Send Me No Flowers (Universal Pictures) (1964)

Boxoffice Winning Stars Day, Hudson and Randall In “Send Me No Flowers” (Advance) A trio of comedy performers who have literally scooped all of the whipped cream off the tasty movie profits during the past several seasons are at it again. Once more Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall have parked their super-trailers that serve as on-the-set dressing rooms on a Universal sound stage, looking not unlike a fabulous circus just pulled into town. This time their springboard for best-selling comedy is a screen adaptation of “Send Me No Flowers,” a Broadway stage comedy of a few seasons back. With Hudson and Miss Day teamed as husband and wife for the first time — and Randall as their nextdoor neighbor — “Send Me No Flowers” draws its humor from a hypochondriac who, erroneously convinced he has only a few weeks to live, sets about finding a suitable mate for his widow-tobe. The comedy, in Technicolor, Theatre. “All we ask is that it be as good at the boxoffice as their two former comedies,’ admit producers Harry Keller and Martin Melcher, facetiously. Those pair of predecessors, ‘“Pillow Talk” and “Lover Come Back’”’ did little more than roll up a reasonable — and astounding — $25,000,000 at the world boxoffice, with quite a few distant lands still to be heard from. Due to these remarkable hits, Doris Day and Rock Hudson have dominated the polls of top boxoffice stars for the past several years. What’s the secret of their success? “Excellent scripts, performed expertly,” says director Norman Jewison. “Without the story, the situations, the pace and the correct attitudes, no comedian can score. “But more than that, with these three performers, it’s a chemistry rarely found on any stage, legitimate or sound. They have more than respect for each other. It’s deep affection. They start with a simple situation and, by respecting and reacting to each other’s professionalism, they build that simple situation into something zany, something weird and wonderful. “And what’s even more amazing, they do it without resorting to shock, out-and-out slapstick or blatant sex. There’s always plenty of sex in their comedies, of course, but it’s the cleanest sex invented.” Synthetic Fabric Saves Movie Scenes (Current) The magic of synthetic fabrics came to the rescue of a befuddled movie company when director Norman Jewison tried to film a comedy scene for Universal’s “Send Me No Flowers,” now at ENG. a eee Theatre. The script required Rock Hudson (6-4, 205 pounds) to put on a nightshirt belonging to Tony Randall (5-10, 150 pounds). One quick rehearsal was enough to convince the director that he needed scientific assistance in order to film the scene. The male costumer on the set solved the problem — the same nightshirt but made out of quick-stretching rubberized fabric. Edward Andrews as the doctor who examines Rock Hudson, a hypochondriac, inadvertently sets the basis for the zany Universal comedy, “ Send Me No Flowers,” when he has a telephone conversation about another patient who Rock believes concerns himself. Stemming frem that, a chain of funny events take place in the (Still No. 1940-14) Technicolor-photographed comedy. Doris Day canno "SEND ME NO FLOWERS" (2-6) t contain her merriment over having just learned that the chain of zany stories her husband, Rock Hudson, has told her are not true in this scene from Universal’s Technicolor comedy, “Send Me No Flowers.”’ (Still No. 1940-95) ___"SEND ME NO FLOWERS (1-4) SPINA Doris Day continues her comedy success that has made her a top boxoffice attraction in Universal’s hilarious “Send Me No Flowers,” photographed in Technicolor. (Still No. 1940-133) $2,700 Jean Louis Designed Dress Not Suitable For Dancing (Advance) A $2,700 gold evening gown was choreographed right out of a spotlighted movie appearance. The fabulous dress, designed by Universal stylist Jean Louis, was to have been worn by Doris Day while performing a rock-and-roll dance in a dream sequence for “Send Me No Flowers,” in which Doris shares star honors with a trio of handsome male stars — Rock Hudson, Tony Randall and Clint Walker. Photographed in Technicolor, ‘Send Me No FlowCrs, 2 COMeCS 2 eee to the But the wild terpsichore devised by choreographer David Winters, best described as the Watussi with variations, for Doris and her partner, Clive Clerk, proved during the first dress rehearsal that the gold dress had to go. Two minutes after the dance began, the gold dress was a shambles. When “Send Me No Flowers” opens at your favorite movie theatre, you’ll see the dance, all right. But you’ll see Miss Day strut her stuff — in pale blue sweatshirt and white stretch pants. Doris Day Wears Skin Diver Outfit To Keep Dry For Scene (Current) Members at Southern California’s exclusive Riviera Country Club had something new to talk about recently—Doris Day crossing the 13th fairway in the rubber suit of a skin diver. Obviously, the screen’s number one boxoffice star wasn’t trying to combine two sports into one. She was at Riviera with a Universal Technicolor camera crew to film comedy scenes for ‘Send Me No Flowers,” in which she stars with Rock Hudson, Tony Randall and Clint Walker. The comedy is showing at the................ Theatre. The scenes called for Doris in a runaway golf cart to roar down a steep fairway, out of control, and smash her way through a _ series of fairway sprinklers. The wet suit, worn beneath her golfing togs, kept her dry and warm during filming on a slightly nippy Southern California afternoon, Boxoffice’s Top Trio In ‘Send No Flowers” (Advance) Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Tony Randall — a notable screen triumvirate that already has drawn more than 50 million persons into theatres around the world to see two comedies, ‘‘Pillow Talk” and “Lover Come Back’’—are back together again. Their third venture, which opens ps es Semen yy nae on the screen of the eat ieee ta oer , is “Send Me No Flowers,” Melcher production, The Technicolor comedy is the film adaptation of the 1960 Broadway play, with a humorous look at suburbia, hypochondria and _ the eternal triangle. Page 2 a Universal Martin Hudson, Day, Randall Are Together Again For Comedy Hit, ‘Send Me No Flowers” (Review) Rock and Doris are at it again — and Tony is with them, too. The same notable trio of stars who have broken all existing boxoffice records with their two previous romantic comedies are on the screen together again; if the happy reception et the: Sona Theatre yesterday in any indication, in their current offering they have topped their previous successes. Universal’s “Send Me No Flowers” is a fun show, almost perfectly presented by its three stars—Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Tony Randall. Audiences who loved this highly talented team in “Pillow Talk? and) “Lover Come Back,” should be positively delighted by this latest laughfest. Opinions are unanimous that “Send Me No Flowers” is the finest and funniest romantic comedy of the group. In this one, Rock, as a hypochondriac, married to Doris, overhears a doctor discussing a terminal case which he mistakenly believes concerns himself. With the assistance of his neighbor, Tony, who also is a friend and advisor, he proceeds to put his affairs in order even going so far as to select a new husband for his widow-to-be — all this without telling his wife. What happens until the mistake is clarified serves as the solid base for the comedy situations. The screenplay by Julius Epstein, based on the Broadway play by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore, ingeniously makes the most of it. Director Norman Jewison, who turns in his 3rd Hollywood laughfest in a row after a very successful career as a live television director, handles his principals for every nuance of good-natured humor. In one of his first feature film assignments, Jewison directed Miss Day in “The Thrill of It All,” her big comedy hit of last year, in which she appeared with James Garner. With Hudson and Randall opposite Miss Day, he has even a bigger hit in “Send Me No Flowers.” Clint Walker, as the husband selected for Miss Day by Hudson, portrays a wealthy Texan in a change of pace role after seven years as the popular star of “Cheyenne” on television. Patricia Barry, as the other woman briefly involved, Hal March, as her suitor, Edward Andrews, as the doctor, Paul Lynde, as the cemetery-lot salesman, and Dave Willock as the milkman all add their capable talents to the film’s comedy. In a dream sequence involving Doris and Clive Clerk, all stops are pulled and it becomes one of the wildest dance sequences in many years, combining all the current crazes in a single bit of choreography. Doris also sings the title song, with lyrics by Hal David and music by Burt Bacharach, in her own distinctive style over the title. It is tuneful and catchy. Music, written by De Vol, and supervised by Joseph Gershenson, enhances and emphasizes the comedy. The Technicolor photography by Daniel Fapp accentuates the many production values of the art direction of Alexander Golitzen and Robert Clatsworthy, the set decorations by John McCarthy, Oliver Emert and John Austin, and the gowns created by Jean Louis. The whole production is a magnificent credit for producer Harry Keller and executive producer Martin Melcher. Teamed as husband and wife in Universal’s zany comedy in Tech nicolor, “Send Me No Flowers,” are Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Their co-stars in the merry proceedings directed by Norman Jewi son are Tony Randall and Clint Walker. SEND ME NO FLOWERS” (28) (Still No. 1940-140) = | | ee RAMI | When Doris Day is rescued from a run-away golf cart by a gentle man on horseback in this scene from Universal’s ‘“‘SSend Me No Flowers,” she discovers he is college sweetheart, Clint Walker. She introduces him to her husband, Rock Hudson, and his friend and neighbor, Tony Randall. The comedy is photographed in Techni color. (Still No. 1940-44) Copyright 1964 — Universal Pictures Co., Inc,