Doris (Valentine's) Day

Valentine's Day.  A day for eating heart-shaped chocolates.  A day for receiving flowers.  A day for being cooked a romantic feast by your loved one and drinking too much fizzy wine and singing I Got You Babe at each other.  (Oh Tim and Emily, you crazy American shiny-toothed fake laughing kids).  A day for returning to the blog and writing about Doris Day romantic comedies because, erm, not because I've got some spare time on my hands this evening.  No, I'm just more of a Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves fan when it comes to Cher.  Especially when she looks like this.  Crikey.

I've seen Lover Come Back, with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and That Touch of Mink, with Doris and Cary Grant.  These are films very much of the 60s.  Some would say dated, I would say, well, yes, dated, but in a very heart-warming way.  In That Touch of Mink, Cary Grant wants to sleep with Doris Day, whilst she wants to marry him first.  That is basically the entire plot.  If it were made today, there is no way that Cary Grant's character could seem anything but sleazy, and Doris Day's would just seem prudish and slightly insane (she does want to marry him after about five minutes of knowing him.  Yes it is Cary Grant, inspiration of some rather excellent youtube tributes, but even so, this seems a bit hasty).  But somehow, both are completely charming.

Lover Come Back is also utterly ridiculous, and utterly lovely.  In this one Rock Hudson and Doris Day are both advertising executives, competing over an account.  There's a bit of mistaken identity, Rock Hudson being a loveable playboy, Doris Day being Doris Day, and some truly spectacular hats:

I love Doris Day.  I would always choose her over romantic meals like this.  (Unless my date looked like Cary Grant or Rock Hudson, in which case only a fool would say no to free cheese).

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.