Search - Romance on the High Seas on DVD

Flyweight, Technicolor Glossy, & Charming: The Movie That La

Gary F. Taylor | Biloxi, MS USA | 08/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"By the late 1940s, Warner Brothers was no longer a major producer of lavish musicals--but in 1947 they decided to return to the field with ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS, a lightweight tale of luxury liner romance and comic confusion. Lacking a major musical star, the studio sought to borrow Judy Garland from MGM--but MGM, notoriously possessive of its musical leading lady, refused. Warner then went to Paramount and did indeed secure the services of Betty Hutton--but Hutton became pregnant and would be visibly so by the time cameras began to roll. With deadlines looming, it seemed ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS was dead in the water.



Enter Doris Day. An attractive blonde from Cincinnati, Day had begun her career with the aspiration to become a dancer, only to find her teenage hopes dashed when a car in which she was traveling was struck by a train. Told she would never dance again, she spent her recovery singing along with the radio and ultimately emerged as a noted "girl singer" on the big band scene, recording one of World War II's most beloved hits, "Sentimental Journey." But the life of a girl singer with the band was not an easy one, and Day was close to hanging it up when she was invited to a Los Angeles party and favored the crowd with a song or two. Director Michael Curtiz was among those present and although Day was not greatly enthusiastic he quickly coaxed her into a screen test.



Out of such unlikely circumstances are great stars sometimes born. In her autobiography Day writes that she wasn't wild about the film-making process, that she greatly disliked the heavy make-up and hair gel required to create the glossy image then in vogue, and that she was horrified and embarrassed when she saw herself on screen. All things considered, she didn't expect much that was positive to come out of the experience. ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS made her into an overnight sensation, the viable musical star Warner Brothers sought, complete with fan mail and hit records.



As already noted, the film that launched her career was indeed flyweight. Michael and Elvira Kent (Don DeFore and Janis Paige) are a married couple who are habitually jealous and suspicious of each other--and when Janis decides to take an ocean voyage her husband hires private detective Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to tag along and spy upon her. But unbeknownst to Michael, Elvira has sent lounge singer Georgia Garrett (Doris Day) on the cruise while she remains in New York to spy on Michael. Needless to say, romantic and comic complications ensue, with the film's most amusing moments fueled by such memorable character actors as S.Z. Sakall, Oscar Levant, Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, and Sir Lancelot.



No one would accuse Curtiz of having a knack for musicals, and although Busby Berkley handled the musical numbers he was significantly past his prime. Nonetheless, the film moves at fast clip, the musical numbers are engaging, the performances are expert, and the whole thing looks as lush as late 1940s Technicolor can make it--and there is Doris Day, fourth billed but clearly the star, blonde and beautiful and singing "It's Magic." It was magic indeed, and although ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS isn't in the forefront of the musical genre it is nonetheless a truly charming, completely unpretentious movie that both fans of the genre, the stars, and most particularly of Doris Day will truly enjoy. MGM had Garland; Paramount had Hutton; 20th Century Fox had Betty Grable. But now Warner's had Doris Day, and although she was a slightly unwilling star, her film career would outlast the film careers of all of them.



The DVD offers an excellent print of the film that plays to its Technicolor brightness and the sound elements are quite good as well. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the way of bonuses: a Warner cartoon staring Tweety and Sylvester is fun, of course, and a sing-along short gives us the likes of Ethel Waters, but with the exception of the original theatrical trailer there's nothing to pertaining to the film itself.



GFT, Amazon Reviewer"