The Fourth Annual Doris Day Blogathon – The Tunnel of Love (1958)

This is my first of 3 reviews for the The Fourth Annual Doris Day Blogathon taking place this weekend and being hosted by Michaela of Love Letters to Old Hollywood

Tnx for letting me partake Michaela!

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“You know, there’s nothing as smug as a monogamous man.” – Dick Pepper

Number of Times Seen – Twice (12 Aug 2001 and 2 Apr 2020)

Brief Synopsis – A couple seeking to adopt a baby get into trouble when the husband think that he may have accidentally gotten the head of the adoption agency pregnant.

My Take on it – This is a film that I saw nearly 19 years ago and was quite keen to rewatch for this blogathon since I couldn’t recall anything about it.

They do a wonderful job keeping things fun in this screwball comedy and things works quite well on numerous levels along the way.

The chemistry between Doris Day and Richard Widmark is superb and they really make us believe that they are a loving couple who just want to find a way to have children.

The story deals with certain aspects of the story in very delicate ways which is great because it shows that they don;t shy away from realities, but rather refrain from discussing them in more depth despite them still being there.

In addition to the chemistry of the couple we get to see the kind of friendship that Widmark has with Gig Young and that Day has with Elizabeth Fraser.

These two pairs of close knit couples discuss some dark secrets with one another while keeping this within their gender and continuing to hide things from their spouses.

This allows us to learn so much about these characters as things progress.

The crazy situations that these characters encounter along the way makes things so much more enjoyable to watch especially when we get to see how scared they all get when they believe the danger that they might get caught as things escalate as the plot thickens and evolves.

They do a great job keeping things ambiguous the whole way through which helps make us wonder in which direction things will eventually turn and this adds lots of suspense to the seemingly simple story.

Bottom Line – This is a fun screwball comedy that works on numerous levels. Day and Widmark have great chemistry together and we really can feel the kind of love that they are meant to have with one another. In addition, the conversations and antics between Widmark and Young and between Day and Fraser that help make us believe how close they are as friends especially when they reveal to one another so may dark secrets about their marriages in confidence. The film does a really fun job of showing how crazy situations can get as the danger of getting caught is escalated as the story evolves.  Love the ambiguity of certain aspects of the story because it helps keep things even more suspenseful along the way. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Director Gene Kelly says that he accepted this assignment as a way of fulfilling the final obligation of his longterm contract with M-G-M, but studio executives stipulated he had to shoot it in black-and-white, using only one main set, with a production schedule of only three weeks, and with a strict budget of just $500,000. The studio was delighted when Kelly was able to honor all those provisos, but the film proved to be a box office disappointment. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)

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