‘The Glass Bottom Boat’ now on Blu-ray
Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's
The Glass Bottom Boat is a fun 1966 comedy starring everyone’s favorite girl next door, Doris Day, along with hunky Rod Taylor. Day plays widow Jennifer Nelson who spends time as a mermaid for her father’s glass bottom boat business at Catalina Island. When she’s not swimming in the ocean, she has a job at a super secret company run by Bruce Templeton (Taylor) who is creating new technology for the space program. Think of him as an old-time Elon Musk.
The two meet by accident when Templeton accidentally hooks Jennifer’s costume and they get off to a rocky start. It won’t be until she’s back to her real job in Los Angeles that she finds out the man who hooked her is the head of the company.
The two take an instant liking to each other and start dating, but some secrets from the company seem to be finding their way into the hands of the Soviets. (This was at the height of the cold war.) The suspicions automatically turn toward Jennifer. Is she the spy? With the CIA involved as well as the military, they are going to get to the bottom of this spy scandal. Templeton maintains she cannot be the spy. Things get pretty heated when Jennifer discovers their suspicions.
Arthur Godfrey is her father who lives and works on Catalina Island. John McGiver plays the head of PR at the Templeton company, Paul Lynde is the head of security, Dick Martin is Bruce’s partner, Edward Andrews is the general who is the military liaison for the project, Edgar Hill is the CIA agent, and Dom DeLuise is the electrician working at Templeton’s house. But are these people really who they say they are?
Alice Pearce and George Tobias play Jennifer’s next door neighbor and interestingly, these two played the Kravitz’ at one time or another on the hit series Bewitched.
There are a few musical scenes in the film but on the whole it is just a fun, whacky, enjoyable comedy with everyone rooting for Day and Taylor to get together. They make a great couple on screen. He plays a charming man and is eye candy for women! Like Day’s other co-stars in her comedies (Rock Hudson, James Garner, and Cary Grant), Rod Taylor is definitely up there when it comes to charisma and sex appeal. With all the star talent and plenty of hearty laugh-out-loud scenes, this is definitely a cute and entertaining film.
The Glass Bottom Boat is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection and is available from their site or where Blu-rays are sold. There are a few bonus features on the disc including a look at Catalina and the filming of the scenes on that island. The movie is not rated but it is suitable for everyone.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County.
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