That Touch of Mink: Bermuda Highball

Thursday

Apr052012

Year Released: 1962
Directed by: Delbert Mann
Starring: Doris Day, Cary Grant, Gig Young, Audrey Meadows
(Not Rated, 99 min.)

"She's become a symbol of hope to all of us who sold out for that touch of mink." Gig Young as Roger in That Touch of Mink

Oh, how times have changed. Working girl Doris Day won’t say “I will,” until playboy Gary Grant says, “I do.” But 38-year-old Doris Day plays “the world’s oldest professional virgin” with just a touch of telltell ambivalence to hint at the sexual revolution just around the corner.

And who better than Audrey Meadows – Alice of “The Honeymooners” fame -- to sum up feminism in her own sardonic way:

“For 2000 years we've had their children, washed their clothes, cooked their meals and cleaned their houses. And what did they give us in return? The right to smoke in public. We sold out for a cigarette - and you don't even smoke!”

You won’t want to miss the New York Yankees dugout scene featuring cameos by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra, or the fashion show featuring the most elegant gowns of the day designed by Norman Norell, especially the mink-lined silk coat alluded to in the film’s title.

A girl as American as apple pie with a little baseball thrown in! No wonder it was the Top Box Office draw of 1962, which also saw the release of Dr. No, Cape Fear, Lawrence of Arabia, Lolita, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Miracle Worker.

—Kathy Borich

Film-Loving Foodie

We will have to reject our starlet’s choice of liquid courage on her second trip to Bermuda, where she overdoes it a bit in trying to unzip her inhibitions and ends up passed out on a bed with an empty liquor bottle corked over her big toe.

Also will have to nix the cocktail favored by Gig Young, Gary Grant’s neurotic assistant:

“I had a wonderful night's rest. You know the trouble I have sleeping? Well, I've solved it. Just before you go to bed you put three tranquilizers in a jigger of brandy and you drink it. You still can't sleep but you're so relaxed that you don't worry about it. It was exhilarating.”

Our Bermuda Highball is just as exhilarating without the side effects.

Bottoms up!