With Six You Get Eggroll

When I saw "With Six You Get Eggroll" in a plush New York theatre, I had no idea that it would be Doris Day's last film appearance. This one was an old idea with a modern look: a widow with three boys marries a widower with a teenaged daughter (Barbara Hershey)and all hell breaks loose.

Even though I am not partial to films with children in them or "family pictures", I enjoyed Miss Day's performance in this film as well as her supporting players. As was always the case, she was surrounded by the best supporting people available. Pat Carroll, as her sister was a lot of fun as was Alice Ghostley, her harried maid. There were many familiar faces darting in and out. People like Jaime Farr, Vic Taback, Jackie Joseph and George Carlin.

Brian Keith was a "comfortable", but gruff leading man for Doris. They had many nice scenes together, although he did not measure up to the usual caliber star with whom Miss Day was usually paired.

As usual, Doris Day worked well with children. She was one of the few major stars that could. Many female stars avoided kids like the plague, but not Doris. She could handle the situation.

Even though this is a comedy, there were a couple of very dramatic scenes in which Doris shows what a marvelously serious actress she can be. This came when she and Keith had a blowout about his daughter cleaning the house without any help from Doris' older son. Day was so into the scene, you could see her actually shaking with anger.

The film became a tearjerker at the end when everybody "saw the light" and came together after a big car chase, an accident and a fist fight. The picture is more enjoyable than the Henry Fonda/Lucille Ball film with approximately the same theme. Their's was called "Yours, Mine and Ours", also in 1968.

"With Six You Get Eggroll" is a light comedy-romance with a very familiar theme by its date. Widow and widower with kids still at home meet, fall in love and decide to tie the knot again, only to be challenged by their respective offspring. But, Doris Day and Brian Keith carry it off fine, with the help of her three sons and his daughter. Doris plays Abby McClure and Brian plays Jake Iverson. The cast are all good, and there are some very funny scenes especially in the beginning, when Abby and Jake meet up for the first time at a party she throws.

This was Doris Day's last movie. She made only 42 films in her entire career and retired from the screen and TV early. Except for her last few films, arranged by hubby Martin Melcher to bail out the estate he had poorly managed for years, Doris Day's star shone bright for movie and TV audiences alike for 25 years. Many, many fans and movie buffs would have loved to see Day in more films. After Melcher died in 1968, Doris hit it big with her own TV series, The Doris Day Show. It ran for five seasons, and after her last episode on March 12, 1973, she ended her performing career for good. She was just 50 years old.

Probably no other actress with such a bleak background and problem- filled personal life has done more to lift peoples' spirits by her talents. Doris Day was indeed a bright spot in the entertainment world. She was equally adept at dramatic and mystery roles, but her endearing talents shone best in her musicals and comedy-romances. She was one of a rare breed of screen, stage and TV stars who could act, sing, and dance and who excelled at comedy. She never won an Oscar but was nominated nine years for Golden Globes as the favorite female film star in the world – winning three times, in 1958, 1960, and 1963.

Brian Keith's background is very different. Except for a few uncredited parts in movies since childhood, his acting career didn't get started until the early 1950s when he appeared in several TV series. His first male lead came in a 1956 movie, "Storm Center," with Bette Davis. After that, he had many roles in films, TV movies and TV shows, and continued acting until his death in 1997 at age 75. He was in more than 160 films and TV shows.

"With Six You Get Eggroll" is a simple, light comedy-romance that most should enjoy. It's a good family film that may be a little slow for kids of the 21st century.

I absolutely love this movie. People have commented that Doris Day's later movies were not as good as the ones from the early '60s, but I disagree. The storyline here is very engaging, and the characters are superb. I totally lose myself in this movie when I watch it, and I laugh out loud every time. It is fun to follow the timeline of the movie... if you analyze it the entire thing takes place over about 5 months. It begins in June (with Flip and Stacey's graduation), and ends around Halloween (hence the brief appearnces of the Halloween masks). The supporting cast is terrific too, some great old faces that everyone will recognize. If you love the classic comedies of Doris Day, I heartily recommend this one.

'With Six You Get Eggroll' was yet another film as part of my Doris Day completest quest, being a fan and realising that there were still films of hers to see. Seeing it, with it being notable for being her swansong film, it is pleasant enough but one can see the reviews here are so mixed.

Day certainly made much better films, 'Calamity Jane' and 'Pillow Talk' especially. She also made far worse, some have often cited later efforts for understandable reasons (her best decade easily was the 50s) as among her worst, to me a few of her early films like 'Lucky Me' and 'Starlift' are also strong contenders. 'With Six You Get Eggroll' is somewhat of a middling film for her.

There are numerous strengths with 'With Six You Get Eggroll'. The music has quirky energy and is suitably understated when needed. Some of the dialogue is witty and sophisticated and there are some amusing, if never exactly hilarious, moments. Day driving off in the trailer leaving Brian Keith in his underwear on the road stands out.

Some of the story has an energetic bounce, and there are moments that really charm. Howard Morris directs competently. Most of the cast make the film and their material work. Day comes over as very natural and at ease, she has fun and radiates charm. Keith has lovely chemistry with her and is a likable leading man with a gift for gentle comic timing. Pat Carroll is great fun in support, and it was nice to see George Carlin and a young Barbara Herschey. One mustn't forget the personality-filled dog either.

However, the children are rather annoying (not the first time that's been the case in a Doris Day film), while the production values have a very low-budget feel and looks very made for TV. 'With Six You Get Eggroll' gets rather absurd towards the end and the final scene is a sea of messy chaos.

For all the fun, bouncy and charming parts of the story, there are also a few dull and tired moments that is suggestive of padding things out, and while the predictability is forgivable not so much is including very 60s elements like hippies and an appearance from The Greenshots that just date the film and a rather clumsy effort to make the film current of the time, inconsistent pacing, the messy final scenes and a sense that it would have fared better as an episode for a sit-com considering the relative thinness.

In conclusion, not awful, not great, somewhat mixed instead. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Along with "Yours, Mine and Ours" (Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda) this film marked the start of the "let's-create-a-family-by combining-each-of-ours" genre and soon several variations of the theme plowed their ways into theaters (including the much forgotten "Mulligan's Stew" where childless parents adopt a variety of ethnic representatives). It was a way to have "modern" family dramas survive in the ever changing marketplace. Looking like situation comedies found on television it was no surprise that they influenced what TV families of the 70's would look like. There was a chance to examine the ever increasing reality of divorce (disguised as widowship), yet still have a complete family unit. Of those that survived on television, "The Brady Bunch" and "Eight is Enough" are perhaps the most well known. No wonder abortion became popular! Soon these shows would be replaced by the examination of same sex parents (disguised as "good heterosexual friends") in such shows as "My Two Dads," and "Kate and Allie." Shows such as "The Cosby Show," "Home Improvement," and "Family Matters" brought television full circle so perhaps the 21st Century will see more single parent television and in another ten years a remake of "With Six You Get Eggroll." Of course the title would have to change for political correctness. How about "With Sex You Get Kids?" No wait, the pro-life groups won't like that. Ahhh, the sixties.