Romance on the High Seas

In this Technicolor musical rom-com from Warner Brothers and director Michael Curtiz, married couple Michael (Don DeFore) and Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) have been together 3 years but they still don't trust one another. When Michael cancels their anniversary cruise to South America at the last minute due to business, Elvira doesn't believe him, so she concocts a dubious plan: she'll tell Michael that she's going on the cruise by herself, but will send nightclub singer Georgia Garrett (Doris day) in her place. That way Elvira can stay in New York and watch to see if Michael is cheating. However, Michael hires private investigator Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to go on the cruise and watch to see if Elvira is cheating. Mistaken identities and blossoming romance produce havoc and laughter.

This mildly amusing confection was Doris Day's movie debut, and her persona is a bit different from her later "virginal" image. Here she's a distinctly blue collar dame, with attitude and some rough edges. She's still likable, and clicks with Carson. The color cinematography pops, and there are some nice set designs. The movie earned two Oscar nominations, for Best Score (Ray Heindorf) and Best Song ("It's Magic").

Doris Day was a huge radio and recording star when she appeared in "Romance on the High Seas". However, she was not a movie star...as this is her first film. Some of this shows...particularly her makeup as she is very freckly...which I thought was quite cute but which the studios hid in subsequent movies. She went over very well regardless and Warner Brothers soon signed her to a seven year contract...and she soon became a mega-star in pictures.

The plot is a bit silly. Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) suspects her husband, Michael (Don Defore), is cheating on her. And, he suspects the same thing of her. So they each come up with a plan...she pays Georgia (Doris Day) to pretend to be her and take a cruise while she stays home and secretly keeps an eye on him. And, he hires a detective (Jack Carson) to take the cruise and follow Elvira and prove she's been cheating! But there's a problem...the detective slowly begins to fall in love with the woman who he THINKS is Elvira!

The plot is quite slight...but the picture excellent for many reasons. Carson and Day are simply terrific and Day sings some very lovely tunes. The picture also is quite romantic...and fun and made more so by the presence of some wonderful character actors (S.Z. Sakall, Franklin Pangborn and Oscar Levant). All in all, this is the sort of fun picture Warner Brothers could make best...and you can't help but enjoy it.

By the way, while Defore and Paige receive higher billing, clearly Doris Day was the star or at least co-star of the film. I guess the studio just didn't have much faith in her drawing power...but that wasn't to last!

"You sigh the song begins, You speak and I hear violins---It's Magic."

Doris sure captured us all under her spell in her first role as Miss Georgia Garrett in Romance on the High Seas. Georgia is a singer hired by socialite, Mrs. Kent (Janis Paige). Mrs. Kent has suspicions that her husband is cheating on her when he backs out of a trip. She hires Georgia to go in her place on a cruise to South America. Mrs. Kent then is free to spy on her husband. Mr. Kent (Don DeFore) meanwhile has hired a private detective, Peter Virgil (Jack Carson), to trail his wife on her cruise. Talk about lack of trust! The highlight of the film, for me, is when Georgia, posing as Mrs. Kent, and Peter go ashore. They are seated and Georgia begins to sing "It's Magic." It is just beautiful! Soon, Peter and Georgia begin to fall for each other. As this is his client's "wife", Peter knows that this is a no-no. But, have they fallen too far under the spell? **A great cast-Doris Day, Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore, and of course SZ Sakall **Terrific songs-"Put 'Em in a Box", "It's Magic", "It's You Or No One", "I'm in Love", "The Tourist Trade", and "Run, Run, Run" **Great dialogue This movie has it all! A must see! Be captivated-it truly is MAGIC!

Watching Romance on the High Seas I could have sworn that the Brothers Warner hijacked one of the plots of an RKO Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film. It's got that kind of silliness in the plot, the usual case of mistaken identities and false suspicions that characterized the Astaire- Rogers films.

Don DeFore and Janis Paige are a couple each of who swears the other is cheating. When a mix-up from a travel agency in passport photos where Paige's is exchanged for Doris Day's she contacts Day and offers to pay Day's way on a South American cruise if she just travels in Paige's name. She wants to catch DeFore cheating.

Of course DeFore goes one better. He hires private detective Jack Carson to go on the trip and catch Paige cheating. Of course he latches on to Day.

If you are a fan of Astaire-Rogers films you know exactly where this one is going. Romance on the High Seas has all the ingredients of one of their films except the dance numbers.

It doesn't lack for a good musical score though. Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn came up with a good one where Day sings several songs, including the Academy Award nominated, It's Magic. It's Magic lost that year to Buttons and Bows. It's Magic happens to be a favorite one of mine of Doris Day hits.

Doris firmly establishes her image in this one. She's so radiant and sings so well, I can't believe she was a third choice for this film behind Judy Garland and Betty Hutton.

If you hear violins coming from some unknown source it will be the magic when you're watching Romance on the High Seas.

Fortune certainly smiled on the talented Doris Day when she landed her first movie role in this typical late-Forties musical comedy confection. She looks great, sounds terrific and acts with confidence, supported by the best that Warner Brothers could muster (except for the annoying Oscar Levant, an all-time UNfavorite of mine). And, as always, the Warners music department and sound technicians provide a wonderfully lush treat for the ears.

Turner Classic Movies, bless 'em, occasionally hauls this one out of their vaults and it's fun to see it uninterrupted and causing one's TV screen to glow with that particularly cool, yet warm at the same time, three-strip Technicolor that Warners seemed to specialize in before Warnercolor's less vibrant tones decorated the studio's color output. Of course the clothes, the elaborately formal sets, and those hairdos (Could any woman back then achieve those coiffures without the aid of a platoon of hairdressers?) all are quintessentially Hollywood just before the Fifties demanded that everything look very modern and somewhat more sleek. But as a way to enjoy a bit of still very entertaining nostalgia, this one is hard to beat!