That Funny Feeling movie storyline. Joan Howell, a young and pretty maid-for-hire, meets and begins dating wealthy New York City businessman Tom Milford. Embarrassed about bringing him back to her tiny apartment that she shares with her roommate Audrey, Joan brings Tom over to a fancy apartment that she cleans on a daily basis not knowing that it’s his place. Tom plays along with the charade despite not knowing who Joan really is, while she tries to tidy up Tom’s place not knowing who he really is.
That Funny Feeling is a 1965 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, and Donald O’Connor. This was the third film pairing of Dee and then-husband Darin, following 1961’s Come September and 1962’s If a Man Answers. It was the second film that O’Connor and Kathleen Freeman (who played a lady in a telephone booth) made together, the first being Singin’ in the Rain.
Brief Review for That Funny Feeling
A frothy and familiar ’60s rom/com, helmed by the numbers by prolific filmmaker Richard Thorpe (“Night Must Fall”/”The Crowd Roars”). It’s based on a story of mistaken identities and the leads crossing paths without knowing how they are connected. The story by Norman Barasch & Carroll Moore and the screenplay play by David R. Schwartz are modest at best.
Though the leads are pleasant and the story is harmless, it only gave me the funny feeling I was watching a mediocre TV sitcom. Joan Howell (Sandra Dee) is an aspiring actress, who survives by working as a maid. She shares a small Manhattan walkup apartment with Audrey (Nina Talbot). Tom Milford (Bobby Darin) is a swinging bachelor and wealthy publisher, who keeps bumping into Joan on the street. Tom doesn’t realize Joan is the maid of his luxurious Upper East Side apartment. and when they meet and have a drink together she pretends his apartment is hers because she’s ashamed of her place.
Going along with the deception because he fell in love with her, Tom moves into the apartment of his boss Harvey (Donald O’Connor) while the maid thinks he’s in California on a business trip and lives in his place. This silly setup never eases up until the innocent Dee character and the love-struck Darin character, a real-life married couple at the time since 1960, bring the nonsense to an end by Darin going along with her charade until Dee caught on and pranks him with a party in his pad attended by all his swinging partners dressed as prostitutes. That will lead, for some reason beyond my sitcom IQ level, to Darin proposing to her.
That Funny Feeling (1965)
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Starring: Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, Donald O’Connor, Nita Talbot, Larry Storch, James Westerfield, Robert Strauss, Leo G. Carroll, Reta Shaw, Nora Marlowe, Kathleen Freeman, Minerva Urecal
Screenplay by: David R. Schwartz
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Clifford Stine
Film Editing by: Gene Milford
Costume Design by: Jean Louis
Set Decoration by: Julia Heron, John McCarthy Jr.
Art Direction by: Alexander Golitzen, George C. Webb
Music by: Bobby Darin
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: August 25, 1965 (United States)
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