The Glass Bottom Boat Movie Review

In 1966, The Glass Bottom Boat found Doris Day in the final days of her career (she retired in 1968 at age 44), seen here wearing an ill-advised bob and carrying some lingering pregnancy fat in a procession of increasingly hideous outfits. Those who remember Day as the gossamer girl from Pillow Talk and its ilk will be downright shocked to see Day dressed up in all yellow and looking like a rotting banana.

I'm being a little cruel, yes, but Boat is a pretty thin picture anyway and it doesn't merit a whole lot of sympathy. The story involves a misunderstanding (imagine that!) wherein Day is mistaken for a spy. Eventually she plays the part (when she isn't busy romancing Rod Taylor), when she isn't stuck in compromising positions with Dom DeLuise and/or Paul Lynde.

This is pretty lightweight stuff, with a ridiculous slapstick plot that relies frequently on people getting body parts stuck where the don't belong, things getting knocked over, and Day rehashing some of her most notable songs from more successful movies. Well, as Day would say, que sera, sera.