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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DAY AND HUDSON'S LOVELY "LOVER", October 30, 2000
The Winter of 1961-62 was a lot warmer thanks to the delightful onscreen antics of Doris Day, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall, the triumvirate who had made a blockbuster called "Pillow Talk" a couple of years earlier. Reteamed in "Lover Come Back", they scored an even greater success this time out. Thanks to a very funny and sharp script penned by Stanley Shapiro, who won an Oscar for "Talk", and aided by Delbart Mann's smooth direction, "Lover" was the third biggest moneymaking film of 1962, right behind "That Touch of Mink", another Day/Shapiro/Mann collaboration.Seen today, "Lover Come Back" remains an uproarious comedy about the advertising trade in New York City. It's romantic, for sure, but it's also insightful, slightly satiric, and very sexy. Doris and Rock play competing advertising agents. She's professional and dedicated, he's unscrupulous, if necessary, seemingly willing to do anything to land an account. When they finally meet, he pretends to be someone else and therefore she falls in love with him. When she realizes who he really is, the romance flounders, briefly, before a "bundle of joy" brings things to a happy conclusion. Despite decades of crass comments from pundits purporting to know what they're talking about, Doris Day does not play a virgin. As in "Pillow Talk" and multiple other films, she plays a highly successful career woman who refuses to become a "notch" on some man's belt. There is never an indication that she is an "innocent", merely that she will not sleep with a man who has attempted to dupe, deceive, lie to or manipulate her. In "Lover", she offers to teach Hudson how to make love, clearly indicating that she is experienced. This fails to happen only when she realizes that Hudson, playing Jerry Webster, has been misleading her for two reels. Anyone who avoids seeing a Doris Day film for fear of being exposed to an overage girl scout should give this film a try. It may well change their preconceived notions. There is a reason why Day was repeatedly voted number one box-office attraction, male or female, as well as being a multiple Golden Globe Award Winner as World Film Favorite and winning the coveted Laurel Award from motion picture exhibitors as top female star for an unprecendented 8 consecutive years. Doris Day and Rock Hudson are perfect together, creating a blend that is a pure delight. They play every scene with such a sense of joie de vivre, that the audience cannot help but be caught up in the onscreen tale unfolding. Once again, Tony Randall provides outstanding support, and the remaining cast members including Edie Adams, Jack Kruschen, Jack Albertson, and Ann B. Davis, are each exceptional in their individual ways. Director Delbert Mann has stated that some scenes had to be shot a number of times due to the fact that stars Day and Hudson kept breaking up on camera, going into fits of laughter. It's apparent from the finished product that that sense of fun has been transferred directly to the finished product. "Lover Come Back" is a must see comedy treat.
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DVD ~ Rock Hudson
DVD ~ Doris Day
DVD ~ Doris Day
DVD ~ Rock Hudson
DVD ~ Doris Day
