The Thrill of It All



The Thrill of It All (1963) is a romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison starring Doris Day, James Garner, Arlene Francis, and ZaSu Pitts. The screenplay was written by Larry Gelbart and Carl Reiner.

Reiner had originally conceived the project for Judy Holliday, who developed cancer and had to bow out of the project, according to Reiner's reminiscence during his videotaped "Archive of American Television" interview. (Holliday died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 43.)

Plot summary
The story centers around suburban housewife Beverly Boyer and her husband, a successful obstetrician and devoted family man, Gerald. Beverly is offered the opportunity to star in a television commercial advertising Happy Soap. After a shaky start, she gets a contract for nearly $80,000 per year ($ today) to appear in weekly TV commercials.

Soon the soap company places greater and greater demands on the unlikely TV star. Gerald resents the fact that the appearances are taking up an increasing amount of her time, and becomes jealous of the level of attention that her new-found stardom has brought her. Their relationship slowly deteriorates, and Gerald leaves her after unintentionally driving his 1958 Chevrolet convertible into the surprise $5,000 ($ today) swimming pool the soap company built where their garage used to be. Gerald later returns, only to enact psychological warfare, making Beverly jealous by pretending that he is drinking and carousing with multiple women. Beverly decides to give up her lucrative career and return to her "philandering" husband and her life as a rich doctor's housewife.

Cast

 * Doris Day as Beverly Boyer
 * James Garner as Dr. Gerald Boyer
 * Arlene Francis as Mrs. Fraleigh
 * Edward Andrews as Gardiner Fraleigh
 * Reginald Owen as Old Tom Fraleigh
 * ZaSu Pitts as Olivia
 * Elliott Reid as Mike Palmer
 * Alice Pearce as Irving's Wife
 * Kym Karath as Maggie Boyer
 * Brian Nash as Andy Boyer
 * Lucy Landau as Mrs. Goethe
 * Paul Hartman as Dr. Taylor

Carl Reiner, one of the two screenwriters of the film, makes brief appearances as a character actor appearing on TV in various nasty roles (World War II German Officer / Cad / Cowboy).

Box office performance
The Thrill of It All was the 16th biggest hit of the year, grossing $11,779,093 domestically. It earned $6 million in US theatrical rentals.