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Romance on the High Seas |  | Director: Michael Curtiz
Actors: Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Doris Day, Don DeFore, Oscar Levant
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $5.49
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Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 36880
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, NTSC, Full Screen
Languages: English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 012569796706
UPC: 012569796706
EAN: 0012569796706
ASIN: B000MGBLFA
Theatrical Release Date: July 3, 1948
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 04/10/2007 Run time: 99 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
For a crystal-clear lesson in how an unknown vaults into immediate stardom, look no further than Romance on the High Seas, the silly 1948 musical that launched the movie career of Doris Day. A band singer, Day was plucked from the ranks when Warner Bros. and director Michael Curtiz needed to find a replacement for a role intended first for Judy Garland and then for Betty Hutton. She's fourth-billed, but there's no question Doris Day owns the picture; in retrospect, the part seems tailor-made to break a new star. The plot is a howler: society wife Janis Paige is suspicious when husband Don DeFore (hubby to TV's Hazel) claims he must stay in New York on business instead of going on a cruise to South America. So Paige gives the cruise ticket to lounge singer Doris, on the condition that she pretend to be Paige, while wifey hangs back in New York. Make sense? Meanwhile, a suspicious DeFore hires a detective (Jack Carson) to spy on his wife during the cruise, except of course it isn't really his wife, it's... well, you get the picture. Day is somewhat sassier than her later well-scrubbed image would allow; she actually seems like an up-from-the-streets, well-traveled barnstormer. The saucy script has a handsome pedigree; it was penned by Casablanca boys Julius and Philip Epstein and polished by future Billy Wilder partner I.A.L. Diamond. However, it must be stated that Curtiz is nobody's idea of a buoyant comedy director, even if the lounge-singing sequences are sharply made. The cast is stocked with screwball stalwarts such as S.Z. Sakall, Eric Blore, and Franklin Pangborn. As Day's accompanist and suitor, the celebrated musican-wit Oscar Levant has one of his better screen roles--and his experience here was likely the source of his later quip, "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin." If you see her cheeky performance here, you might agree with him. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
 Mad About Doris August 11, 2010
Troubadour
I am a mega fan of Doris Day. So, I loved watching -for the first time- 'Romance on the High Seas... It's refreshing, light hearted and very watchable.
Simple story, delightful characters and a young Doris.
 Fun movie June 14, 2010
Julie Momyer (USA)
A big fan of old movies, comedies and romantic comedies in particular, it was fun to "discover" this Doris Day movie. After buying it, I vaguely remembered seeing it once a number of years ago. If you like Doris Day it is worth adding to your DVD collection.
 Great service April 29, 2010
Sancho (Flagler Beach, FL)
Excellent service. I received this item in a very timely manner, quicker than I expected. It was in new condition.
Flyweight, Technicolor Glossy, & Charming: The Movie That Launched Doris Day Film Career August 12, 2008
Gary F. Taylor (Biloxi, MS USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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
Fun and romantic July 2, 2008
Lena Stenstrom (PARTILLE, GOTHENBURGH Sweden)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a film in true Doris Day spirit. A lot of misunderstandings, good humor, romance and a happy ending. Just like we want it for a day of escape from the ordinary life.
The story is about a couple that are suspecting each other for playing around. He hires a detective to spy on his wife, she hires a nightclub singer to go on the cruise that she and her husband should have gone on so that she can stay in a hotel nearby to spy on her husband. This is the beginning for a lot of misunderstandings and a lot of laughters.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
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