Main Cast: Doris Day, James Garner, Arlene Francis, Edward Andrews, ZaSu Pitts, Reginald Owen
Release Year: 1963
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
Plot
This amusing romantic comedy concerns Dr. Gerald Boyer (James Garner), a successful gynecologist with a wife and two children. Wife Beverly (Doris Day) focuses on maintaining the household and watching the kids. One of Gerald's patients, Mrs. Fraleigh (Arlene Francis), overhears Beverly talking up a new product she's discovered called 'Happy Soap' - whose manufacturer just happens to be Mrs. Fraleigh's father-in-law, Old Tom Fraleigh (Reginald Owen). She introduces Beverly to him; hugely impressed, the old man offers her $80,000 a year to pitch a new product called "Happy Soap." Beverly's career takes her away from her family responsibilities and causes a series of comedic commotions for Gerald and the kids. He comes home from work one morning and accidentally drives his convertible into a freshly dug swimming pool ordered by Beverly without his knowledge. The furious physician throws a bevy of boxes of Happy Soap into the pool, causing the house to be engulfed in suds by morning (which the kids mistake for snow). The family maid Olivia (Zasu Pitts) is nearly driven crazy with the events and has many harried scenes of comedic frustration. Directed by Norman Jewison, this thouroughly engaging comedy was written by Larry Gelbart and Carl Reiner. Reiner provides the screenplay for the feature which turned out to be the last film appearance of Zasu Pitts. With her passing marked the end of a long and successful career as a comedic and well respected actress that began in 1917. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Review
The Thrill of It All is an appealing (if terribly lightweight) little comedic confection, the kind of film that's the equivalent of a nice mid-day snack. A viewer looking for more substantial fare will definitely need to look elsewhere, as will those with a low tolerance for manufactured situations, a slight tendency toward cutesiness, or some dated feelings about gender roles. But for viewers who don't mind if situation setups are really based in reality, so long as they pay off in a decent laugh; who are won over by the grins and pouts of four-year-old children; or who can accept gender double standards as part and parcel of the period, Thrill should provide plenty of enjoyment. Certainly scripters Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart know a thing or two about the mechanics of comedy writing and the likes of Doris Day and James Garner are expert at playing for both the humor and the warmth. Throw in some fine support from Arlene Francis, ZaSu Pitts, and (in a very small role) Alice Pearce, as well as smooth and professional Norman Jewison direction, and you've got a pleasing, if totally insignificant, way to spend a couple of hours. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Elliott Reid - Mike Palmer; Alice Pearce - Woman in Car; Kym Karath - Maggie Boyer; Brian Nash - Andy Boyer; Lucy Landau - Mrs. Goethe; Paul Hartman - Dr. Taylor; Hayden Rorke - Billings, yes man; Alex Gerry - Stokely; Robert Gallaer - Van Camp; Anne Newman - Miss Thompson; Burt Mustin - Butler; Hedley Mattingly - Chauffeur; Robert Strauss - 1st Truck Driver; Maurice Gosfield - Truck Driver; William Bramley - Driver; Pamela Curran - Starlet; Herbie Faye - Man; Lenny Kent - Cabbie; John Alderman - Mr. Caputo; Carl Reiner; Lennie Weinrib
Reiner had originally conceived the project for Judy Holliday, who developed cancer and had to bow out of the project, according to Reiner's reminiscence during his videotaped "Archive of American Television" interview. (Holliday died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 43.)
Plot summary
The story of the film centres around urban housewife Beverly Boyer (Doris Day) and her husband, a successful gynecologist and devoted family man, Gerald (James Garner). Beverly is offered the opportunity to star for a television commercial advertising soap. After a shaky start, she gets a contract for $80,000 per year to appear on the weekly TV commercials. Soon the TV studio places greater and greater demands on the unlikely TV star. Gerald becomes jealous of the fact that she is now out-earning him, and their relationship slowly deteriorates until their eventual reconciliation.
