User reviews

Despite a cute--if not exactly fresh--opening, "Do Not Disturb" immediately starts to disintegrate. Why? I think it's all in the script, which is second-rate. The movie pairs Doris Day with handsome, adept Rod Taylor, but gives them no scenes together as man and wife that make you care about their union (they're usually fighting with each other over the telephone). This is important to note because when Doris starts (innocently) dallying with a Frenchman, there's nothing at stake for her--or for her marriage. Some of Day's double-takes are funny, and the madcap finish is delightfully screwball, but there's a huge chunk of movie in between these scenes that goes absolutely flat. The plot has an American couple moving to the English countryside, and the portrayal of the Britishers is ridiculous and corny. Towards the end, as Doris is walking through a lobby full of men and women, try spotting Raquel Welch in one of her very first show business jobs. ** from ****

Doris Day was among Hollywood's few truly bankable stars during the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly noted for her comic talents in such frothy farces as PILLOW TALK, PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, and THAT TOUCH OF MINK. Unfortunately, as the 1960s progressed her films did not, and although her films remained popular they were seen as increasingly out of touch with the tone of the times. The situation was not helped by Day's husband-manager Martin Melcher, who developed the habit of signing Day to film projects Day herself found uninspired. Such was the case with the 1965 flyweight comedy DO NOT DISTURB.

The play seems to be a grab-bag of ideas from previous Day films, the story of a pretty but slightly klutzy wife (Day) and a neglectful husband (Rod Taylor) who find themselves at romantic cross purposes courtesy of their landlady Vanessa (Hermione Baddeley), a sexy secretary (Maura McGiveney), and a handsome antiques dealer(Sergio Fantoni.) The roles are one-dimensional, the plot turns are predictable, and the dialogue trivial. Both Day and Taylor respond by overplaying, sometimes to the point of shrillness. Even so, they do manage to inject enough life into the film to make it mildly amusing--and the supporting cast is quite charming. When all is said and done, the film is most memorable for the sight of Doris Day in a brilliantly orange evening gown as she struggles on the dance floor to shake away an olive dropped down her back.

The DVD includes several bonus features, including an account of Day's early life and career, a brief biography of Michael Romanoff (who plays a cameo in the film), and a brief biography of composer Mort Garson (who is perhaps best remembered for the song "Our Day Will Come.) It offers a nice transfer and is present in its original widescreen format. Most Doris Day fans will find it amusing, but even so most will admit that DO NOT DISTURB is hardly among the first tier of her films: not bad, but in no way memorable.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I am a big doris fan, but the disappointment for me started with the clutzy and mindlessly simple intro song, followed by a poor opening scene concerning learning how to calculate a taxi fee in British sterling...the movie really never does get off the ground, and just becomes an endless stringing together of one boring scene after another...the scene with the fox was amusing, and Doris's figure in the shimmering gown during the party scene was nice, but pretty much everything else left me cold and wishing I was watching pillow talk instead....worth watching, but only once, that is if you can stay awake.

American couple Mike (Rod Taylor) and Janet Harper (Doris Day) move to England for Mike's work, his company which deals in wool textiles and wool fashions. Despite Mike's want for them to live in a flat in the heart of London, Janet, who is not a big city girl, ignores his want and instead finds them a house to rent thirty miles outside of London in Kent, which means that Mike has to commute into town by train.

Not much seems to be written about this film. Why not? It is a decent romantic comedy and has the fun theme of Americans in Europe, particularly London and Paris. Is there not someone who has analyzed the films of Doris Day? Though not the greatest movie and not one I am likely to watch again, it really does alright for what they were going for. I guess at some point the director was replaced and the film fell behind schedule, but this does not seem obvious to me.

No one has ever destroyed the amazing talent of Doris Day that shockingly. Nothing works, nothing feels right. The pacing of the whole thing is ridiculous - everything is either boring like hell, or everyone is screeching, yelling, and running around. Doris Day smiles all the time with no good reason at all. Just ridiculous! I only gave it two stars out of respect for the otherwise wonderful Doris Day.

NOT recommended!

You can't ever complain about a Doris Day film, she brings a smile to the screen whenever she appears. This particular film, however, isn't quite in the league of most of her others. I'm not certain why that is, maybe it's because I find Rod Taylor very 2D or maybe it was because the plot became annoying as it got more contrived. This was obviously a film made from a play and you struggle to buy-in to the fact that this couple don't have a really serious problem if they are so swiftly prepared to believe in each other's infidelities.

The drunken Doris in Paris is almost upsetting because you just want to protect her and the modern view of the rest of the goings-on that the business convention seems to require don't sit comfortably. Doris is tremendous throughout, of course, and it's good to see the feisty side as well as the cute. I wasn't going to bother re-watching it if it came onto the telly again, but now I know you can spot Raquel Welch in the hotel lobby I might. A Doris and Raquel film.....there's a thing!

OK, so it's not unreasonable to enter into a Doris Day romantic comedy expecting undemanding froth and a little sexiness. With that, Do Not Disturb delivers on that expectation. Day's line in this type of film caters for like minded people knowing exactly what they want from a Sunday morning time filler. The trouble is, is that where's the cut off point to say no more please? This film is arguably the one where Day fans {and I count myself among them} finally realised the formula had run its course. Yes the enjoyable fluff that was The Glass Bottom Boat would follow a year later, but that too has a familiarity, that whilst not breeding contempt, certainly felt like being stuck on a carousel.

The plot here is naturally simple, but sadly so is Richard L. Breen's screenplay {adapting from William Fairchild's play}. Thankfully Day at least manages to make the thread bare script work to a degree, and although no Rock Hudson, Rod Taylor does make for an appealing foil to Day's sexy effervescent efforts. Hermione Baddeley shines brightest out of the supporting cast and the funky opening credits are accompanied by Day's delightful rendition of the title tune. Enter with caution then, for even the hardiest of Doris Day fans must know this is but a time filler in all but name. 5/10

DO NOT DISTURB has been hastily conceived as a star vehicle for the ever-frothy Doris Day, playing a wife whose love has gone out of her marriage to hard-working husband Rod Taylor. She decides to try to win his heart back by pretending to embark on a passionate affair, but things don't exactly go according to plan...

The whole film is designed to show off Day at her quick-thinking best, to show off her comedic skills as she goes from one situation to the next. I have to say that, while I like Day (in THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, for example), her performance soon started to grate on me here. The absolute pits is the scene where she gets drunk; I hate these old comedies where women get drunk and act stupid, because they're just over the top and embarrassing. There were similar moments in a lot of Audrey Hepburn movies.

Still, DO NOT DISTURB isn't too bad, and as a light-hearted comedy you can enjoy it if you don't expect too much from the premise. Taylor is a delight as the foil to Day's wit, and a supporting cast do their best with the material they're given.

Doris Day's later films were routinely criticized by critics. However, as a fan, I found many of them to be sublime. Just watching Doris was a wonder for me as a teenager. I rather enjoyed Doris in this film, trying to turn an old house into a palace for her husband, Rod Taylor. I enjoyed Hermione Baddeley as her caring landlady. For me, the whole point of this film was Doris' entrance into the no-wives party for wool distributors. When she arrives, takes off her white coat to reveal a figure-clinging, gold sequined gown, I was absolutely captivated! Of course, I'm a big Doris Day fan, and the sight of her walking down steps into the party was a special highlight for all my years of adoring Doris! It's not a bad film, I just think people expect too much of a romantic romp. Doris is superb at playing someone who has had too much to drink. Actually, she is superb at just about everything she does. That's my take on it.

DND begins with Janet (Doris Day... with her Doris Day hairdo and her Doris Day giggle) attempting to pay for a London cab ride, but hasn't yet figured out the money. She argues with hubby Mike (Rod Taylor), a foreshadowing of the bickering and troubles that always seem to come in a Doris Day film. Astute viewers will recognize the landlord "Vanessa" to be Hermione Badderly, the housekeeper from "Maude". DD and Taylor would also make "Glass Bottom Boat" the following year; This was pretty much during her prime acting years, when she also made all those films with Rock Hudson. Day had also just made Please Don't Eat the Daisies, which if I recall correctly, had a VERY similar plot.... where to live when the husband gets a new job. All the arguing they are doing leads Janet to believe that Mike is fooling around, so things go downhill from there. Directed by Ralph Levy, who did mostly TV; this was one of the two films he directed. It's a slow simmer, but not bad. The good thing about THIS one is that DD doesn't burst into song every couple minutes. Currently showing on netflix.

Normally, it wouldn't be a ringing endorsement to say that the title song is the most memorable part of a movie. However, since Doris Day got her start as a singer and almost always sang the title song during the opening credits of her movies, it's not really an insult. After all, you're watching the movie for her cuteness and her singing, right?

Towards the end of Doris's career, she made a string of very silly, stupid comedies in the sixties. When you watch one of them, you feel sorry for her, and when you watch two of them, you wonder why Hollywood was so mean to continually stick her in such terrible movies. After you've seen three of them, you understand why Doris retired early. They're all pretty interchangeable, so if you decide to include Do Not Disturb as one of your three, you'll be in for some very silly gags, raunchy sex jokes between Rod Taylor and Doris that aren't really raunchy anymore, and some themes that will make modern feminists cringe. Women are bad drivers, women are stupid, women embarrass themselves when they get drunk, etc. If you don't include this one in your Doris-Day-made-terrible-movies marathon, at least listen to the song. It's pretty cute!

Doris Day is a ray of sunshine in most of her films, and Do Not Disturb is no exception. She is perfectly cast as the neglected wife, isolated and bored in Kent, England. Day's character (Janet Harper)has a husband who is not playing his part in the marriage, and takes her for granted. What she needs is an interest which takes her outside of the marriage and the idea of the good, dutiful wife.

Day's comic timing is so masterful that it reinvigorates the otherwise tired clichéd, and stereotyped gags. Ironically Day deconstructs our stereotypical perspective of Hollywood glamour by not taking herself too seriously and as such taking a swipe at the movie star image. Very clever and well accomplished albeit in an inadvertent way.

If you are a fan of Day, then this film is a must see, but it's also great if you just want a carefree chuckle.

This was a lighthearted offering that paired Doris Day and Rod Taylor as a married couple who have moved to England. The opening scene of Doris day paying her taxi fare of 8 and 6 will tell you how the rest of the film is going to go.

This is lighthearted and colorful entertainment that takes you from London, to the English Countryside and into Paris for the drinking of champagne.

My favorite character is the landlord played by Hermione Baddeley. She was fantastic and steals every scene she is in.

Some days you just need a little Daris Day! She always seems to teach the lesson that it is ok to have fun and not take yourself too seriously. Not my favorite of her films...that probably is Pillow Talk or Touch of Mink, but still fun and I recommend it.

I loved this film, it was just as good as 'The Glass Bottom Boat' which was to follow the year after. Some very funny scenes as Janet Harper (Doris Day) tries to adjust to life in England. The pairing of Doris Day and the sexy Rod Taylor is excellent and unique - they make a great pair. Traditional Doris Day kind of plot where someone gets the wrong end of the stick. Funny bedroom farce scene towards the end. Highly recommended!

Now I didn't hate Do Not Disturb, but it was nothing special really. It does have its good points though. I loved the fun title sequence, the catchy title song and the drunk scene in the middle scene. While nothing spectacular, the production values are quite nice and the music is good. And Doris Day, the talented and endearing actress/singer she is, really makes the most of what she has.

What I didn't like about Do Not Disturb so much was that Rod Taylor came across as one of Day's more blander co-stars and does resort to overacting. But I think what did hurt the film more was its thin script, predictable plotting(albeit some moderately funny scenes), elephantine pacing and sit-com-ish direction.

Overall, Do Not Disturb isn't terrible as such, but it could have been better and Day did deserve much more. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I caught this on American Movie Classics, thinking it would be a match for Doris' earlier comic work in, e.g., "Lover Come Back" and "Pillow Talk". The sparkling, fizzy, dialogue and non-stop comedic capering of those earlier films is here replaced by elephantine pacing and a leaden, unfunny script. Even Doris' valiant attempt to inject some carbonation into this flat brew falls, well, flat. The film really makes you appreciate the work of truly master comic writers such as Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning, who made such a difference in her earlier work with Rock Hudson. And, by the way, Rod Taylor is no Rock Hudson. And - just to keep kicking while the victim is down - the phony portrayals here of English customs and character types, in conformity with the stalest and most parochial American stereotypes, is both unfunny and demeaning. A sad waste of Doris Day's talents.

After his new job requires him to move to London, "Mike Harper" (Rod Taylor) and his wife "Janet" (Doris Day) end up in a large home out in the country. This causes some problems for Mike due to his heavy workload and as a result he also rents a small apartment in London. This causes even further problems when Janet begins to suspect that Mike is having an affair with his assistant, "Claire Hackett" (Maura McGiveney). To rectify this her landlady, "Vanessa Courtwright" (Hermione Baddeley) recommends that she engage in an affair of her own-or at least an imaginary affair in order to make Mike jealous. Although Janet refuses to do this things take on a life of their own when she decides to go to Paris with an interior decorator named "Paul" (Sergio Fantoni) to pick out some badly needed furniture. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I didn't think this was one of Doris Day's better comedies as it lagged for pretty much the first hour or so. Fortunately, it picked up after that and became somewhat interesting from there. Slightly below average.

I taped this movie off of American Movie Classics and its certainly one of her top movies. She is certainly not the virgin goddess we are used to seeing. It tells a truth about marriage in the early sixties before womens liberation. Rod Taylor is excellent as the no nonsense businessman who also knows how to charm but forgets that he has to balance his business life with his married life to the very charming and sexy Doris Day. She is as charming here as in the Glass Bottom Boat which has been released on DVD. This one has it all jealousy, sensuality, an excellent script and good casting. Doris Day needs to fend off the boredom that comes with being the lady of the house. She charms the men and she charms the children and she charms the animals. These Americans in London are the exact opposite of the ugly Americans. You will like this one if you can get your hands on it.