Friday Movie Review - The Glass Bottom Boat

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)

Directed by: Frank Tashlin

Written by: Everett Freeman

"The Glass Bottom Boat" is our second spring-like movie starring Doris Day! Maybe Doris Day herself is just that springy? Anyway, this film makes you think of warm weather and beach time because it is set in California, and quite a bit of the outdoorsy scenes take place around Catalina Island. In fact, the story begins when Bruce Templeton (Rod Taylor) is out fishing off of Catalina Island, and reels in a mermaid tail, which is the costume bottom belonging to Jennifer Nelson (Doris Day.) Understandably Jennifer is upset at being stranded bottomless off the shores of Catalina, and also understandably Bruce is both amused and intrigued by his unique "catch." Things get even more interesting when Jennifer later discovers that Bruce is the boss at the research lab she currently works at as a tour guide.

Under the guise of hiring her to be his biographer, Bruce attempts to get to know Jennifer better. However, at the same time soviet spies are attempting to infiltrate and steal Bruce's important research, and through a series of mishaps and mischances, it soon appears to the military that Jennifer is herself the soviet spy!

This movie is a classic 1960s slapstick romantic screwball comedy . . . the sort of movie that Doris Day herself so excelled at. Doris Day is very likable for furries in this film because her character is the mommy to lots of furry babies! She even calls her doggie Vladimir several times a day on the phone to help him get his exercise while she's at work. Of course, her mysterious phone calls to a "Vladimir" at odd hours of the day also contribute to the suspicion that she is a soviet spy . . . obviously scientists and military personnel don't understand the importance of being a good mommy to furry babies, since none of them believe that she is really just calling her doggie. Rod Taylor is very handsome and charming as the leading man, and my mommy says he is good "eye candy." Paul Lynde, Dom DeLuise, and Dick Martin round out a winning comedy cast.

I give this film two paws up for being funny and original! It is even suitable for babybeans and kittens. For example: this movie was actually my Uncle Sean's favorite thing to watch when he was about three years old, especially the part where Jennifer is in Bruce's high-tech kitchen making a mess, and the cleaning robots come out and wind up attacking her by mistake. Uncle Sean used to giggle a lot over that scene! (I bet he'd be embarrassed if he found out I told you.)

Please don't forget to make any requests you might have for a movie review! Either leave your suggestion in my comments or email it to me at princetybalt AT gmail DOT com. Purrs!