After five years lost at sea, a missing wife (Doris Day) thought long dead returns just after her husband (James Garner) remarries.For the first half of this film, we have what amounts to more or less your typical romantic comedy of the era: a man and his wife trying to reconcile after five years, with some big obstacles in their way. Hilarity ensues, and fans of Day and Garner will love it.Then comes a bit of a plot twist, which turns up the heat... and we get to see Don Knotts in a much-too-small role. How will things turn out when we find that the wife has more than a few secrets of her own? And is it even worth trying to make things work at that point?

When James Garner died a few days ago, I suddenly had a yen to watch some of his movies. I managed to see The Americanization of Emily a couple of days ago with my mom after checking that from the library, and when Netflix delivered this one yesterday, Mom and me saw this just a couple of hours ago. Garner plays a man about to have his previous wife-Doris Day-declared dead after five years of disappearing from a sea accident so he can then marry Polly Bergen. But Day turns up rescued by Navy officers as she surprises mother-in-law Thelma Ritter and her two girls who are no longer babies. I'll stop there and just say that there are plenty of amusing supporting turns by familiar character actors like Edgar Buchanan as a judge, Fred Clark as a hotel manager, Don Knotts as a show salesman, John Astin as an insurance man, and Chuck Connors as someone who ended up on that island with Day. Day, herself, is pretty hilarious when she disguises herself as a Swedish nurse when massaging Bergen and recounting the movie My Favorite Wife of which this was a remake. The chase at the end was a bit over-the-top but what the hell! I also liked it when Garner pretended to be injured in some scenes. So on that note, I thought Move Over, Darling was a mostly fun movie to watch as did Mom. P.S. I know this was originally supposed to be a Marilyn Monroe vehicle called Something's Got to Give and having seen the scenes that were filmed for that one, it's a shame it had to be scrapped because of her personal problems that resulted in her death.

Caught this refugee from the Sixties on television the other evening and let's just say that time has not been kind to it. Doris Day cranked out a series of bedroom comedies during one of the most turbulent periods in American history, "Move Over, Darling" is just another in Doris' canon of "chase me, honey" farces. Even when this flick (and many others like it) were splashed over drive-in screens, they were already outdated. Between the violent upheavals in the country, the Vietnam war, the sexual revolution, and youth counter-culture among other things, Doris' antics would have been embarrassing even in the Fifties.All the bedroom farces had to offer were Cinemascope and double entendres. "Move Over" has so many smarmy, smutty, and lewd jokes (all of which fall flat) you feel like you just escaped a traveling salesman convention. The wit and sparkle found in "My Favorite Wife", upon which this travesty is based is nowhere to be seen. Doris is certainly no Irene Dunne, and although square-headedly handsome, James Garner is a poor substitute for Cary Grant. Doris is way too old for Garner, so their relationship seems off from the get-go. Also floundering in this dirty joke is Polly Bergen, acting as if she can't get out of whole mess quick enough. Fill in the rest of the cast with future TV "stars", obvious indoor sets that make the Brady Bunch's yard look real, and the beginning of Doris' infatuation with terrible dynel wigs that look like white cotton candy. The whole movie looks cheap, no better than a high school play. The incessant sex jokes and innuendo drag everything down as soon as the cartoon opening credits unspool.One of the strangest fixtures in these sort of farces is the insertion of at least one "gay" joke. "Move Over" has two: future Laugh-In resident flamer Alan Sues mincing around in a non-speaking role as a court clerk, and Don Knotts. Knotts is first seen fluffing a chiffon scarf around a woman's shoe display, in an entirely lavender surrounding. He also minces, but is soon revealed as a ladies' man when Doris picks him up. It is to be supposed that audiences loved a good chuckle at the nervous nellies on display, but this sort of cheap joke went out of style in the Forties. Still, every one of Doris' movies in this genre contain at least one such scene. Perhaps the director thought it was "hip", but we'll never really know. This is a movie best forgotten and left on the shelf as a curiosity. It's nearly impossible to sit through, so watch at your own risk.

I am writing this review because I have just watched 'Move over Darling' for the first time after having been watching the original, 'My Favorite Wife' for years so I thought I'd write a review of both films and compare them.Firstly this remake is good and entertaining but not as good as the original black and white version. Although the later film does have identical dialogue in parts and James Garner and Doris Day are great in the roles, they just do not to it as good as Cary Grant and Irene Dunne done...er did. For instance, the scene where Nicholas Arden first sees his wife in the hotel lobby and he follows the lift doors closing. Hilarious and Garner does it superbly, but that was a typical Cary Grant action and no-one can do it better.The film opens with Nicholas Arden (Garner), who having lost his wife to a shipwreck five years ago, is filing his petition to get have his missing wife declared legally dead, so he can marry Bianca, a fox-clad beauty played by Polly Bergan.However, having happily made his vows and is all set to settle down with wife number two, wife number one, hilariously portrayed by Doris Day determined to get her husband, life and home back, returns after having been shipwrecked on a desert island.Garner now has to spend the rest of the movie realising that his one true love has returned and must find a kind, and considerate way to 'dump' his new bride.Add to his misery and torment, Garner's discovery that his wife has not been the lone shipwrecked victim these last five years, but has been a jungle mate to a muscle bound Adonis played by Chuck Conners, news made worse by the fact that their affectionate nicknames for each other during that time seem to have been Adam and Eve.With such 'naked' truths scratching the surface, it's not long before Garner's troubles really start as with two Mrs Arden's out and about, living, breathing, walking and talking, the authorities are starting to sit up and take notice. Bigamy is after all a crime.What is more evident in this movie is the sexual overtones which had been thoroughly censored in the first movie, but were starting to emerge more as the sixties progressed. Like Garners' attempts not only to tell his new wife of his first wife's reappearance, but his attempts to avoid having sex with her.I also like Doris Day's chat with Bianca during the massage scene where she describes 'My Favorite Wife' to draw a comparison with her own life. Her Swedish accent was a bit bad though wasn't it???Perhaps the only top marks this remake gets over it's forerunner is the title song which became Doris Day's last big hit, certainly her last top ten hit in the UK. A lovely song sung by my favourite female vocalist. In fact I preferred her talents as a singer than her talents as a comedienne, as funny as she was, which is ironic as I preferred her to see her 1940 counterpart Irene Dunne work her comedy than to sing her operettas.The one failing of both these films however is the character of Bianca, she is such a tragic figure when you think about it, she's neither nasty, vulgar, cruel, malicious or evil. Just a woman who loved a man enough to marry him, yet in both films she becomes a victim. Maybe she should have been written to be a gold-digger or a liar or a cheat, just so you don't feel so sorry for her. The Comedy can become a bit tainted and black as a result.Anyway. Not as good as the original but still a great screwball 60's sex comedy.