Balance On the High Seas

I just made it to yoga today. Slid into a fairly large class, including at least one child. We all mainly worked on strengthening our core (stomach) muscles. I did what I could. I really didn't feel like trying to force things, like I did last week. I did a little better, though I'm still not all that fast.

Made a few quick stops afterwards. I didn't find what I was looking for at Rite Aid, but I did pick up Entertainment Weekly's Summer Movie Preview. I've stayed away from those for the last few years, but they had the new Superman movie on the front cover. I so want to see that. There's supposed to be another Wolverine movie out later in the summer as well.

When I finally got in, I made a spinach-asparagus omelet for lunch and baked brownies while watching Romance On the High Seas. Doris Day made a smashing debut as singer Georgia Garrett, who desperately wants to go on a vacation despite being broke. Enter Elvira Pratt (Janis Page), who has tickets for a cruise but is willing to forgo it to keep an eye on her flirtatious husband (Don DeFore) and his secretary. She'll turn the tickets over to Georgia...provided she travel under Elvira's name and stay away from men to protect her reputation. Meanwhile, Elvira's husband has his own suspicions and hires a detective (Jack Carson) to follow his wife onboard. Carson falls head-over-heels with what he thinks is his boss' lady. Georgia would love to fall for him, if she didn't have someone else's name. Meanwhile, Georgia's guy friend (Oscar Levant) meets the cruise at Cuba in the hopes of wooing her, too.

If you love Doris Day, especially her early musicals, you'll probably enjoy this. The farcical plot is nonsense, and really kind of annoying. DeFore and Paige have so little chemistry, you wonder why their characters got married in the first place. Carson and Day have far more fun as the pair stuck in the middle, and even Oscar Levant is shown a little more sympathetically than usual. Day is surprisingly laid-back, especially given her later, sweeter reputation; some of her lines are a bit spicier than you'd expect for her, and it's refreshing.

The music is by far the main reason to catch this, besides a luminous Day. The score was a hit in it's own right, and no wonder. In addition to the blockbuster "It's Magic," we also have Day's frustrated "Put 'Em In a Box" when her relationships are driving her crazy, Carson's "Run, Run, Run" in Rio, and "The Tourist Trade" for a specialty performer.

Mainly for fans of Day. Musical lovers might want to check this out on TCM before they add it to their collection.

Work was quiet when I got in, and never got more than mildly busy during rush  hour. No wonder. It was gorgeous today, sunny and in the lower 60s, and is supposed to stay nice all weekend. I was in and out.