''Move Over, Darling'' is a 1963 American comedy film starring Doris Day,

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

, and

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in '' The Helen ...

and directed by Michael Gordon filmed in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The film is a remake of a 1940

screwball comedy film Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

, ''

My Favorite Wife ''My Favorite Wife'' (released in the U.K. as ''My Favourite Wife'') is a 1940 screwball comedy produced by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. The picture stars Irene Dunne as a woman who, after being shipwrecked on a tropical island fo ...

'', with

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

and Gail Patrick. In between these movies, an unfinished version, entitled ''

Something's Got to Give ''Something's Got to Give'' is an unfinished American feature film shot in 1962, directed by George Cukor for 20th Century Fox and starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. A remake of ''My Favorite Wife'' (1940), a screwball comedy ...

'', began shooting in 1962, directed by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...

and starring

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, Dean Martin and

Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer. After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...

. The supporting cast of ''Move Over, Darling'' features

Thelma Ritter Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American actress, best known for her comedic roles as working-class characters and her strong New York accent. She won the 1958 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and received ...

Fred Clark Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor. Early years Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to become ...

, Don Knotts,

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...

, Pat Harrington, Jr. and

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles. He is best known for starring in '' The Addams Family'' (1964–1966), as patriarch Gomez Addams, reprising ...

. Only Ritter had played the same role in ''Something's Got to Give''. ''Move Over, Darling'' was chosen as the 1964

Royal Film Performance The Royal Film Performance is a trademarked event owned by The Film and Television Charity, formerly the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund. The events showcases a major film premiere and is attended by members of the British Royal Family. The pr ...

, and had its UK premiere on 24 February 1964 at the

Odeon Leicester Square The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...

in the presence of H.R.H.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

. At the

21st Golden Globe Awards The 21st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1963, were held on March 11, 1964. Winners and nominees Film Best Film - Drama ''The Cardinal'' *''America America'' *''Captain Newman, M.D.'' *'' The Caretakers'' *''C ...

, Doris Day was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical but lost to Shirley MacLaine in ''

Irma la Douce ''Irma la Douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1963 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond, based on the 1956 French stage musical of the same name by Marguerite Monnot and Alexa ...

''.

Plot

Lawyer Nick Arden is in court to get two petitions approved: he wants his wife Ellen Wagstaff Arden declared legally dead after the plane they were traveling on went down in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

five years ago and she went missing during the rescue. And he wants to marry Bianca Steele. After some confusion, the judge declares Ellen legally dead and marries Nick and Bianca, who then immediately leave for

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

for their honeymoon. On the same day, Ellen returns to shore on a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

submarine, which had rescued her from a deserted island where she had spent the last five years. When she returns to her and Nick's home, she encounters her young daughters, who do not remember her, but she does not have the heart to tell them the truth. Her mother-in-law Grace Arden tells her of the new marriage and puts her on a plane to Monterey so that she can prevent its

consummation In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply ''consummation'', is the first (or first officially credited) act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage t ...

. Ellen arrives at the hotel and manages to alert Nick of her presence, who is overjoyed to reunite with her and wants to stay with her. Ellen requests that he tell Bianca the truth first. When Nick returns to a confused and angry Bianca, Ellen eavesdrops on their conversation. Nick cannot bring himself to tell Bianca the truth and Ellen leaves the hotel angrily. When Nick sees Ellen leave, he fakes an injury to prevent further advances by Bianca. The next day, when Nick comes home, he is informed that Ellen was on the deserted island with a man called Stephen Burkett for the whole five years and that both called each other "Adam" and "Eve". Nick is furious that Ellen did not tell him about Burkett and confronts her. She tells him that Burkett is a nerd and that nothing happened between them. She even convinces an awkward-looking shoe clerk to pose as Burkett. Nick, not convinced, looks for Burkett himself. When he finds him at a hotel pool, he notices to his horror that Burkett is young, attractive, and athletic. Nick invites Ellen to the same pool bar to confront her with Burkett. But before she sees Burkett, she comes clean about him but still swears that nothing happened between the two in the five years and asks for Nick's forgiveness. But when she notices Burkett, she angrily accuses Nick of trying to embarrass her and storms off. Nick tells Bianca the truth about Ellen but is informed that Grace has reported him for

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

earlier to force him to make a decision regarding Ellen and Bianca. This leads to another chaotic court date, where several matters are put to the decision of the same judge, who is even more confused: Nick's charge of bigamy, Bianca's request to

annul Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

their marriage, Ellen's request to void her death certificate, and Ellen's request for a divorce from Nick. The judge dismisses the bigamy charge, annuls Nick's and Bianca's marriage, declares Ellen alive again and postpones judgement on the divorce proceedings. When Ellen returns to her home several hours later, devastated, Nick has already told his daughters that she is their mother and all happily reunite.

Cast

* Doris Day as Ellen Wagstaff Arden ("Eve") *

as Nick Arden *

as Bianca Steele Arden *

as Grace Arden *

as Mr. Codd * Don Knotts as Shoe Clerk *

as Stephen Burkett ("Adam") *

as Judge Bryson *

as Clyde Prokey *

Elliott Reid Edgeworth Blair "Elliott" Reid (January 16, 1920 – June 21, 2013) was an American actor. Early life Reid was born in Manhattan, the son of artist Christine Challenger Reid and banker Blair Reid. He attended the Professional Children's Sc ...

as Dr. Herman Schlick * Pat Harrington Jr. as District Attorney *

Alan Sues Alan Grigsby Sues (March 7, 1926 – December 1, 2011) was an American actor and comedian widely known for his roles on the 1968–1973 television series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Sues's on-screen persona was campy and outrageous. Typical o ...

as Court Clerk *

Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...

as Hotel Desk Clerk *

Eddie Quillan Edward Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) was an American film actor and singer whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s. Vaudeville and silent fi ...

as Bellboy *

Jack Orrison Jack Orrison (October 12, 1909 – June 3, 1986) was an actor and script writer who worked in radio, television and films. He is best known for his acting roles in ''The Plainclothesman'' and ''I Married a Monster from Outer Space''. Orrison was ...

as Bartender * Pami Lee as Jenny Arden * Leslie Farrell as Didi Arden

Production notes

The film's script was written by

Hal Kanter Hal Kanter (December 18, 1918 – November 6, 2011) was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley (in '' Loving You'' and ''Blue Hawaii''), for both feature films and televis ...

and

Jack Sher John Jacob Sher (16 March 1913 – 23 August 1988) was an American newspaper columnist, songwriter, film director, film writer, and producer. Career Born in Minneapolis, Sher wrote for several magazines, including the ''Saturday Evening Post,'' ...

, reworking an earlier script written by

Arnold Schulman Arnold Schulman (born August 11, 1925) is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio. Biography Born to a Jewish family i ...

Nunnally Johnson Nunnally Hunter Johnson (December 5, 1897 – March 25, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and playwright. As a filmmaker, he wrote the screenplays to more than fifty films in a career that spanned from 1927 to 1967. He ...

and

Walter Bernstein Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism. Some of his notable works included ''The ...

that was an update of 1940's ''

'' by

Leo McCarey Thomas Leo McCarey (October 3, 1898 – July 5, 1969) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was involved in nearly 200 films, the most well known today being '' Duck Soup'', ''Make Way for Tomorrow'', '' The Awful T ...

and Samuel and Bella Spewack. The script includes a reference to ''My Favorite Wife'' during the scene in which Ellen gives Bianca a massage. The story is a comedic update of the 1864 poem " Enoch Arden" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and the poem's title is the source of the lead characters' surname. This was the seventh film based on "Enoch Arden". The film was originally to be a vehicle for

under the working title of ''

'', with

as director. Dean Martin was cast as Nick Arden after initial choice

was committed to doing '' The Great Escape''. Monroe was fired early in the original production cycle following repeated absences on filming days, ultimately appearing in only about 30 minutes of usable film. At first, it was announced that

Lee Remick Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film '' Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), and for the 1966 Tony Award for Best Actress in ...

would step into Monroe's place; though some press pictures were released and some scenes were shot with Remick, Martin balked at working with anyone but Monroe. Monroe was rehired but died before she could resume filming, leaving the original version incomplete. Unable to complete the film, and having already sunk a considerable amount of money into the production and sets,

went ahead with the project, albeit with a new title, new director Michael Gordon, and a new cast (with the exception of Thelma Ritter, who was also cast as Grace Arden in the Cukor version). Garner, now available following the completion of his work in ''The Great Escape'', was cast as Nick Arden. Garner accidentally broke Day's rib during the massage scene in which he pulls Day off of Bergen. He was not aware of what had happened until the next day, when he felt the bandage while putting his arms around Day. The film utilized most of the interiors and stage-built exteriors from the original Cukor production for the Arden home, which was based on Cukor's

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

home. The on-location exterior scenes at the Arden home were filmed about three miles west, at 377 South Mapleton Drive in

Holmby Hills Holmby Hills is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. The neighborhood was developed in the early twentieth century by the Janss Investment Company, which developed the rest of Westwood as well as other Los Ang ...

. The original neoclassical house seen in the film has since been replaced by an enormous

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

structure. The producers scheduled the scene with Day riding through a car wash for the last day of shooting because they feared that the chemicals in the detergents might affect her complexion. When the scene went off without a hitch, they admitted their ploy to Day, then used the story in promotional materials for the film.

Box office

The film grossed $12,705,882 in the United States, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year and helping keep 20th Century Fox afloat after the losses it had incurred in the making of '' Cleopatra''. ''Move Over, Darling'' earned $6 million in U.S. theatrical rentals. According to Fox records, the film was profitable, as it earned $8,750,000, exceeding the $8,300,000 needed in order to break even.

Reception

The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics. In 1963, a review in ''Variety'' stated: "Doris Day and James Garner play it to the hilt, comically, dramatically and last, but not least (particularly in the case of the former), athletically. What is missing in their portrayals is a light touch, the ability to humorously convey with a subtle eyelash-bat or eyebrow-arch what it tends to take them a kick in the shins to accomplish." However, more recent reviews have been more positive. David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews praised James Garner’s performance and Sue Heal of ''Radio Times'' gave the film four out of five stars, stating: "Slick, utterly professional and without a wasted scene, this is a sheer delight from start to finish."

Soundtrack

* "

Move Over Darling ''Move Over, Darling'' is a 1963 American comedy film starring Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen and directed by Michael Gordon filmed in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope released by 20th Century Fox. The film is a remake of a 1940 screwbal ...

" – The film's title theme, with music and lyrics by Joe Lubin,

and

Terry Melcher Terrence Paul Melcher (born Terrence Paul Jorden; February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004) was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His ...

(Day's son), arranged by

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

, is sung by Day and chorus (featuring ace West Coast session singers

the Blossoms The Blossoms are an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording ...

, featuring

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and she also recorded as a solo artist. She began singing as a child with her ...

, Fanita James and Jean King) during the opening credits and played as background music at the end. The song reached #8 on the British singles chart in 1964 for Day and charted in 1983 for

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...

.spectropop.com/TerryMelcher
/ref> * " Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)" from ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

'' (1850) – Written by Richard Wagner, the song is played when Nick and Bianca arrive at their honeymoon hotel. * " Beautiful Dreamer" – With music and lyrics by

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

, it is heard as background music during the memorial service for Ellen. * "Twinkle Lullaby" – Ellen sings this song, with music and lyrics by Joe Lubin, to her children.

Novelization

Slightly in advance of the film's release, as was the custom of the era, a paperback novelization of the film was published by

Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and so ...

. The author was renowned crime and western novelist Marvin H. Albert, who also made something of a cottage industry out of movie tie-ins. He seems to have been the most prolific screenplay novelizer of the late '50s through mid '60s, and, during that time, the preeminent specialist at light comedy. The book can be classified as an "inferred novelization" as none of the screenwriters is given attribution, but the copyright is assigned to

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The cover displays a painting of Garner carrying Day in his arms against an all-white background, a typical Dell cover to a romantic comedy tie-in. The book also contains a four-page insert of black-and-white movie stills. The cover price is 40¢.

References

External links

* * {{Enoch Arden 1963 films 1963 comedy films 1963 romantic comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s screwball comedy films 20th Century Fox films CinemaScope films Remakes of American films American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films Comedy of remarriage films Films about polygamy Films based on Enoch Arden Films based on works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Films directed by Michael Gordon Films scored by Lionel Newman Films with screenplays by Jack Sher 1960s American films