Romance on the High Seas is not only my favorite Doris Day movie, but it's also one of my favorite old movies! Everything about it is perfect: the acting, the songs, the premise, the jokes, the costumes-and to top it all off, the two leads fell in love with each other during the movie! I've yet to see a man look at a woman in real life the way Jack Carson looks at Doris Day in Romance on the High Seas. Every time he gazes at her during the song "It's Magic", I swoon-and I've seen the movie close to fifty times!I could spend a paragraph detailing the adorable setup of the plot, but then you wouldn't get to experience every delightful emotion the first time you watch it. Trust me on this one, it's cute, funny, and irresistible. Every character, no matter their faults, is endearing, and you can't help but root for them. And an added bonus is the wonderful chemistry and timing of the cast. Everyone works beautifully off each other, and the natural but tight timing of the jokes is remarkable.It's hard to believe that Romance on the High Seas was Doris Day's first movie; she'd made a name for herself with her singing and Hollywood gave her a break by introducing her in a leading role. She and Jack Carson made three movies together, and after watching any of them-but this first one in particular-you'll refuse to believe any other offscreen tale than their enjoyment of a long and happy life together. They're so sweet, considerate, comfortable, and down-right perfect together. Many times in movies, old or new, the supporting characters aren't very interesting or entertaining. In Romance on the High Seas, everyone has laugh lines, everyone puts their heart into their performance, and everyone gives the audience a warm, fuzzy feeling. S.Z. Sakall has hilarious quips with a mixture of broken English and well-intended awkward comments. Oscar Levant, while as depressing and negative as he always is, still grabs at the audience's heart as he knows he doesn't have Doris Day's heart. Eric Blore's show-stopping turn as an incompetent doctor is easily one of the funniest parts of the entire film. Even Franklin Pangborn makes the most of his few minutes on the screen, and John Berkes who has no lines at all, is a hilarious addition to his scene!There are certain gowns that stand out in one's memory as the greatest gowns in film history. Everyone has their favorites-Gone with the Wind, The King and I, and Atonement come to mind-and Doris Day's metallic blue gown designed by Milo Anderson in Romance on the High Seas is one of my all-time favorite film dresses. Even if the movie were garbage, it would be worth watching just to admire that dress. Thankfully, the movie is nearly perfect, but in all the wondrous moments you'll remember long after you watch it-"It's Magic," "You have principles," "I'm no blabbermouth!"-I guarantee the blue dress will be one of them. Watch it and find out. You're better off buying a copy than renting it, though, as I can't seem to let a few months go by without popping my copy in the DVD player!

The name stars are Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don deFore, Oscar Levant and Cuddles Szakall who acts for the first time with debut star Doris Day. There seems something stilted about the place as Doris shines yet seems unpolished. The movie is far from nonsense comedy which at least makes no sense scene by scene ending with something implausible tacked on yet fun along the way. There are just too many mix ups of Doris not really acting a great scene with Cuddles as she usually does as well as not liking Oscar Levant though people think she is running off with him. Don DeFore and Janis Page each think the other is cheating on them and Jack Carson as the detective who thinks he can unravel the plot can't. On the surface Hollywood gold with an award winning song yet too dated and too stilted to make its mark when viewed through the rose colored gasses of limited 1948 editing and photography.

When you've got a song like "Put Em' in a Box, Tie it With a Ribbon, and Throw Him in the Deep Blue Sea" and have it sung by Doris Day, you know you've got a star in the making. Having taken a "Sentimental Journey" already with the big bands, Day was a natural for movies, and to be billed as "Introducing", you know that Warner Brothers had major plans for this big star. Gone off the box office list at Warners were Davis and Crawford and on was this perky blonde whom the Warner Brothers realized about her screen charisma, "It's Magic!". The story is a silly one; Society queen Janis Paige is so sure that her husband is cheating on her, she hires Doris to take her place on a cruise, not realizing that her own husband has hired a private investigator (Jack Carson) to follow her, believing she too is foolin' around. Everybody ends up on the ship together later on to create more confusion, and Day worms her way into everybody's hearts not only with her plucky personality but by singing those two songs as well as the energetic "I'm in Love, I'm in Love..." Not only does Carson fall for her, so does Paige's cuddly uncle (S.Z. Sakall, in one of three movies he appeared with Doris in). "It's Magic" is also performed in Portugese as part of America's love affair with all things Latin. The irony of Paige and Day appearing together would follow them over the next decade or so when Day took on Paige's role in the movie version of "The Pajama Game", then got to work with her once again in the amusing "Please Don't Eat the Daisies". The ironic choice for director here is Michael Curtiz, best known for Errol Flynn swashbucklers and serious dramas, not fluffy musicals. It was a success for everybody concerned and lead to a lengthy film career for Ms. Day who dominated the box office for almost 20 years.

Doris Day's perky optimism was synonymous with the post-war optimism of the country following World War II, and it's no wonder she became popular and successful rather quickly. In Romance On The High Seas, her film debut, Day plays a struggling singer who daydreams about world travel by milling around a travel agency weekly. In so doing, she makes the acquaintance of Janis Paige, who isn't given much to do in the film, and her rich uncle played by S.Z. Sakall. Paige makes a proposition with Day to impersonate her on a cruise, so Paige can spy on her husband played by Don Defore, who will think Paige is a long ways away. Meanwhile, Defore hires a private detective, Jack Carson, to tail his wife impersonated by Day on the cruise. Complications ensue when Day and Carson fall for each other. Before the fadeout, Day has time to sing a few songs most notably of which is the Oscar-nominated "It's Magic". Incidentally, another Day smash won; "Buttons and Bows" from the Bob Hope/Jane Russel film: The Paleface. Ray Heindorf's musical score was also nominated.Julius and Philip Epstein wrote the fast-moving script with I.A.L. Diamond. Director Michael Curtiz keeps the film and its flimsy plot moving at a brisk pace and wisely rounded up able supporting players who add to the fun. Oscar Levant as Day's wisecracking, would-be, pianist beau, Eric Blore as the ship's doctor, Grady Sutton as the ship's radio operator, Franklin Pangborn as the busy-body hotel clerk in Rio, and John Berkes as the sneaky drunk on either side of Carson and Defore are all a delight. Busby Berkeley is listed as a choreographer, but there were not any production numbers typically associated with his style. Possibly Berkeley's work was edited out. Look fast for later horror hostess Vampira as a ship passenger. **1/2 of 4 stars.