Move Over, Darling

1963 "She's Married to Him... He's Married to Her... and It's Sheer Bedlam from Morning 'till Night!"
6.9| 1h43m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 19 December 1963 Released
Producted By: Arcola Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Three years into their loving marriage, with two infant daughters at home in Los Angeles, Nicholas Arden and Ellen Wagstaff Arden are on a plane that goes down in the South Pacific. Although most passengers manage to survive the incident, Ellen presumably perishes when swept off her lifeboat, her body never recovered. Fast forward five years. Nicholas, wanting to move on with his life, has Ellen declared legally dead. Part of that moving on includes getting remarried, this time to a young woman named Bianca Steele, who, for their honeymoon, he plans to take to the same Monterrey resort where he and Ellen spent their honeymoon. On that very same day, Ellen is dropped off in Los Angeles by the Navy, who rescued her from the South Pacific island where she was stranded for the past five years. She asks the Navy not to publicize her rescue nor notify Nicholas as she wants to do so herself.

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Reviews

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined
SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
HotToastyRag Famous for being the reboot of Something's Got to Give, the last movie Marilyn Monroe was working on at the time of her death, Move Over, Darling was turned into a fluffy, silly Doris Day movie. She's married to James Garner, but so is Polly Bergan. Needless to say, neither wife is happy about the situation, and the entire film is spent trying to sort things out.Is James Garner a bigamist? Are you going to not like him in this movie? Thankfully, he's still his likable self, and there's a perfectly logical explanation: Doris Day was lost at sea for five years, and James Garner thought she was dead so he moved on and remarried. There's a very silly scene-although that doesn't really narrow it down-in which James Garner imagines Doris on a tropical island for the past five years, passing the time with a half-naked Chuck Connors. Jealousy runs rampant in this romantic comedy, but if you like fluffy flicks or watching a young James Garner in his swim trunks, you can sit through this one. It's not nearly the worst movie Doris Day made in the 60s, so you'll most likely roll your eyes instead of groan when the end credits roll.
mark.waltz Doris Day herself even reflects on the original version of this ("My Favorite Wife") where, with a Swedish accent, she asks the new wife of her husband (James Garner) what would happen if the first wife (herself!) came back from the dead, "just like Irene Dunne done....ah, did..." The zaniness of this very 60's remake is obvious from the get-go, taking a good deal of the structure of the original, yet giving it a modern feel thanks to the presence of some of the biggest stars of its time and casting many great actors in smaller parts.Take the opening courtroom sequence for instance with "Petticoat Junction's" Edgar Buchannan as the irascible judge who declares Ms. Day legally dead and then marries his "widower" to the neurotic Polly Bergen. As coincidence would have it, Doris has just returned from being shipwrecked on a desert island, shocking her mother-in-law (Thelma Ritter) who faints long enough to reveal her secret thrill that the new marriage isn't valid, sending Doris on her way to where the unlucky newlyweds are honeymooning. This creates a lot of confusion for the hotel staff once Garner is forced to get his back from the dead wife a room of her own so he can intelligently think of how he's going to get himself out of this jam.Garner is a perfect replacement for Cary Grant, equally as dashing, and very much the picture-perfect husband. While Day is more famous for her pairings with Rock Hudson, I think she had equally hot chemistry with Garner, although they only did one other film together ("The Thrill of It All", the same year as this), and only did a total of three with "the Rock". I would also rank this higher than many of her other sex comedies of the late 50's and 60's for being consistently funny and definitely much better written, not rushed together just to get another film out to take advantage of her status as top female box office star, even higher than Liz, Audrey, Sophia, Marilyn (originally assigned to do this film) and Debbie.Such comical gems as Fred Clark, Don Knotts, John Astin and Max Showalter have nice parts here, and Chuck Connors is (at least from the face down) nice to look at as the body builder Doris was stuck on an island with. There's plenty of slapstick to keep this moving at a steady pace, and a hysterical chase sequence that has Doris covered in car wash soap suds. Even if her character is a bit abrasive, Bergen adds a patheticness to her that you feel sorry for her even though it is obvious that she is fighting a losing battle. Ritter gets in a few of her typical deadpan laughs, and the children (played by Pami Lee and Leslie Farrell) are adorable. While remakes of classic screwball comedies are often a mixed bag, this one scores highly, even though the plot had been done over and over again. 1940's "Too Many Husbands" a sexually reversed version was not nearly as good as the remake, and only made more palatable with campy musical numbers as 1955's "Three For the Show".
TheLittleSongbird As a big fan of Doris Day, I loved Move Over Darling. My Favourite Wife is often compared to this film, but I personally prefer this film. Move Over Darling is funny, charming and without a wasted scene. The film looks fabulous, with beautiful cinematography and fresh-looking scenery, while the soundtrack is bright and breezy. Then there is an engaging story, a witty and charming script and professional direction.Not only that there is some fine acting in this film. I have always loved Doris Day, not only as a talented singer but as a fresh and endearing actress, and she is lovely in Move Over Darling, and James Garner as always is immensely likable. While Polly Bergen and Chuck Connors give perfect support as the other woman and the hunk marooned with Day, it is the delightful Thelma Ritter who steals the show as Day's outspoken mother-in-law.Overall, one of my favourite Doris Day films, and a film that is warm, witty and charming. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Isaac5855 The final film project of Marilyn Monroe, SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE, was shelved after months of dealing with the temperamental and troublesome Monroe, 20th Century Fox fired Marilyn, the film was shelved, and Marilyn was dead a few months later. The project was later revived and revamped as a vehicle for Doris Day and the result was MOVE OVER DARLING, a predictable but watchable comedy in which Doris plays Ellen Arden, a woman who has been stranded on a deserted island for five years and is finally rescued, only to return home and find that her husband has had her declared legally dead and is preparing to marry someone else. This story is as old as the hills, dating back to the old Irene Dunne comedy MY FAVORITE WIFE, but Day is always watchable and works extremely well with James Garner, who is sexy and charismatic as Ellen's husband, Nicholas. Polly Bergen is very funny as Nicholas' new fiancée, the self-absorbed Bianca and the always reliable Thelma Ritter steals every scene she is in as Nicholas'mother. The film is tamer than the original Monroe vehicle, but the material has been perfectly revamped for Doris Day and she works hard at making the film worth watching.