Romance on the High Seas (1948)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

I.A.L. Diamond (additional dialogue)
Julius J. Epstein (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 July 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Romance and Laughter...under a Rio moon!

Plot:

Socialite Elvira Kent suspects her husband of fooling around with other women. When he announces he can't join her on their scheduled ocean voyage...

Plot Keywords:

Cruise | Private Detective | Misunderstood Motives | Mistaken Identity | Pantomime

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Jack Carson	...	Peter Virgil, Private Detective
Janis Paige	...	Mrs. Elvira Kent
Don DeFore	...	Mr. Michael Kent
Doris Day	...	Miss Georgia Garrett
Oscar Levant	...	Oscar Farrar
S.Z. Sakall	...	Uncle Lazlo Lazlo
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Plinio
Eric Blore	...	Ship's doctor
Franklin Pangborn	...	Rio hotel clerk
Leslie Brooks	...	Miss Medwick
William Bakewell	...	Dudley (travel agent)
John Berkes	...	The Drunk (as Johnny Berkes)
Avon Long	...	Specialty player
Page Cavanaugh	...	Himself
Sir Lancelot	...	Specialty player

Also Known As:

It's Magic (UK)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #12521) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Company:

Michael Curtiz Productions

Trivia:

In her autobiography, Doris Day recalled that in her screen-test song, "A Rainy Night in Rio" (music, by Arthur Schwartz, lyrics by Leo Robin), director Michael Curtiz at first instructed her to move around in the frenzied film style of Betty Hutton. Doris then requested to perform the number in her natural, more sedate manner.

Quotes:

Georgia Garrett: Its you or no one for me. Baby you're the one for me.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Romance musical (1947)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Chorus

It's (manufactured) magic

It's the sort of script that Hollywood would have called a "merry marital mixup" back when, but with a little more stuff on the curveball than usual: A suspects B and B suspects A of infidelity, so A hires C to impersonate A on a cruise, while B hires private detective D to trail A, but D thinks C is A... There are some good lines, and director Curtiz, as was his wont, keeps things moving. Janis Paige is a hoot in a series of increasingly bizarre hats, and the unusual dullness of the Warners leading men (I mean, Don DeFore?) doesn't hurt that much. Doris even manages to look enraptured opposite the slightly snarky Jack Carson, and sings "It's Magic" three times. Even Carson sings, and not badly, though it's a somewhat xenophobic mock-Trinidad specialty number that's embarrassing by today's standards. Doris, in her film debut, is assured and pleasant, and so is the movie, in a studio-manufactured kind of way.