Romance on the High Seas
Tags: flashback

Plot synopsis:
Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) and her husband Michael (Don DeFore) suspect each other of cheating. For their wedding anniversary, Elvira books an ocean cruise to Rio de Janeiro but her husband claims that unexpected business will prevent him from going. Seeing an opportunity, Elvira pretends to take the trip alone, but in fact sends singer Georgia Garrett (Doris Day), a woman she'd met at the travel agency, in her place and under her name. By secretly staying behind, Elvira hopes to find out if Michael is indeed sneaking around behind her back. Michael, however, is suspicious over Elvira's supposed willingness to go on the trip alone, and so hires private detective Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to see if she is sneaking around behind his back.
Peter joins the cruise and, as part of his job, becomes acquainted with Georgia. Georgia, following the instructions of the real Elvira, keeps up the ruse by pretending to be Elvira to everyone, including Peter. Georgia and Peter are attracted to each other and gradually fall in love, which causes conflict for both of them.
During one of the cruise stops, Georgia's friend, Oscar Farrar (Oscar Levant), comes on board. Oscar is in love with Georgia despite Georgia's lack of interest in him, and when Peter spots them together, he thinks he has discovered the identity of Elvira's lover.
The film's third act is set in a Rio hotel, where all the principal characters converge and ride a merry-go-round of mistaken identities. Sorting out their true identities, resolving the crossed love plots, concludes the picture.

Review: One of the delights of "Romance on the High Seas" is the remarkable debut of Doris Day.
Having replaced an indisposed Betty Hutton, Day stepped into this role with all the zest and zip that she brought to her total career.It's rather amazing to me how accomplished Day was in her initial screen effort: her comedic work, singing, and general enactment was like that of a seasoned professional.
Ably assisted by the multi-faceted Jack Carson, pretty other-woman Janis Paige, vulnerable foils Don DeFore and Oscar Levant, and top character actor S.
Fetching songs, a witty script, nice settings in Rio and Cuba, and a stylish specialty number by Avon Long keep things moving along right to the kaleidoscopic finale staged by Busby Berkeley.
"You sigh the song begins, You speak and I hear violins---It's Magic."Doris sure captured us all under her spell in her first role as Miss Georgia Garrett in Romance on the High Seas.
Mr. Kent (Don DeFore) meanwhile has hired a private detective, Peter Virgil (Jack Carson), to trail his wife on her cruise.
**A great cast-Doris Day, Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore, and of course SZ Sakall **Terrific songs-"Put 'Em in a Box", "It's Magic", "It's You Or No One", "I'm in Love", "The Tourist Trade", and "Run, Run, Run" **Great dialogue This movie has it all!
Breezy, pleasant and loads of fun...Doris Day is a pro in her film debut!.
It's hard to believe 'Romance on the High Seas' is Doris Day's first flick.
When Day and Jack Carson aren't coming up with one-liners, she takes time to sing some nifty tunes--among them, 'Put 'Em in A Box', 'It's You Or No One' and, of course, 'It's Magic'.
Fortune certainly smiled on the talented Doris Day when she landed her first movie role in this typical late-Forties musical comedy confection.
She looks great, sounds terrific and acts with confidence, supported by the best that Warner Brothers could muster (except for the annoying Oscar Levant, an all-time UNfavorite of mine).
And, as always, the Warners music department and sound technicians provide a wonderfully lush treat for the ears.Turner Classic Movies, bless 'em, occasionally hauls this one out of their vaults and it's fun to see it uninterrupted and causing one's TV screen to glow with that particularly cool, yet warm at the same time, three-strip Technicolor that Warners seemed to specialize in before Warnercolor's less vibrant tones decorated the studio's color output.
Sailing Down To Rio. This one's a hoot!This film's male cast is a very good one, and they receive most of the cargo of really funny lines: Don De Fore, Cuddles Sakall, Oscar Levant, and Canada's own Jack Carson.
Oscar's misanthropic lines are usually acerbic enough, and self-referential enough, to sound as though he wrote them himself.I was a little wary since this video is part of the Warner Brothers "Doris Day Collection".
"It's Magic" is the showstopper.The cruise ship makes several stops as it's travelling south: Cuba, Trinidad, Rio. A song in the Hollywood version of the local style generally erupts spontaneously.
Jack Carson sings a calypso number in an unsteady Trini accent, but it's not too bad considering he was attempting it 50 years ago, mahn.Try booking a passage with this ship of fools the next time you're in need of a vacation..
I was surprised how well it had worn and was delighted to hear Doris Day, 23 years old at the making of this film, using the slang of the day, such as "Natch...Natch but def."  Carson, Paige and DeFore were great as was the ever-insufferable curmudgeon, Oscar Levant alongside "Cuddles" Sakal, the perennial loveable Jewish uncle.
Watching Romance on the High Seas I could have sworn that the Brothers Warner hijacked one of the plots of an RKO Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film.
It's got that kind of silliness in the plot, the usual case of mistaken identities and false suspicions that characterized the Astaire- Rogers films.Don DeFore and Janis Paige are a couple each of who swears the other is cheating.
Romance on the High Seas has all the ingredients of one of their films except the dance numbers.It doesn't lack for a good musical score though.
Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn came up with a good one where Day sings several songs, including the Academy Award nominated, It's Magic.
She's so radiant and sings so well, I can't believe she was a third choice for this film behind Judy Garland and Betty Hutton.If you hear violins coming from some unknown source it will be the magic when you're watching Romance on the High Seas..
Romance on the High Seas is not only my favorite Doris Day movie, but it's also one of my favorite old movies!
I've yet to see a man look at a woman in real life the way Jack Carson looks at Doris Day in Romance on the High Seas.
Everyone works beautifully off each other, and the natural but tight timing of the jokes is remarkable.It's hard to believe that Romance on the High Seas was Doris Day's first movie; she'd made a name for herself with her singing and Hollywood gave her a break by introducing her in a leading role.
Everyone has their favorites-Gone with the Wind, The King and I, and Atonement come to mind-and Doris Day's metallic blue gown designed by Milo Anderson in Romance on the High Seas is one of my all-time favorite film dresses.
Being a fan of Doris Day, particularly in 'Calamity Jane', her outings with Gordon McRae and her comedies and who considers Michael Curtiz a talented director with 'Casablanca' and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' masterpieces, 'Romance on the High Seas' was met with high expectations.High expectations that were mostly met, even though all have done better.
"Run, Run, Run" leaves a bad taste in the mouth and "Cuban Rhapsody" feels really out of place.Doris Day however captivates in her first film role, that was initially intended for Betty Hutton.
The songs more than do her and her songs, especially "It's Magic", and they are beautifully staged.Jack Carson is a charming and witty leading man, while Janis Page steals every scene she's in.
Doris even manages to look enraptured opposite the slightly snarky Jack Carson, and sings "It's Magic" three times.
Doris, in her film debut, is assured and pleasant, and so is the movie, in a studio-manufactured kind of way..
So, Doris ended up singing with a band, and later, it was obvious that Kappelhoff was not the right name for a professional singer although later some sexy lady by the name of Lollibrigida would not fare so bad with an unpronounceable name, but anyway, she was asked what her favorite song was, so the story goes, and she said, "Day by Day" and that's how Doris Kapplehoff became Doris Day. Then later she would do some Hollywood Musical Shorts for the movies, but nothing happened until she was spotted for her singing talent because of her hit record "Sentimental Journey" with Les Brown and His Band of Renown, and then Warner Brothers made the call, and she said, "No!" She wanted nothing to do with Hollywood, but eventually with a little coaxing by Jack Carson telling her that they needed her and the picture was set to go, she finally said yes, but to only one picture, and that was to be that!
One of the finest Hollywood directors Hollywood would ever see, the very underrated Michael Curtiz guided her through the picture, and the greatest songs composed for a singers debut in the movies, and of course, the hit song, "It's Magic" became another hit for Doris Day on the record charts, although, I've always preferred "It's You Or No One For Me" to be the better of the two, and "Put It In a Box, Tie It With a Ribbon" coming second in my opinion!
Doris Day was a huge radio and recording star when she appeared in "Romance on the High Seas".
So they each come up with a plan...she pays Georgia (Doris Day) to pretend to be her and take a cruise while she stays home and secretly keeps an eye on him.
All in all, this is the sort of fun picture Warner Brothers could make best...and you can't help but enjoy it.By the way, while Defore and Paige receive higher billing, clearly Doris Day was the star or at least co-star of the film.
Day's feature film debut is in this Technicolor musical-comedy.
She plays a singer posing as a society girl on a South American Cruise, falling in love with the private detective (Carson) who was hired to follow her.
Story is certainly out of style now, but is enjoyable thanks to some funny moments with the cast and Day's singing, most memorably `It's Magic!'.
This film feels like a cornucopia--a real assemblage of small pleasures that add up to plenty of enjoyment.Filmed in Technicolor, "Romance on the High Seas", tells the simple story of a dysfunctional married couple--Janis Paige as Elvira and Don DeFore as Michael--who look for reasons to distrust one another.
Doris Day, in her film debut, plays a gum chewing club singer, the woman Elvira gets to take her place on the cruise.
All of the stars play their parts well, with Ms. Day practically jumping off the screen with enthusiasm and presence.Most of the songs by Styne and Cahn are enjoyable, if not remarkable.
Doris Day makes her screen-debut as a band singer who gets a free cruise to South America and Jack Carson is the private detective who tails her and naturally falls in love with her spunky charm.
The main part of the film is set aboard a cruise ship where Georgia (Doris Day) is pretending to be Mrs Kent (on Mrs Kent's instruction while the real Mrs Kent stays behind to spy on her husband) and detective Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) is hired to watch who he believes to be the real Mrs Kent by Mr Kent, who thinks that his wife is going on the cruise with someone else.
The 2 songs not sung by Doris Day are terrible, while the other songs span the musical spectrum from bad to sentimental codswallop.As for the cast, they are fine with the acting honours going to Janis Paige.
At times it is a Doris Day showcase, at others an anyone-can-joiner, with Jack Carson piping up for a calypso number, and then there is "Tourist Trade", sung by Avon Long and choreographed by Busby Berkely, which is a nice little addition but sits oddly with the rest of the production.This was the screen debut of Doris Day, in a role originally intended for Betty Hutton.
The standout performances come from the smaller roles, as we see Oscar Levant at his cynical best, or the brief but welcome appearance by 30s regular Eric Blore.The director is Michael Curtiz, not a man one would associate with musicals or comedies, and yet he got assigned a fair few of them around this point in his career.
He doesn't give enough time or pacing to the comedy scenes, and this is especially apparent at the finale in Rio where the characters all begin bumping into each other.In short Romance on the High Seas is bit of a mess, at least structurally.
Can we put Doris Day's films in a box and throw THEM in the deep blue sea?.
I guess I'll never understand Doris Day's popularity.Anyway, "Romance On The High Seas" has a tired mistaken-identity plot, with none of the charm you'll find in other movies that use this plot device (Astaire/Rogers films, for instance).
Ho hum.Oddly, Jack Carson actually plays the Desirable Romantic Lead in this film, which leaves Oscar Levant to play the wisecrackin' shmuck who doesn't get the girl.
Too bad Janis Paige didn't sing any of them, just to mix things up & give us a break from Doris (whose songs were sometimes only a few minutes apart!) Paige *could* sing, contrary to the claims made by her hubby in the film.
That movie was much better written than this one, (and Niven far more charming than Carson), but you still have to watch Doris bird-walk across the screen.
The movie is enjoyable for Day's entertaining debut, and some well-selected songs.
****** Romance on the High Seas (1948) Michael Curtiz ~ Doris Day, Jack Carson, Janis Paige.
The leads are all quite good, and Doris Day is a smash hit in her first ever movie and starring role.
Michael Curtiz directs a very good story for film, and Busby Berkeley directs a couple of nice dance numbers.
Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) and Oscar Farrar (Oscar Levant) have both been stood up by their girlfriends (the same person, Doris Day, playing Georgia Garrett and impersonating Elvira Kent).
Table seven."Elvira Kent (Janis Paige): "Won't you sit down?" Georgia: "Don't be surprised if I do." Elvira: "That's cute." Elvira, later: "Just remember that while its your lips that are being kissed, it's my reputation that will be suffering." Georgia: "Yeah, I'll make a note of that." Elvira: "Good!"Peter Virgil (Jack Carson): "Look, don't worry.
In Doris Day's film debut, she sings "It's Magic".
Co-produced and directed by Michael Curtiz, with a screenplay by Julius & Philip Epstein and additional dialogue from I.A.L. Diamond, this slightly above average musical comedy was Doris Day's first film.
A busy executive (Don DeFore) is worried about his wife (Janis Paige) straying on a cruise she's taking by herself such that he hires a private detective (Jack Carson) to keep tabs on her.
What he doesn't know is that his wife has hired a singer (Ms. Day) to pretend to be her on the cruise such that she can stay home to see if her husband is cheating on her with his secretary (Leslie Brooks).A recognizable supporting cast that includes Oscar Levant, S.
Z. Sakall, Eric Blore, Fortunio Bonanova, Franklin Pangborn, and even Grady Sutton (uncredited) makes this one fun to watch.Married three years and having yet to take a trip since their honeymoon, Mrs. Elvira Kent (Paige) is determined that the third time will be a charm.
Dated debut of Doris Day for the first time with Cuddles.
The name stars are Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don deFore, Oscar Levant and Cuddles Szakall who acts for the first time with debut star Doris Day. There seems something stilted about the place as Doris shines yet seems unpolished.
There are just too many mix ups of Doris not really acting a great scene with Cuddles as she usually does as well as not liking Oscar Levant though people think she is running off with him.
It's certainly one of Doris Day's best, and it's remarkable to realize this was her very first feature film.
Her chemistry with Jack Carson is off the charts, and I think the chemistry between the co-leads, Janis Paige and Don DeFore is just as good.
Throw in some of Hollywood's finest and funniest character actors like S.Z. Sakall, Eric Blore and Franklin Pangborn, plus Oscar Levant, and you have one of the best motion pictures of 1948.
When Day assumes the identify of Paige's character and then falls in love with a detective played by Carson, who's been hired by DeFore, it leads to an on-going game of "who's on first" that only builds with rib-tickling intensity.
When you've got a song like "Put Em' in a Box, Tie it With a Ribbon, and Throw Him in the Deep Blue Sea" and have it sung by Doris Day, you know you've got a star in the making.
The story is a silly one; Society queen Janis Paige is so sure that her husband is cheating on her, she hires Doris to take her place on a cruise, not realizing that her own husband has hired a private investigator (Jack Carson) to follow her, believing she too is foolin' around.
Everybody ends up on the ship together later on to create more confusion, and Day worms her way into everybody's hearts not only with her plucky personality but by singing those two songs as well as the energetic "I'm in Love, I'm in Love..." Not only does Carson fall for her, so does Paige's cuddly uncle (S.Z. Sakall, in one of three movies he appeared with Doris in).
Despite getting third (or fourth, depending on which source you look into) billing, ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS is Doris Day's show from the moment we get the first image of her -- or her back, as she stands pensively in front of the travel agency she is about to enter.
Paige's husband, also suspicious of his wife, sends a detective (Jack Carson) to do surveillance on her, unsuspecting that Day is impersonating Paige (rather badly, but what would he know?
We do, and it's a great, breezy delight to see Day and Carson, who from here on remain on screen, play against each other, neither aware of the other's identity.
It's no better and certainly no worse than any of them and Warners didn't stint on casting, throwing in a string of 'reliables' like Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, late of RKO and Paramount respectively and from their own roster Jack Carson, Oscar Levant and S.Z.
Day Is Magic In Film Debut.
In Romance On The High Seas, her film debut, Day plays a struggling singer who daydreams about world travel by milling around a travel agency weekly.
Paige makes a proposition with Day to impersonate her on a cruise, so Paige can spy on her husband played by Don Defore, who will think Paige is a long ways away.
Meanwhile, Defore hires a private detective, Jack Carson, to tail his wife impersonated by Day on the cruise.
Before the fadeout, Day has time to sing a few songs most notably of which is the Oscar-nominated "It's Magic".