 I wanna see this movie in French  Sort of a Levittown of the Hereafter | Send Me No Flowers (1964)One forgets that there were only three Doris Day/Rock Hudson/Tony Randall films, so good was their chemistry. Send Me No Flowers is the last of them, and unlike the other two, Rock and Doris start out married and very well-acquainted with each other. George (Rock) and Judy (Doris) Kimball have everything: a lovely home in the suburbs with the world's largest medicine cabinet (this is important), the latest model car, a gossipy milkman, and best friend, Arnold (Tony Randall), living right next door. George is a platinum-level hypochondriac who takes pills for everything. He's also a health nut by 1964 standards; a hipster by ours. He drinks carrot juice, wheat tea, eats organic foods with no animal fats, but takes sleeping pills because he's so anxious. Or at least he thinks they're sleeping pills. Judy has been replacing the Seconal in each capsule with white sugar for the last five years, knowing George will sleep like a baby. One day, George visits his long-suffering physician, Dr. Morrisey (veteran character actor, Edward Andrews), to get something for his chest pains (indigestion) and asks about the cardiogram he made the doctor do a couple weeks before. While in the office, he overhears the doctor receiving very bad results of another patient's cardiogram and thinks the results are his. Dr. Morrisey tells the consulting physician over the phone that he won't tell the patient that he has only two weeks to live, because, well, why upset the guy? George thinks Doc Morrisey is talking about him and now his worst fears have been realized. The rest of the film is about George and Arnold trying to find Judy a suitable husband to take care of her after he shuffles this mortal coil in roughly two weeks. There's a dream about Judy and the groovy young delivery boy, some window shopping for likely candidates at the country club, until finally the friends land on Bert (Clint Walker), a millionaire who happens to be Judy's old boyfriend. Judy starts to get suspicious with George continually throwing Bert in her way. The situation is further complicated by the plight of the Kimballs' neighbors, the Bullards, who are getting a divorce. We don't ever see Mr. Bullard, but Linda Bullard (Patricia Barry) is an attractive redhead who is about to be pounced on by George's skeevy wolf pal, Winnie Burr (Hal March). Judy happens upon George trying to warn Linda of Winnie's intentions and gets the wrong idea when she sees Linda kiss George in thanks. Guess what? It all works out in the end, and along the way we get great friend business between George and Arnold (the way Tony Randall sizes up Bert is hilarious); some beautiful righteous indignation from Judy (which no one does that better or cuter than Doris Day), and Paul Lynde as an enthusiastic funeral director, If there had been an Oscar for reaction shots, Tony Randall would have won it every time. |
Best poster ever. You can see Doris Day's freckles!!
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