I have read so many negative comments about this movie and I don't know why. It's fresh, funny, and very entertaining. David Niven is well cast as the ambitious New York critic dreaming of higher social circles and a house in the suburbs. The story is loosely based on the experiences of author Jean Kerr as she juggled children and a profession. She was also married to New York drama critic John Kerr.
Janis Paige is a natural as the Broadway vixen with eyes for Niven. And Richard Haydn is excellent as the urbane Broadway producer and agent for Paige who sets out to settle the score with Niven after Niven's negative theatrical review of his musical. Haydin devilishly tries to let the air out of Niven's inflated ego by getting Day to stage one of Niven's college theatrical stinkbombs, but Niven beats everyone to the punch and admits to it in his column. As for Doris Day--she's colorful, exuberant, and as appealing as ever. Besides the title song PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, she reprises one of her huge 1950's hits QUE, SERA SERA in a quaint Italian restaurant to Niven.
Perhaps the best scene in the movie is the confrontation between Day and Niven when Niven learns that Haydn has tricked Day into using one of his old college scripts for a church production. When Niven realizes what is happening, he explodes and refuses to allow his play to be produced. Day lays into Niven for his insensitive and self-centered attitude--the result of his new-found celebrity as a New York drama critic. The exchange between them in the school auditorium truly showcases the polished side of Day's dramatic talent.
PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES does not pretend to be anything more than what it is: a light-hearted comedy about a wholesome family adjusting to the country as children, mother-in-law, and New York social life become gremlins working against a married couple's bliss. But DAISIES is also an entertaining pastiche from an era when the worst things that happened to a family meant scrambling for the right baby sitter and dealing with the serendipity of transplanting to the suburbs.
Dennis Caracciolo
Janis Paige is a natural as the Broadway vixen with eyes for Niven. And Richard Haydn is excellent as the urbane Broadway producer and agent for Paige who sets out to settle the score with Niven after Niven's negative theatrical review of his musical. Haydin devilishly tries to let the air out of Niven's inflated ego by getting Day to stage one of Niven's college theatrical stinkbombs, but Niven beats everyone to the punch and admits to it in his column. As for Doris Day--she's colorful, exuberant, and as appealing as ever. Besides the title song PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, she reprises one of her huge 1950's hits QUE, SERA SERA in a quaint Italian restaurant to Niven.
Perhaps the best scene in the movie is the confrontation between Day and Niven when Niven learns that Haydn has tricked Day into using one of his old college scripts for a church production. When Niven realizes what is happening, he explodes and refuses to allow his play to be produced. Day lays into Niven for his insensitive and self-centered attitude--the result of his new-found celebrity as a New York drama critic. The exchange between them in the school auditorium truly showcases the polished side of Day's dramatic talent.
PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES does not pretend to be anything more than what it is: a light-hearted comedy about a wholesome family adjusting to the country as children, mother-in-law, and New York social life become gremlins working against a married couple's bliss. But DAISIES is also an entertaining pastiche from an era when the worst things that happened to a family meant scrambling for the right baby sitter and dealing with the serendipity of transplanting to the suburbs.
Dennis Caracciolo