more than a cameo and turned out to be her final cinema appearance.

Doris and James Garner, teaming for the first time, work well together and the only regret about "The Thrill of It All" is that the funs ends too quickly. This is one "Thrill" that everyone can enjoy!

This film has a real cute opening with Arlene Francis ("What's My Line" game show 1968-1975) and Edward Andrews (Send Me No Flowers [1964]). Nice surprise!
James Garner is Arlene's doctor and Arlene invites the doctor and his wife Doris Day to celebrate. At the dinner party, they meet an excited old man who is the owner of the Happy Soap Company. They all hush to see the new Happy Soap commercial on color tv. There is the new girl naked in the bathtub explaining Happy Soap. Afterwards, Doris day begins to tell the man about how Happy Soap saved her life today. Her kids took a bath today and liked Happy Soap instead of Pine Tar. The older man gets excited and enjoys her story. He decides to make Doris, the ordinary housewife, the new spokesperson for Happy Soap in the next commercial. The commercials work and she becomes a star. However, her husband feels neglected. With her busy schedule and his schedule at the hospital, they just can't find time to be together or with the children. Also the first maid quit due to a misunderstanding and the new maid speaks German and misunderstands english.
This is really a cute and funny movie and I highly recommend it to those new mommies and new daddies. The children are: Brian Nash (Please Don't Eat The Daises tv series 1965-67) and Kym Karath (Spencer's Mountain [1963], Sound Of Music [1965]).
Directed by Norman Jewison, Produced by Ross Hunter and Martin Melcher.
A great filming of a movie with good camera angles and one-shot moving scenes by Director of Photography Russell Metty & Associates.

I have to give this DVD 5/5 - for the fact it's amazingly great value for money. The picture quality was superb and even though it says it's widescreen the picture is almost FULL screen size so the images were as large as life. As a bonus you also get to see the trailer which was cute.

Anyhow, for those who don't know James Garner plays an obstetrician and Doris Day is the ultimate "stay-at-home Mom", until that is she becomes the face of "Happy" soap, much to the dislike of her husband !

This fast paced, screwball comedy follows the couple's marital mayhem including that unforgettable scene with that car in that pool of bubbles. Simply wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Thrill Of It All" was one of my favorite childhood memories. In the days prior to wall-to-wall cable stations, there were certain films that enjoyed a regular place on the weekend matinee lineup on local TV stations. This was one of them. And the funny thing is when I originally saw it, I never thought of it as dated or sexist (this is a memory from about 28 years ago). Even though I grew up in a household where both my parents worked (and my dad never gave it a second thought since there were six of us), I merely accepted the script as a reflection of the 1963 sensibility and not my own. You really can't watch a movie that's older than you are (I'm guessing lots of you are waaay under 40) and expect it to reflect modern-day sensibilities. That said, the film is expertly written taking several stabs and jabs at the TV advertising (as well as the network) industry. Doris Day was the quintessential (and exquisitely beautiful) screen wife and mother, and James Garner was a perfect spousal foil for her. And what you had from Arlene "What's My Line" Francis was a welcome touch of class in the role of a mature expectant mother (heady stuff for 1963!) along with nervous expectant father Edward Andrews. The movie is right in line with the other 60's comedies with Hudson, Grant, and Rod Taylor- fun!!

I had never seen this film before purchasing it, but took a chance that I would like it as much as everything else I have seen with Doris Day; I wasn't disappointed. Doris Day and James Garner were great together, it left me wishing that they had made more films together. I had expected it to be cute and fun but I didn't think I would be laughing so much! If your a fan of Doris Day or James Garner then you really can't lose with this movie.