The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writer:

Everett Freeman (written by)

Release Date:

9 June 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Musical

Tagline:

Is this the girl next door?

Plot:

Jennifer Nelson and Bruce Templeton meet when Bruce reels in her mermaid suit leaving Jennifer bottomless in the waters of Catalina Island...

Plot Keywords:

Mermaid | Boat | Robot | Spy

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Doris Day	...	Jennifer Nelson
Rod Taylor	...	Bruce Templeton
Arthur Godfrey	...	Axel Nordstrom
John McGiver	...	Ralph Goodwin
Paul Lynde	...	Homer Cripps
Edward Andrews	...	Gen. Wallace Bleecker
Eric Fleming	...	Edgar Hill
Dom DeLuise	...	Julius Pritter
Elisabeth Fraser	...	Nina Bailey
Dick Martin	...	Zack Molloy
George Tobias	...	Norman Fenimore
Alice Pearce	...	Mabel Fenimore
Ellen Corby	...	Anna Miller
Dee J. Thompson	...	Donna

Also Known As:

The Spy in Lace Panties

Runtime:

Germany:110 min | USA:110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Company:

Euterpe

Trivia:

Not only does Robert "Napoleon Solo" Vaughn cameo at the party, but there is a snatch of the "Man from U.N.C.L.E." theme heard on the soundtrack when Paul Lynde goes undercover in drag.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jenny gets her heel stuck in the grate outside the clean room, in the first shot, her left foot is stuck. In the next shot, it's her right foot. When she gets off the grate and leaves her shoe, it's changed position.

Quotes:

Jennifer Nelson: That sign over there, that says "No Fishing".
Bruce Templeton: I wasn't exactly fishing.
Jennifer Nelson: Then what were you doing?
Bruce Templeton: Maybe I was hunting for mermaids.

Movie Connections:

References "The Late Late Show" (1962)

Soundtrack:

SOFT AS THE STARLIGHT

Will spying spoil Mermaid Hunter?

This film has its moments of great screwball comedy, and Tashlin seems to keep alive the finesse and sophistication of a Hawks, McCarey or LaCava. The story built around the attraction between two opposite individuals never reach the sublime heights of `Bringing up Baby' –needles to say, Taylor and Day aren't Grant and Hepburn-, and it seems that this film greatest problem is not to dare going too far in its craze, as other Tashlin's films like `Rock Hunter' or `Artists and Models' did. Probably the cause is the plot dealing with the cold war, a subject pretty much on the focus at the time. Now and them you feel that the director is doing a sort of journalism through a territory that doesn't suit him as good as Hollywood and its superficiality, for example. But Tashlin always manages to insert his comments about the decadence of American life, a circumstance that not even the fanciest of technology can hide. In his anarchic fashion, Tashlin's films counterpart Douglas Sirk's melodramas. Both are about the same, but the path chosen to express its vision are opposite.

This film has a wonderful use of color, an admirable pacing and a freshness rarely seen in the studio comedies of the time (the singing scene in the boat looks totally improvised). But if Tashlin's background as a cartoonist often contributes to his creative ability to take situations beyond the edge, and to destroy a stiff established order, very seldom this very quality can work against him. And this is what happens with all the bad guys in this film. They are a mere caricature, and one can never feel them as a serious threat. The theme demanded something more serious, and these clumsy amateurs certainly fail.

Anyway, watch the film and sing the title's tune; it'll remain with you for ages.