Lucky Me (1954)

As Good As It Gets

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

After you watch Lucky Me, you'll realize that Doris Day didn't only make silly movies in the 1960s. Luckily for us-pun intended-the silly movies of the 1950s aren't that bad. This one has one cute song in it, "The Blue Bells of Broadway". The other ones are pretty mediocre, and you'll join good company-yours truly-if you get this one confused with Starlift and The West Point Story, two other Doris Day movies with similar play-within-a-play plots.The story is pretty similar to the delightful comedy Happy Go Lovely, starring Vera-Ellen and David Niven. A wannabe actress in a struggling, small-time theater group meets a rich playboy and doesn't know who he is. As the pair falls in love, her theater friends try to milk him for all he's worth. Happy Go Lovely is a much more endearing movie, but if you liked it, you'll probably be drawn to watching a similar flick.Co-starring Phil Silvers, Robert Cummings, Eddie Foy, Jr., Nancy Walker, and Martha Hyer, you'll have plenty of entertaining moments to carry you through. However, I doubt Lucky Me will reach the top of anyone's favorite movie list.

During the hey day of her career at Warner Brothers (1948-1957), Doris Day had some odd moments on film, whether it be "The Chantacleer" in "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" or her duet of "I Can Do Without You" with Howard Keel in "Calamity Jane". But she really took the cake here, and added a fruity topping to it with "The Superstition Song" which opens this fiasco which she admits was a mistake. Playing a perky vaudeville star (who poses in front of her own cut-out for passers by), she performs to a practically empty audience with a horrible number (without a doubt the one that killed vaudeville) with Phil Silvers, documenting "Horrible Men" throughout history. Along comes a ridiculous plot of the troop (which also includes an underused Nancy Walker and future "Pajama Game" co-star Eddie Foy Jr.) being stranded in Miami and her romantic issues with Robert Cummings, a songwriter who keeps that from her. This stereotypical plot line also includes Martha Hyer as Cummings' current girlfriend, the typical bitch who stands in the way. The songs (with the exception of "I Speak to the Stars") are really second rate and even in Cinemascope, the production seems rushed to become the very first musical in wide screen. The performers all do their best, and it's nice to see Silvers and Walker together long before they became a team on stage in "Do Re Mi" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". But this is way beyond their talents, and if a song called "High Hopes" can't give this film hope (it's far from the later Oscar winning song of the same name), nothing can. Considering the entertainment level of most of Doris's films of this time, this one falls in the category of the really bad comedies she was forced to do by contract towards the end of her film career.

I knew very little about this movie and only recently saw it for the first time (thankstcm) and thoroughly enjoyed most of it. Whether chirping, going for laffs, or getting into heavy drama, Dodo Day is always a joy to watch.She sure was in this film, portraying a put-upon cutie pie. Her songs, all the Fain-Webster songs in this flick was first rate, but none of them even came close to becoming a hit. The ballads were pretty, and the upbeat tunes were fun.Adding to the delight of this movie was Bob Cummings, underrated as a comic actor. He did some serious stuff for Hitchcock who, reportedly, was not too fond of him).Nancy Walker and Eddie Foy Jr. (one of the 7 littles) were great fun but, for me, the most fun was every time Phil Silvers was on screen. On television his 'Bilko' was funnier than most of today's junk. Every breath, expression and utterance are classic comedy. Incidentally, the second funniest TV show of that blessed decade was "Car 54, Where Are You?" Where will you be when this delightful movie shows up again? In front of your teevee - lucky you.

"Lucky Me" gives you everything you want in a musical and more. All the songs are catchy; the banter is quick and witty; there are some big dance productions; and of course, the one and only Doris Day.Most films from Doris Day leave me wishing there were more musical numbers, but "Lucky Me" has just the right amount. The plot is thin and the romance does not start until about halfway through, but who cares? This film is a whole lot of fun.If you are a Doris Day fan, this is a must. If not, then this is a good a place as any to find out about one of the greatest entertainers of all time. She can sing. She can dance. She can be really funny.If you like upbeat, colorful musicals, then check out "Lucky Me."