Joy in the Morning

I saw this movie in 1965 when I was 7 years old with my dad at the Cameo Movie Theater on South Beach. I remember the beautiful theme song of this wonderfully romantic movie; "Joy....Joy...Joy in the Morning"...sent shivers down my spine. The cast is outstanding and Yvette Mimieux is beautiful. It is her finest role. Maybe some scenes are slightly out-dated in this day and age, and most likely younger film-goers might laugh slightly at some of the interactions, but the theme of falling-in-love is never out-dated.

Great acting. Great sound. Great scenery. Joy in the Morning is a timeless tale of young love. Excellent.

When I was a kid I'd rush home from school to watch the daily afternoon movie that came on at 4 pm. I'd been hooked on watching old movies quite some time by then!! This is one that I think about often but haven't seen since. My fuzzy brain cells can't remember but a few words of the theme song. I remember Richard's character singing it to Yvette's character. Anytime there is a beautiful morning, the melody of that song comes to mind, then what little bit I remember about the movie comes back also. I would really like to see it again and put all the bits and pieces together. I'm sure it's as good as I remember it being. It couldn't have hung into my swiss cheese memory if it wasn't a really good movie. Joy in the morning is about a guy in college and very much in love with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. My grandmother had the Joy in the Morning bible verse in a cross stitched picture framed on her wall. I never quite got the connection between the verse and the movie plot but whenever I would happen to read it, I'd remember the movie. Funny way to learn bible passages, eh??

It's hard to sit down and enjoy 1965's "Joy in the Morning," a sentimental and melodramatic story about young marriage, without putting the film in context.

If you were a prepubescent girl or teen in the '60s, Richard Chamberlain was one of your dream men in the same way that girls adore Zac Efron now and my mother swooned over Tyrone Power. You had an intern shirt, you had the .45 of "Three Stars Will Shine Tonight" (The Theme from Dr. Kildare" with "Joy in the Morning" on the flip side), and you read fan magazines. And no one who watched "Dr. Kildare" can forget Yvette Mimieux's guest appearance on the show. I can still see her in the final scene of that episode.

So watching "Joy in the Morning," which might be considered a mawkish movie by some, is a trip down memory lane for us. It's about two young people from different social strata who get married and try to make it both financially and as a couple while the man is still in law school. It's actually a sweet story with some good performances - certainly an earnest one from Chamberlain, and from Oscar Homolka, Sidney Blackmer, and Donald Davis (as the "sissy" florist). Petite and beautiful Mimieux was one of the big '60s ingénues, and she does fine, though the character admittedly can get a little annoying. The Bernard Herrmann score, reminiscent of his music in "Vertigo," is instantly recognizable as Herrmann and very good.

Judging this film as if it's supposed to be "Citizen Kane" is like judging "High School Musical" on the same level as "No Country for Old Men." In its day, "Joy in the Morning," with Richard Chamberlain taking off his shirt, making out with Yvette Mimieux and talking about sex was geared toward young girls just learning the facts of life, and hoping that someone like Richard Chamberlain would teach them. Knowing the reality of that dashed hope today doesn't change the innocent memories that it brings back.

While Herrmann's musical score is a pleasure, as always, the film itself is a claptrap of soap opera clichés, and melodramatic scene-chewing performances. Mimieux screeches her way through the script, and Chamberlain comes across as an absolute jerk.

The adjacent fawning posts really puzzle me.

Being that this was released in 1965, I am somewhat surprised that the homosexuality of one character (the flower shop owner) is tiptoed around so blatantly - well, they did use the phrase "sissy" several times. Actually, he is the most developed character in the film, and his life would have made a much more interesting plot.

The back lot filming is obvious and uninvolving.

The two leads spend an awfully large amount of time in childish tirades. That so many viewers would see this as representative of true love, is somewhat disturbing.

Again, great score..........little else.

Under normal circumstances I love to hate movies like Joy in the Morning. I try to avoid watching romantic melodramas as much as the next well-adjusted person, but Joy in the Morning was surprisingly good. It's easy to sympathize with the young law student Carl Brown, whose parents turn into his worst nightmare after he marries a poor girl from Brooklyn named Annie McGairy. Carl's mother writes him a scathing letter and makes it clear that she thinks Annie is an opportunist and a gold-digger. Carl's villainous father actually shows up at the couple's home and after a shouting match with his son, withdraws all financial support. The couple's struggle to support themselves is austere and unsentimental. It's difficult to predict if they will stay together until the last ten minutes of the movie.

Richard Chamberlain is excellent as Carl Brown, but the movie belongs to the luminous Yvette Mimieux, who plays Annie McGairy. Though in the beginning of the movie Annie appears naïve and insipid, later on her earnest attempts at being a good wife are endearing because quite simply, Mimieux glows in front of the camera. Any other actress in the part of Annie would have been a disaster.