Tuesday, August 30, 2011

“Down With Love:” A Tribute to Doris Day Comedies of the ’60s


by HOOKEDONHOUSES on FEBRUARY 16, 2009

Doris Day movies are among some of my favorites. They’re like comfort food–easy to watch over and over again, and they always feel good. “Pillow Talk,” especially, is a lot of fun, as she spars with Rock Hudson from beginning to end. So when “Down With Love” came out in 2003 as a tribute to those 1960s comedies, I ran straight to the theater to see it.

The sets and costumes were like eye candy. And there was a fun cameo with Tony Randall, who always played Rock’s funny friend. The movie itself, well, let’s just say it proved that Doris Day and Rock Hudson are irreplaceable. But Renee Zellweger andEwan McGregor were game enough and tried their hardest to recreate the look and feel of the classic romantic comedies, even if they weren’t quite up to the task (in my opinion–I know there are lots of people who loved them in the roles, and I may even be in the minority here).

Zellweger plays Barbara Novak, the best-selling author of a book called Down With Love, recommending that women give up romance and try chocolate, careers, and casual affairs to fill their lives instead. Playboy journalist Catcher Block (McGregor) decides to do an expose on her by–what else–making her fall in love with him. But all isn’t as it appears, of course! Who is tricking whom here?

Director Peyton Reed says: “It’s not the New York City of today and it’s not even the New York City of the early ’60s. It’s basically the New York City as seen through a Hollywood movie of that period.”

The film’s title comes from the song “Down with Love” as sung by Judy Garland, who is seen singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show in one scene.

I was only able to find a couple of photos from “Down With Love” on the Internet, so I took the majority of these as I watched the movie on DVD and the special features that came with it. You can find more pictures of the sets at the SDSA (Set Decorators Society of America) site.

Linda of Silver Screen Surroundings did a couple of posts about “Down With Love” in 2007 that you should check out, telling you how to recreate the looks of Barbara’s penthouse and Catcher’s bachelor pad.

UPDATE: Check out the sets from the Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy “Pillow Talk.”

Visit my TV/Movie Houses page for links to all the others I’ve featured, from “You’ve Got Mail” to “Something’s Gotta Give.”

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