Three classic and adorable comedies now on Blu-Ray
Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's
Kino Lorber just released three classic comedies on Blu-ray starring some of Hollywood’s greatest actors. Teacher’s Pet (1958), Houseboat (1958), and That Funny Feeling (1965) are good for laughs, some fun moments, and pretty wholesome stories. Even though none of them is rated, they are approved for the whole family.
Teacher’s Pet stars Doris Day and Clark Gable, yes, the Clark Gable of Rhett Butler/Gone with the Wind fame. This is a cute comedy that shows Gable’s fun side as well as Day’s dramedy side, as she went on to star with Rock Hudson in several classic and memorable rom-coms of the day.
Day is Erica Stone who’s father had been a Pulitzer Prize winning editor of a small town newspaper. She holds him in high regard and teaches journalism at night school to help and guide prospective journalists in the vane of her late father. When it comes to her dad, she is blinded. She feels he was one of the very greatest journalists in the country and could do no wrong when it came to writing and editing.
Now enter James Gannon (Gable), a hard-nosed editor of a big-time newspaper. When Erica invites him to lecture at her class, he replies with a stern letter. To ease the tension his boss insists he smooths things over with her so he appears in her class.
With mistaken identity, she thinks he is a new student and before long he is enrolled in her class. And yes, he is the star student.
Erica thinks he has a great future ahead of him in journalism, completely unaware that he already has a notable career in the field. Their relationship grows and soon, as he is wooing her, he discovers who her father was.
Unfortunately, he points out the fact that her father’s paper, the one she holds up as one of the best in the country, was not as good as she thinks. With that, Erica decides to take a good look at the newspapers her father put out during his illustrious career. Lo and behold she realizes that James is right.
With the complication of his pretending to be a student and then his derogatory remarks about her father’s paper, their relationship comes to a halt. But wait, neither of them is too big to acknowledge their errors and yes, they do get together in the end. It’s really not a spoiler because everyone knows that will be the ending.
Houseboat
Houseboat stars Cary Grant as Tom Winters, a widower with three young children. When his sister-in-law decides to take the kids he finally turns into the dad he has never been. He insists they remain with him and ends up moving them all onto a rickety houseboat.
The kids are a handful, with David (Paul Petersen) being a trouble-maker, Robert (Charles Herbert) being a lonely bereaved little boy, and Elizabeth (Mimi Gibson) taking on the mother role to her brothers, as well as trying to help her dad learn how to take care of kids.
When Robert takes off and meets Cinzia (Sophia Loren), he brings her back to their houseboat. The kids insist she stays on as their caretaker and maid. Well, Cinzia is happy to do so but she is no maid. Her father is a professional orchestra leader in town for a concert and Cinzia sees this as an opportunity to get away from the life of fancy parties and people fawning over her dad.
Things get pretty whacky on that little houseboat. Soon Tom finds himself leaning on his sister-in-law Carolyn (Martha Hyer) however their future is not to be. As in any good rom-com, the two main characters fall in love and this is no different.
Thanks to Cinzia’s interference though, Tom has become a great dad. The family is once again a happy one with the addition of Cinzia who brings some lighthearted spirit to the entire group.
There is a touching scene on the back of the boat where David is depressed about the loss of his mother and his life being disrupted. Tom tells him that nothing is ever gone, and as they discuss how pouring water into the river isn’t the end of the water, it joins the river then evaporates and becomes rain and returns to the earth. It’s a sentimental scene and on a personal note, when I was having coffee with Paul Petersen several years ago, he informed me that Cary Grant told him this was his (Paul’s) scene and to make it his own. He was very impressed with Grant’s professionalism and helpfulness to all the children in the cast.
Although it is said that Bobby Darin was not overly enthusiastic about the rom-coms he made with his wife Sandra Dee, That Funny Feeling is one that really brings a lot of fun and entertainment to viewers. The show co-stars Donald O’Connor, Nita Talbot, Larry Storch, and Leo G. Carroll.
Joan (Dee) lives with Audrey (Talbot) in a teeny tiny apartment. They are maids for hire and one of Joan’s apartments she cleans belongs to Tom (Darin). He’s a partying fool and her work is always more intense after one of his big parties.
She is happy when he informs her via a note that he will be away for a couple weeks. That means she has one less apartment to clean, and this one is a doozy.
Joan bumps into Tom literally on the street and they start a friendship. When he asks to see her apartment, she can’t very well take him to her cramped little hovel so she takes him to Tom’s place knowing he is out of town. Because she always cleans when he is at work, they have never met. So when he goes to her place which is really his place, he is confused.
To spruce up the place and make it less “manly,” Joan and her friends get some girly items to place in the apartment. By hocking Tom’s expensive suits they get the money to rent some cute chintzy items. And why stop there? They decide to move into this big place while Tom is away. After all, no one is using it so what’s the harm?
To say things get crazy is an understatement. But it’s a very cute story with some adorable situations and some funny lines.
So with the Blu-ray releases of these three entertaining movies, there are some fun hours in store for viewers. All three will be available January 28, 2025 and are available to preorder. Enjoy! (I do!)
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.