Championship in fling
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Championship in fling |
| Original title | Please don't eat the daisies |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Charles Walters |
| script | Isobel Lennart |
| production | Joe Pasternak |
| music | David Rose |
| camera | Robert J. Bronner |
| cut | John McSweeney Jr. |
| occupation | |
| |
Championship in Affair (Original title: Please Don't Eat the Daisies ) is an American comedy film with Doris Day and David Niven from 1960, which is based on the book of the same name (1947) by Jean Kerr .
action
Kate and Larry Mackay live with their four sons in a New York apartment. Larry worked as a professor for a long time. Now he wants to try his hand at being a theater critic. The first stage play that he reviews is a musical production by his friend Alfred North. However, the musical is so bad that Larry feels compelled to write a negative review despite a guilty conscience towards his friend. In a restaurant, Larry and Kate meet Deborah Vaughn, the star of Alfred's show. The buxom blonde slaps Larry in the face, which is promptly captured by a photographer with a snapshot. When the photo appeared on the front pages of local newspapers, Larry wrote a column in which he mockingly said that Alfred's show was not carried by Deborah's acting talent, but solely by her physical charms. At a subsequent party, Larry is cheered and ensnared by high society. Deborah also flatters himself with him in an effective way, which Larry agrees with benevolently. Alfred, meanwhile, makes Kate think when he says that Larry is gradually turning into a critic who enjoys tearing up plays.
When Kate notices that the lease for the shared apartment is about to expire, she suggests that they move into a large house far out of town with the kids. Larry is anything but impressed by the suggestion, but lets his wife persuade him to do so. To his chagrin, their new home is a badly shabby property. In contrast to him, Kate immediately sets about making the necessary renovations full of enthusiasm. Soon after, parishioners ask them to find a suitable play for the local school's drama group. When Larry refuses to suggest anything, Kate asks Alfred for help. He gives her a piece that Larry wrote as a young man. However, Alfred does not reveal to Kate that it came from her husband's pen.
As Larry feels disturbed by the noise of the renovation work, he temporarily moves to a New York hotel. A few days later, Kate saw an interview with Deborah on television, who falsely implied that she was having an affair with Larry. After Deborah tries in vain to seduce Larry in a pub, Larry returns home and attends one of Kate's theater rehearsals. He recognizes the lines of dialogue in his own piece. Embarrassed and knowing that it is no good, Larry, as the author of the play, wants the theater group to ban the performance even though it is already sold out. Kate is furious, which is why Larry reluctantly gives in and writes a scathing review of his own play. Larry later realizes that his work as a critic has only caused damage, so he quits his job and returns to his family.
background
In the literary source, the author Jean Kerr described her life with her husband Walter Kerr , a theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune and a Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright. Together, the Kerrs wrote plays such as King of Hearts and The Song of Bernadette . As in the film, the couple had four children. In her contract with MGM , however, Jean Kerr insisted that the name of her husband and that of his newspaper not be mentioned in the film. In their review of the film, the New York Herald Tribune criticized , possibly ironically, that it was unrealistic and had overestimated the influence of a theater critic.
The shooting took place from the beginning of August to the beginning of October 1959. Doris Day sings the theme song Please Don't Eat the Daisies and Any Way the Wind Blows in the film and briefly Que Sera, Sera . On March 31, 1960, the film in which Spring Byington had her last screen appearance, premiered in New York City. In Germany, championship in fling came into cinemas on June 2, 1960. On October 19, 1973 the comedy was shown for the first time on German television.
Due to the success of the film, an NBC television series based on the same material was created in 1965 , which was broadcast until 1967.
Reviews
“Staged with wit and humor, played with temperament,” said the lexicon of international films . The result was an "easy, enjoyable comedy". Cinema said that the film was "[f] ast already touchingly modest and chaste". Prisma spoke of a “spirited comedy” in which “'Deo-Duse' Doris Day again shines as America's No. 1 cleaner”. It is thanks to the “good Dialogwit [z]” that “one can certainly forgive the rather dusty moral concept here”.
For Variety , the film was a "shallow comedy" at the time, in which some "highly amusing moments" would be loosely connected. Charles Walters' direction, however, ensures an "excellent tempo". Variety also praised the performances by Doris Day and David Niven. In retrospect, film critic Leonard Maltin described the fling as a “cheerful film” in which the children were “very amusing”, as did the supporting actors Spring Byington, Patsy Kelly and “above all” Janis Paige.
Awards
The film was nominated for Best Comedy at the Laurel Awards in 1960. Supporting actresses Janis Paige and Spring Byington received additional nominations. The former could ultimately take 3rd place. Director Charles Walters was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award in 1961 . Screenwriter Isobel Lennart was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Prize that same year .
German version
The German dubbed version was created in MGM's dubbing studio in Berlin in 1960 .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Kate Robinson Mackay | Doris Day | Edith Schneider |
| Lawrence Larry Mackay | David Niven | Curt Ackermann |
| Suzie Robinson | Spring Byington | Agnes Windeck |
| Alfred North | Richard Haydn | Kurt Waitzmann |
| Maggie | Patsy Kelly | Berta Drews |
| Reverend Norman McQuarry | John Harding | Peter Schiff |
| Mrs. Hunter | Mary Patton | Inge Estate |
Web links
- Eat the in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Championship in fling at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Eat the at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Notes on tcm.com
- ↑ Championship in the affair. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 29, 2019 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de
- ↑ cf. prisma.de
- ↑ “ Please Don't Eat The Daisies is a light and frothy comedy […]. [A] series of highly amusing incidents strung together by a rather loose story thread [...]. Charles Walters' direction maintains terrific pace. ” See Please Don't Eat the Daisies . In: Variety , 1960.
- ↑ "Bright film [... H] er kids are very amusing, as are Byington (the mother-in-law), Kelly (housekeeper), and especially Paige as a temperamental star." Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide . Plume 2010, p. 516.
- ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de