Lucky Me (1954)

Truly Dreadful Film

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Doris Day had fourteen films under her belt when she made this one, including three dramatic roles, and was still a major star so why Warners couldn't scare up a better leading man for her than Robert Cummings is a mystery. Cummings had paid his dues in things like King's Row and Dial M For Murder and was an accomplished leading man but by no stretch of the imagination was he a musical comedy leading man. There was absolutely no chemistry between him and Day and as it happened Phil Silvers could have played the leading role twice as well as Cummings. It's one of those films that on paper can't miss; a great cast - Silvers, Eddie Foy, Nancy Walker, Marcel Dalio - eight tuneful songs by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster (who had served Day excellently on Calamity Jane the previous year) which were effective on screen but had no life in the jukes, so that the sum of its parts is all it really is.

This film has quite a few things going for it. Doris Day is her typical breezy self and a few decent production numbers are executed very well. The film is nicely filmed with great color, and lots of wonderful scenes from the Miami Beach of the 1950s.However, this film never quite makes it. Bob Cummings is always pleasant, but at age 44, he looks just a little old for this role (it's too bad that he went into television, because he was a fine actor in either comedies or dramas). It's nice to see Nancy Walker and Eddie Foy, Jr., both of whom are entertaining...and underutilized here. Although there are a number of nice songs, none are memorable. And worst of all, the plot is rather threadbare. For example, this isn't the first time Phil Silvers portrayed a down-in-the-luck head of show business troupe...he did it back in "If I'm Lucky" with Perry Como in 1946. And, comedy ensues as his cast is forced to work in a hotel to get out of hock. Okay, been there, done that, many times over. And why exactly is Doris Day playing hard to get? Martha Hyer and Bill Goodwin deserved better in their supporting roles.It's not a bad film, but it's not a memorable one. Good for Doris Day fans (she was never more beautiful), but overall, a disappointing musical.

Marks for colour, costumes and casting. Miss Day (who obviously has her instincts working if she didn't want to do this)is larger than life, as are the rest of the troupe, including the incredible Nancy Walker, whom I've seen in other musicals. I think she really came into her own as Rhoda's mother, but there's no doubt she is very talented as a singer/dancer too. I found that the leading man was colourless, and the songs lacklustre, if not boring. Phil Silvers threw some much needed levity into the whole thing which could have died quietly. I am just amazed that given the assets this film does have that they didn't do a better job - what were they thinking? And no, it's NOT in cinemascope after the initial scenes. What's going on there? Had I been the backer, I would have walked away.

LUCKY ME is part of a Doris Day collection so I'm glad it's included, but this not her best film. She does what she can with the lame material, as does the rest of the cast, but to no avail. Could have been a cute story, but somehow things go screwed up. Very messy screenplay or maybe too many cuts. Doris is sure bouncy and breezy as usual, and she "saves the day" so to speak. Now working in a Hotel as kitchen workers, where does she get those elegant cloths? Must be working the streets as a side job!! Same for the her three other friends, played by Eddie Foy, Jr, Nancy Walker and the nauseating Phil Silvers. It's a shame all of Doris Day's early films at Warner's are all studio bound. This one calls for location in Miami itself, as did ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS which should have had location work in Rio. Another help to APRIL IN Paris would have if they had actually gone to Paris.