During the hey day of her career at Warner Brothers (1948-1957), Doris Day had some odd moments on film, whether it be "The Chantacleer" in "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" or her duet of "I Can Do Without You" with Howard Keel in "Calamity Jane". But she really took the cake here, and added a fruity topping to it with "The Superstition Song" which opens this fiasco which she admits was a mistake. Playing a perky vaudeville star (who poses in front of her own cut-out for passers by), she performs to a practically empty audience with a horrible number (without a doubt the one that killed vaudeville) with Phil Silvers, documenting "Horrible Men" throughout history. Along comes a ridiculous plot of the troop (which also includes an underused Nancy Walker and future "Pajama Game" co-star Eddie Foy Jr.) being stranded in Miami and her romantic issues with Robert Cummings, a songwriter who keeps that from her. This stereotypical plot line also includes Martha Hyer as Cummings' current girlfriend, the typical bitch who stands in the way. The songs (with the exception of "I Speak to the Stars") are really second rate and even in Cinemascope, the production seems rushed to become the very first musical in wide screen. The performers all do their best, and it's nice to see Silvers and Walker together long before they became a team on stage in "Do Re Mi" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". But this is way beyond their talents, and if a song called "High Hopes" can't give this film hope (it's far from the later Oscar winning song of the same name), nothing can. Considering the entertainment level of most of Doris's films of this time, this one falls in the category of the really bad comedies she was forced to do by contract towards the end of her film career.

Doris Day had fourteen films under her belt when she made this one, including three dramatic roles, and was still a major star so why Warners couldn't scare up a better leading man for her than Robert Cummings is a mystery. Cummings had paid his dues in things like King's Row and Dial M For Murder and was an accomplished leading man but by no stretch of the imagination was he a musical comedy leading man. There was absolutely no chemistry between him and Day and as it happened Phil Silvers could have played the leading role twice as well as Cummings. It's one of those films that on paper can't miss; a great cast - Silvers, Eddie Foy, Nancy Walker, Marcel Dalio - eight tuneful songs by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster (who had served Day excellently on Calamity Jane the previous year) which were effective on screen but had no life in the jukes, so that the sum of its parts is all it really is.

Marks for colour, costumes and casting. Miss Day (who obviously has her instincts working if she didn't want to do this)is larger than life, as are the rest of the troupe, including the incredible Nancy Walker, whom I've seen in other musicals. I think she really came into her own as Rhoda's mother, but there's no doubt she is very talented as a singer/dancer too. I found that the leading man was colourless, and the songs lacklustre, if not boring. Phil Silvers threw some much needed levity into the whole thing which could have died quietly. I am just amazed that given the assets this film does have that they didn't do a better job - what were they thinking? And no, it's NOT in cinemascope after the initial scenes. What's going on there? Had I been the backer, I would have walked away.

"Lucky Me" gives you everything you want in a musical and more. All the songs are catchy; the banter is quick and witty; there are some big dance productions; and of course, the one and only Doris Day.Most films from Doris Day leave me wishing there were more musical numbers, but "Lucky Me" has just the right amount. The plot is thin and the romance does not start until about halfway through, but who cares? This film is a whole lot of fun.If you are a Doris Day fan, this is a must. If not, then this is a good a place as any to find out about one of the greatest entertainers of all time. She can sing. She can dance. She can be really funny.If you like upbeat, colorful musicals, then check out "Lucky Me."