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| Doris Day and Cary Grant |
"When a man donates $200,000, he's entitled to use the facilities."
Wealthy entrepreneur Philip Shayne (Cary Grant) is in his limousine when it splashes mud on out-of-work Cathy Timberlake (Doris Day.) Philip sends his associate, Roger (Gig Young of Hunt the Man Down) to apologize for him, but Cathy insists Philip do it himself. When she meets him, however, she is so instantly smitten that she apologizes to him. Thus begins a difficult romance in which Cathy does her best to maintain her virtue even as Philip flies her off to exotic places and wines and dines her par excellance. A series of comical misunderstandings may or may not lead to the altar ...
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| A date from Hell: Doris Day and John Astin |
Although there's nothing necessarily wrong with Audrey Meadows' performance, I was somehow disappointed by it. Meadows certainly knew how to slap down a line on The Honeymooners, but maybe this part should have been essayed by Eve Arden. Laurie Mitchell, the Queen of Outer Space herself, has a bit part as a showgirl, and John Fiedler is amusing as a confused bridegroom who gets the wrong idea about his wife. That Touch of Mink is typical of many sixties comedies in that it milks some humor out of a misunderstanding over a character's sexual orientation -- in this case Roger's shrink (Alan Hewitt, who is also very good) thinks he is gay. It does lead up to a silly but nevertheless hilarious final sequence.
Verdict: Despite its dated qualities (on so many levels), this is a consistently amusing picture with extremely adept leads. ***.
2 comments:
Very cute movie, I watch it every time it’s on. Grant and Day have great chemistry. Along with Rock Hudson and James Garner, Grant was among the costars she had the best chemistry playing with. I agree that Meadows is disappointing here—and Eve Arden could have stolen the picture, you’re right.
- Chris
Yeah, Meadows was strangely subdued I guess. I had seen this feel years ago and forgotten how entertaining it is!
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