Romance on the High Seas (1948)

Flyweight, Technicolor-Glossy, and Charming Vehicle That Launched The Screen Career of Doris Day

By the late 1940s, Warner Brothers was no longer a major producer of lavish musicals--but in 1947 they decided to return to the field with ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS, a lightweight tale of luxury liner romance and comic confusion. Lacking a major musical star, the studio sought to borrow Judy Garland from MGM--but MGM, notoriously possessive of its musical leading lady, refused. Warner then went to Paramount and did indeed secure the services of Betty Hutton--but Hutton became pregnant and would be visibly so by the time cameras began to roll. With deadlines looming, it seemed ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS was dead in the water.

Enter Doris Day. An attractive blonde from Cincinnati, Day had begun her career with the aspiration to become a dancer, only to find her teenage hopes dashed when a car in which she was traveling was struck by a train. Told she would never dance again, she spent her recovery singing along with the radio and ultimately emerged as a noted "girl singer" on the big band scene, recording one of World War II's most beloved hits, "Sentimental Journey." But the life of a girl singer with the band was not an easy one, and Day was close to hanging it up when she was invited to a Los Angeles party and favored the crowd with a song or two. Director Michael Curtiz was among those present and although Day was not greatly enthusiastic he quickly coaxed her into a screen test.

Out of such unlikely circumstances are great stars sometimes born. In her autobiography Day writes that she wasn't wild about the film-making process, that she greatly disliked the heavy make-up and hair gel required to create the glossy image then in vogue, and that she was horrified and embarrassed when she saw herself on screen. All things considered, she didn't expect much that was positive to come out of the experience. ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS made her into an overnight sensation, the viable musical star Warner Brothers sought, complete with fan mail and hit records.

As already noted, the film that launched her career was indeed flyweight. Michael and Elvira Kent (Don DeFore and Janis Paige) are a married couple who are habitually jealous and suspicious of each other--and when Janis decides to take an ocean voyage her husband hires private detective Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to tag along and spy upon her. But unbeknownst to Michael, Elvira has sent lounge singer Georgia Garrett (Doris Day) on the cruise while she remains in New York to spy on Michael. Needless to say, romantic and comic complications ensue, with the film's most amusing moments fueled by such memorable character actors as S.Z. Sakall, Oscar Levant, Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, and Sir Lancelot.

No one would accuse Curtiz of having a knack for musicals, and although Busby Berkley handled the musical numbers he was significantly past his prime. Nonetheless, the film moves at fast clip, the musical numbers are engaging, the performances are expert, and the whole thing looks as lush as late 1940s Technicolor can make it--and there is Doris Day, fourth billed but clearly the star, blonde and beautiful and singing "It's Magic." It was magic indeed, and although ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS isn't in the forefront of the musical genre it is nonetheless a truly charming, completely unpretentious movie that both fans of the genre, the stars, and most particularly of Doris Day will truly enjoy. MGM had Garland; Paramount had Hutton; 20th Century Fox had Betty Grable. But now Warner's had Doris Day, and although she was a slightly unwilling star, her film career would outlast the film careers of all of them.

The DVD offers an excellent print of the film that plays to its Technicolor brightness and the sound elements are quite good as well. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the way of bonuses: a Warner cartoon staring Tweety and Sylvester is fun, of course, and a sing-along short gives us the likes of Ethel Waters, but with the exception of the original theatrical trailer there's nothing to pertaining to the film itself.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer August 12, 2008

Fun and romantic

This is a film in true Doris Day spirit. A lot of misunderstandings, good humor, romance and a happy ending. Just like we want it for a day of escape from the ordinary life.
The story is about a couple that are suspecting each other for playing around. He hires a detective to spy on his wife, she hires a nightclub singer to go on the cruise that she and her husband should have gone on so that she can stay in a hotel nearby to spy on her husband. This is the beginning for a lot of misunderstandings and a lot of laughters. July 2, 2008

Good clean fun!

I was prepared to hate this movie. One of Day's biographers had written that it was her worst film, but being a diehard fan I thought I'd give it a try. I was surprised at how much I liked it. The plot was silly (but so were most plots in 1940 comedies!) but the songs were lovely. Some of the movie was VERY funny. The scene where the two boyfriends get drunk without drinking a drop is a classic! I also enjoyed the wise-cracking tomboy-type Doris that opened the movie. Shades of the Calamity Jane figure she was to do many years later! April 5, 2008

Doris Day shines in amazing screen debut...

It's hard to believe 'Romance on the High Seas' is Doris Day's first flick. She's awesome in a role originally intended for Betty Hutton--and everyone has a great time poking fun at manners and morals in this breezy sea breeze of a farce. When Day and Jack Carson aren't coming up with one-liners, she takes time to sing some nifty tunes--among them, 'Put 'Em in A Box', 'It's You Or No One' and, of course, 'It's Magic'.

Her rendering of the latter song in a Cuban nightclub is one of the highlights of the film--and her career. Never has she expressed the simple emotions of the lyric more beautifully with a honey of a voice that is always directly on pitch, warming the heart with great phrasing and tone. And her comedic skills are already in evidence here. Especially enjoyable is her first night on board the cruise ship when she and Carson mistakenly dress up. "Nobody dresses on first night shipboard," Carson tells her. Posing as a society lady, she asks in cultivated tones, "Really? Don't they get chilly?" She turns and peers into the dining room. "This I gotta see!" she says in her own voice.

She uses the cultivated tones to disguise herself as society lady (Janet Paige) whose identity she has taken. The slim plot revolves entirely around the mistaken identity theme and it's all played for laughs with lots of punch lines. Doris has an amusing scene with the fabulous Eric Blore as a doctor who comes to check on her "illness" and ends up feeling weak when she checks his pulse. Franklin Pangborn is hilarious as a nosy hotel clerk who decides to work beyond his watch so he can watch the mayhem happen. "Rio is getting more and more like Paris," he says with that glowering glance toward the busy lobby. Watching Eric Blore and Pangborn going through their paces is like watching an old RKO film with Astaire and Rogers--and adds immeasurably to the film's fun.

Janis Paige, Don de Fore, S.Z. Sakall, Oscar Levant and the usual Warner Bros. stock players are all adept at this sort of thing. Highly amusing comedy with some great songs--easy to take and always good for a few laughs. A radiant Doris Day at the peak of her form, both physically and vocally. It's magic.

March 14, 2008

breezy film with beautiful music and song--and there's even Doris Day before she was a virgin !!!

Romance On The High Seas has great musical numbers, a plot to keep your attention--and we see the film debut of Doris Day. The plot moves along at a good pace; and the acting is rather good although I've still seen better.

The action begins when Mrs. Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) suspects her husband Michael Kent (Don DeFore) of cheating on her since he can never celebrate their anniversary together on a vacation. He's always working, Michael tells Elvira. Worse yet, Michael Kent himself suspects that Elvira is cheating on him, too. Things come to a head when Elvira and Uncle Lazlo (S.Z. Sakall) get a small time singer Georgia Garret (Doris Day) to take Elvira's place on the cruise ship and impersonate her. That way, Elvira can actually stay in New York herself to keep an eye on her husband. Michael, also the suspicious type, hires private eye Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to go on that same cruise and find out if Elvira (who is now Georgia Garrett masquerading as Elvira) is cheating.

Easy plot, right? It took me three tries to understand it. Ouch! The upshot is that Peter Virgil and Georgia Garrett, masquerading as Elvira Kent, are the two people who go on the cruise. Michael and Elvira Kent both remain in New York using their own separate methods to spy on each other.

However, my effort to understand the plot was worth it. The movie has great musical numbers and you can tell why this film made Doris Day a star--she sings beautifully and she looks good, too.

Things heat up when Georgia (still masquerading as Elvira Kent) meets Peter Virgil on the ship--and they fall in love. Of course, Peter thinks she's the real Elvira Kent and it makes for some tough going for Georgia and Peter. Things intensify even more when Peter informs Michael Kent more and more that "his wife" is cheating.

Of course, the plot can go anywhere from here. What will Michael Kent finally do if he thinks Elvira is cheating on him? Of course, the real Elvira never left New York, so she isn't cheating on him. Will the real Elvira find her husband Michael cheating on her in New York when he thinks she's away? What happens to Georgia through all of this? And what about Georgia's guy friend who wants to be her beau, Oscar Farrar (Oscar Levant)? How will he figure into all this? No spoilers here, folks--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out!

The choreography is very good in the musical numbers staged at the ports of call for the cruise ship; and the cinematography works to frame Doris Day so well within the picture as she sings to perfection.

The DVD comes with the theatrical trailer, a cartoon, and a cute piece about singing a song or two--from other movies.

Overall, Romance On The High Seas is a rather entertaining film with comedy, great musical numbers and a relatively stable plot for a film with so much music in it. The acting could have been a tad better but the rest is so good I can almost completely ignore this. I highly recommend this film for fans of Doris Day, classic movie musicals.
February 18, 2008

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