It Happened to Jane (1959)

Good concept, poorly executed.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I have always liked this movie, as a nice relaxing movie when you are depressed.The cast is uniformly well suited to their roles, especially Kovacs as the nasty tyrannical railroad tycoon, he couldn't be improved upon.The wonderful old steam locomotives is one of the stars, and provides some of the best scenes. It has its serious side as an example of someone standing up for principle regardless of the odds, something all too rare today. Some people consider using the train to be far-fetched, and maybe it is. But sadly by far the most far-fetched thing in today's society is everyone being shamed by Georges wonderful and elequent speech and rallying to the support of their neighbor.In todays society that is less likely than the train lifting off the tracks and flying. but the beauty of the countryside and the village are lasting and endearing. and as an escape to the America that once was, even if idealized it provides some escapist comfort

Jane (Doris Day) is a widow with two young children, living in Maine. She is a lobster trapper and her kids help her with the business. But one unlucky day, her shipment of lobsters, headed toward restaurants and businesses down the east coast, are not picked up by the scheduled train. Consequently, the lobsters die. Jane fumes, not only because this shipments' loss hurts, but her disappointed customers cancel future shipments, too. Turning to her lawyer friend, George (Jack Lemmon) for help, the two decide to petition the railroad for her losses. However, the head of the train company, Harry (Ernie Kovacs) is one tough nut and he offers her a paltry $750, take it or leave it. Nothing doing! Now, Jane sues. Harry, naturally, fights back, rerouting his train, among other things, to the dismay of the locals. Will Jane and George win the battle? And, since Jane has met a handsome, Manhattan journalist in the course of the resulting publicity, will George finally "wake up" and realize he loves Jane, too? I hate what I am about to write but it is so...this film is far from Day's best work and is NOT the lighthearted movie depicted on the cover. It is much more serious and has very few comedic situations. Also, it is quite contrived, from Day's leading her son's boy scout troop in a rousing (?) song of goody-two-shoes merits to the "we-are-the-last-to-know-we're-in-love" coupling of Jane and George. Lemon, to his credit, gets more out of his role but is still not given much of a chance to show off his comedic talents. On the plus side, the scenery is beautiful and the David/Goliath storyline has some good aspects. Therefore, perhaps, you the viewer should judge for yourself and give the flick a chance. As for me, I was totally let-down, for I thought there was no way that a Day-Lemon pairing could falter. I was wrong.

This has to be the most underrated and overlooked of the comedies from Doris Day's later career. I'm surprised at the relatively low score it has received here on IMDb, as it's a really fun and entertaining movie (particularly following the unfortunate Tunnel of Love she appeared in the prior year).Rather than the lush, opulent interiors and wardrobe we usually look forward to in a Day comedy, this one is stunning for its exteriors. Filmed in New England in the summer of 1958, the film exudes idyllic small town splendor. Day plays Jane Osgood, a widowed entrepreneur (all "independent" women in 1950's TV or movies are either widows, as in Lucille Ball's later television work, or impossible-to-marry shrews like Joan Crawford in The Best of Everything). Osgood operates a budding lobster business, and when an expensive shipment is ruined by the laxity of the railroad, she takes on railroad magnet Harry Foster Malone in a highly publicized David & Goliath lawsuit. Ernie Kovacs is particularly memorable in his portrayal of Harry Foster Malone, an obvious and amusing allusion to Orson Welles' Charles Foster Kane, which was of course an allusion to William Randolph Hurst. In her legal battle, Osgood enlists the aid of local attorney and old friend George Denham, the man she's "supposed" to be with and just doesn't realize it, played well by a young Jack Lemmon. Throughout the course of the story, the film seems to at regular intervals inject some rather insightful observations on a multitude of thought-provoking topics, including the place and nature of democracy in a capitalist society, the overwhelming power wielded by big business, even the (at the time) ever expanding place of television in our lives and its ability to influence and inform. And all of this in a comedy! The only negative I can think of is the inclusion of perhaps the worst musical number ever put on film. Jane Osgood is the den mother of the local boy-scout troop (naturally) and at the camp out in her back yard she leads them in a sing-a-long of the single most stupid, dreadful and endless song you ever heard in your life. "Be Prepared"…well they warned you! It starts out as amusingly bad, but then seems to last about fifteen or twenty minutes until you think you'd rather take your own life than hear one more note. Any self-respecting boy scout over the age of five would kick you right in the nuts if you asked him to sing this wretched torturous piece of nonsense.This aside (it is unfortunately not that uncommon in films of this era), this film benefits well from a strong, well written script and an excellent cast. It is actually much more intelligent and heart-warming than any of the Doris Day-Rock Hudson pairings, and while it is a very different kind of film, it can hold its own against any of those. Highly recommended, but be prepared to hit the "mute" button when those boy-scouts start singing!

Disappointing Doris Day-Jack Lemmon 1958 vehicle.The plot is funny where a widow with 2 children fights a railroad magnate, played to the hilt by Ernie Kovacs. It becomes a back and forth battle.As the lawyer for Day, Lemmon never really breaks through in this part. The comedic gifts of Mary Wickes are wasted in a role as a switchboard operator turned newspaper reporter.Steve Forrest plays a N.Y. reporter who picks up on the feud as well as having romantic designs on Day.The laughs are purely predictable. Nice scenery depicted along with a patriotic Maine having their city council meetings with full participation by the citizenry.Day and Lemmon deserved better.