Customer Reviews

Tunnel of Love [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The "Tunnel of Love" is such great fun. This sly romantic comedy was directed by Gene Kelly and stars Doris Day and Richard Widmark. I know it seems unlikely that Richard Widmark would be in a movie like this but here he is in this 1958, black and white innuendo filled comedy about a suburban couple who can't get pregnant no matter what they do. You have to feel sorry for poor Richard Widmark when he comes home hot, tired and out of sorts from traveling to Connecticut from New York. All he wants to do is get out of his hot sticky clothes, curl up on the sofa and sleep. But Doris Day has other ideas, her temporature just right so they have to make love NOW, then rush off immediately to the doctor's office, per the good doc's intructions.

The hook is that Doris and her husband start proceedings to adopt a baby. A female inspector comes to talk to the couple, through a mishap Widmark wakes up in the inspectors bed. Did he or didn't he??

To make matters worse the inspector suddenly has to go away and returns 12 months later? Out of the blue the agency has found a baby for the couple, the baby looks like Widmark, the next door husband and best friend of Widmark thinks it's Widmark's baby and Widmark thinks it's his baby. And Doris is really suspicious. The next door husband played by Gig Young is a world class philanderer who never gets caught is loaded with lots of advice (all bad) for frazzled Widmark.

This movie must have been soooo risque in 1958 and it's still so now. The surburbia shown here is so cliched that it's down right laughable. Doris sings the title song "Tunnel of Love."

This is definately a great way to spend a rainy Saturday night with a big bag of popcorn.

Vannie

"The Tunnel of Love" was Doris Day's third film for MGM and probably ranks as her least memorable.

Shot in a matter of weeks, it clearly betrays its theatrical roots, being based on a popular Broadway hit which later became a staple for summer stock productions for many years.

Despite it's tight budget and shooting schedule, it surprisingly lost money. Miss Day was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress and received the coveted Laurel Award from Motion Picture Exhibitor Magazine for being the most popular female star in films, the first of eight consecutive awards as most Popular Actress by this publication. None of this, however, saved "Tunnel of Love", which does provide some amusing moments despite a slightly overlong running time which allows interest to sometimes wane.

Gene Kelly directed the talented cast in his final film at MGM after more than 15 years under contract. Had original plans worked out a decade later, he'd have again directed Miss Day in "Hello Dolly" which Richard Zanuck initially wanted as a vehicle for the gifted blonde.

Doris Day and Richard Widmark play a Connecticut couple who want to have a baby. The film's plot evolves around those efforts as well as a lot of misunderstandings which are better seen than described.

As always, Miss Day is a delight. Her comedic talent is second to none and she makes the most of the sometimes tepid situations, giving it the benefit of her personality and skill at making you believe everything she says. Fabled Hollywood Hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff who worked on this film as well as several others with Miss Day told me personally that "...Doris was the most professional actress I have ever encountered. She always knew her lines, never kept people waiting and treated the crew with the same dignity and kindness that she treated her co-stars...." A highlight is Miss Day's exuberant rendition of "Runaway Skiddadle Skidoo", a peppy little song that even allows co-star Richard Widmark to sing a bit of."

Widmark surprises with a very charming and easygoing comic performance. He and Miss Day work well together and it's too bad they didn't have better material to serve them.

Gig Young is in his usual fine form in this the third of four on-screen performances opposite Miss Day. Elisabeth Fraser in the second of four roles opposite Miss Day displays her usual polish. Gia Scala adds window dressing and the viewer will come away not feeling they'd wasted their time but with the talent involved probably wishing for a sweeter aftertaste. Perhaps color would have brightened the proceedings in more ways than one.

This is a very funny film based on the Broadway show with the same title. The plot concerns Doris Day and Richard Widmark's attempts to adopt a baby. Directed by Gene Kelly, the film is a bit stagey with long stretches of dialogue between Richard Widmark and his next door neighbor played by Gig Young becoming a bit weary at times. However, whenever Doris Day shows up on the screen, everything seems just fine. She's bright bubbly and bouncy in a roll that gives her a chance to show off her comedic talent and even gives her a chance to sing a little. The title song, TUNNEL OF LOVE is quite catchy but a tune she sings at a party half way through the film titled RUNAWAY SKIDADDLE SKIDDOO is very fine. She made a lovely recording of this tune for Columbia records. Buy this film. It's well worth owning.(One major complaint. The film is in black and white. Color would have certainly brightened the mood)

This is a very funny film based on the Broadway show with the same title. The plotconcerns Doris Day and RichardWidmark's attempts to adopt a baby. Directed by Gene Kelly, the film is a bit stagey withlong stretches of dialogue between Richard Widmark and his next door neighbor played by Gig Young becoming a bit weary at times. However, whenever Doris Day shows up onthe screen, everything seemsjust fine. She's bright bubblyand bouncy in a roll that gives her a chance to show ofher comedic talent and even gives her a chance to sing a little. The title song, TUNNEL OF LOVE is quite catchy but atune she sings at a party half way through the film titled RUNAWAY SKIDADDLE SKIDDOO isvery fine. She made a lovelyrecording of this tune for Columbia records. Buy this film. It's well worth owning.(One major complaint. The film is in black and white. Colorwould have certainly brightened the mood)

Married couple, Doris Day and Richard Widmark want to adopt a baby and of course they have been trying the natural way too. They have wonderful neighbors Gig Young and, who have children of their own currently in camp and one expected. The lady from the Rock-A-Bye Foundation comes around the neighborhood to investigate the parents-to-be. She must ask the neighbors their references of Doris and Richard. Now Richard goes to the front door, not knowing that the investigator is at the front door. he is in his underwear and chasing a mouse with a liquor bottle in his hand. Not a very good impression to start with. What else could happen to mortify Doris Day who is being so naturally proper and decent and yet her husband is not...plenty can happen. Cute film! Directed by dancer/actor/singer Gene Kelly. Nice realistic sets.

I like Richard Widmark, and absolutely love his movies. I have yet to see a "bad" one, or one I did not like. However, the part in this movie was far too lightweight for him. He's much too good of an actor to be in such of a role. He's best in tough-guy parts. He fits those like a glove.

This film, which is about a couple's desire to have children, is a good film for the most part, but it doesn't do him justice. He was miscast in this part. This is a Cary Grant type of film. Doris Day is sweet and lovely, as usual, but Gig Young is totally annoying. His part could have been deleted completely.

As I said, the story itself is pretty good, but it could have been better.

This is one of the best movie comedies. Has a great plot and good acting by everyone, including Gig Young. Doris seldom makes a bad movie--and this is NOT A BAD ONE.

I enjoyed this movie on TCM and wanted to watch it again--couldn't find it anywhere else for less than $40 (DVD). This copy was great, was delivered promptly.

The movie itself is a good one; good-girl Doris Day took a role with an interesting topic, Richard Widmark was great, and Gene Kelly brought a lot of wit to the male perspective, as the director of the film.

Sex, adoption, infidelity and family: that's what the movie is all about. It's hilarious and charming, and just shocking enough for the late 1950s.

As a big fan of Doris Day movies - movies that my family watches over & over - read the reviews posted - and bought the VHS. Richard Widmark's acting is dreadful. Too bad he had the lead! Doris Day & Gig Young terrific as usually, but Widmark's performance was so bad it ruined what could have been a delightful movie. Every new buzz word & phrase popular at that time was in the dialogue making the scenes awful & phoney. Have seen Widmark in other films and enjoyed his performances - not sure why he bombed here. This is a Doris Day movie we will not watch again. So very, very disappointed!!

Based on a novel by Peter DeVries and adapted to the stage by DeVries and Joseph Fields, the 1957 Broadway comedy THE TUNNEL OF LOVE was a reasonably popular ticket, running 417 performances and just slightly over a year. No sooner did the play close in 1958 than MGM released a film version with one of the era's most bankable stars: Doris Day, co-starred with Richard Widmark and directed by Gene Kelly. But critics were dismissive (Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote "all the fuss and bother are spent over one minor gag that wears awfully thin before the finish) and the film was a significant flop.

The play and the film were somewhat racy for the time. Auggie and Isolde Poole (Richard Widmark and Doris Day) have been married for five years but have not been able to have children. They continue to try in the old fashioned way augmented by doctors and charts and such, but have at last decided to adopt. In the meantime, the aptly named next door neighbor Dick Pepper (Gig Young) suggests that Auggie might find it easier to reproduce if he had a casual affair with another woman to take the pressure--and when adoption agency rep Estelle Novick (Gia Scala) arrives to interview the family, Auggie has several drinks, a tranquilizer and a series of fluke events ensue that end with him awakening in a hotel bed with a thank you note from Estelle. Later he learns that Estelle is pregnant, and still later Estelle returns to announce that she has found the perfect child for the Pooles. But what happened to Estelle's baby? And doesn't the kid look an awful lot like Auggie himself? Isolde thinks so, and pretty soon she is threatening to leave Auggie for once and all.

There are several problems with the film. Gene Kelly was anxious to direct, and he was allowed this film on the condition that he shoot it in three weeks on a budget of $500,000. The result is not so much a film as a play that has been plunked down in front of a camera: everything looks both stagey and cheap. But what really kills the film is that Richard Widmark is out of his depth in this broad farce and, worse yet, he and Day have no significant chemistry. Everything about the film feels somewhat forced.

A year later Doris Day appeared in IT HAPPENED TO JANE, which also failed, and between these two failures she was knocked off her throne as box office queen. She would make a strong comeback with several 1960s films, but the double whammy put a crimp in her style and she would never again so completely dominate the box office. Given its faults and flaws, THE TUNNEL OF LOVE is pretty much best left to hardcore Doris Day fans. The VHS aside, the film is available in a DVD collection titled TCM SPOTLIGHT: DORIS DAY COLLECTION, which is essentially a collection of five of her minor films.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer