Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
June 19, 1968
MGM
Comedy
VHS
B-

Yes, this is another of those '60s movies with long, unwieldy titles that are nonetheless sung, in this case by the Lettermen.  That, the occasional funny line, and good performances by the four leads make this movie, which Day considered her worst, entertaining to me, despite an admittedly tasteless premise.  The title refers to the New York blackout of '65, although the movie is partially based on an older French play.  There's a hippie character who gives Doris a lift on his motorcycle and, with his peace symbol necklace and some of his slang, he feels more '68 than '65, but I suppose the makers of this film didn't think we'd mind.

It's the French-farce side of the movie that's tasteless, not the blackout.  Day is a Broadway actress starring in The Constant Virgin, but she wants to quit show biz and start a family.  Day's husband Patrick O'Neal almost cheats on her, but she comes home early because of the blackout.  She flees to their Connecticut house, where a sleeping tonic knocks out not only her but a visiting embezzler played by Robert Morse, apparently having found other ways to succeed in business without really trying.  They literally sleep together, and O'Neal thinks they, you know, slept together.  Her supposedly Hungarian producer Terry-Thomas manipulates the situation so Day will leave her husband rather than show biz.  In the end, someone else runs off with the $2 million, and O'Neal finds out that Day is faithful, although he doesn't tell her, even when she gives birth "nine months to the day" of the blackout.  And, yes, this is all playing off of Day's usual onscreen image, the constant virgin.

We can see how much and how little things have changed over the course of the '60s, comparing this to Please Don't Eat the Daisies.  (Which now that I think of it is sort of a sentence-long title.)  There, Day's husband didn't get any closer to adultery than a few drinks and dinners with a brassy blonde.  But of course, Day herself has to stay pure.  Terry-Thomas has a great line about admiring chastity, as he kisses her on the neck!  But my favorite line of his is where he asks his psychologist if hating both men and women makes him bisexual.  My favorite Robert Morse moment is when he points out that he and T-T both have gap teeth.

Besides the main characters, there are some other folks to keep an eye out for.  This time Jim Backus is a car salesman.  Earl Wilson as always plays himself.  Pat Paulsen, Steve Allen, and Lola Albright also have supporting roles.  (Morgan Freeman, then about 30, apparently shows up as a commuter.)

Larry J. Blake was in Sunset Blvd. and The Swinger.  Ben Frommer was in Plan Nine from Outer Space.  Harry Hickox was the cook in Speedway and is a detective captain here.  Angelique Pettyjohn was in Clambake and would be in The Love God?  Robert Emhardt, who plays Otis J. Hendershot, Sr., would be the banker in Change of Habit.