This is a masterful comedy based on implication, insinuation and presumption. "That Funny Feeling" is a thinking person's comedy. It's one of the best films of all time for use of innuendo to create riotously funny scenes. The film has a good dose of witty lines – many from the supporting cast. With the leads, the comedy relies more on the unspoken word, the implied – discussions misunderstood by characters. Then, it has resulting physical mishaps and antics. And, the mishaps alone are riotous. Those with their thinking caps on should be able to catch all of this.
Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee had been married four years in 1965. They were heartthrobs of the teen set since the late 1950s. They were a dream couple with the dream wedding. Both were rising stars and had received Golden Globes as most promising newcomers. Darin also received an Oscar nomination for his role in "Captain Newman, M.D." And Darin was a super talented singer and musician. Darin and Dee's marriage may have been ideal at the start, but it ended in 1967. After that, their careers were cut short. He died after a second surgery on a heart weakened by rheumatoid fever as a child. That was in 1973 when he was just 37 years old. Her career took a nosedive after their 1967 divorce, and she suffered from anorexia, alcoholism and depression. She died at just 62 years of age from kidney disease.
In this movie, they meet under hilarious circumstances in the opening scene. Darin plays Tom Milford and Dee plays Joan Howell. The funniest role in the entire film is that of Leo G. Carroll who plays Mr. O'Shea. He is the proprietor of an upscale Manhattan pawnshop and does a decent job with a modest Irish accent. I laughed so hard at the three scenes he is in that I had to stop the DVD and replay those parts a few times. The humor is pure innuendo from misunderstanding discussions and from wrong presumptions.
James Westerfield plays police officer Brokaw in a few scenes. He has some witty lines as well as innuendo. And, Robert Strauss and Ben Lessy are riotous as bartenders who overhear Tom and Joan's conversations and misunderstand or presume wrongly what they are talking about. Lots more laughter here. Nita Talbot plays Joan's roommate, Audrey; and Larry Storch plays their neighbor and friend, Luther. Again, both have scenes with innuendo as well as some very funny lines. Donald O'Connor is Tom's friend and boss, Harvey Granson, who is a buffer for much of the comedy.
This is a squeaky clean adult movie that the whole family may watch, though younger members will miss much of the comedy. The innuendo requires a little knowledge and/or familiarity with real adult life. Darin sings the title song for the movie as well.
From two lives that had such difficult upbringing and tragic ends, came some very good wholesome entertainment. Bobby Darin's songs likely will last for many generations. For now and the future, the public has this and some other good films to enjoy from both stars. 'That Funny Feeling" is a grand piece of entertainment that may preserve the only happy few years of the lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee.
Following are some samples of funny dialog and hilarious scenarios in this movie.
Joan, "I knew what I was doing was wrong, but my motives were good."
Two police officers are outside a fire escape window before the police raid the apartment. Tom and Joan are arguing and Audrey is sitting on the bed playing solitaire. First officer, "Can you hear what he's saying?" Second officer, "He seems disappointed because she didn't make him a duck dinner." First officer, "What about the other one that's playing cards on the bed?" Second officer, "I'm still workin' on the duck dinner."
O'Shea is sitting at the bar, talking with the two bartenders. "Why, only this week, mind you, a mere wisp of a child with the bloom of innocence still on her cheeks, comes into the place, and would you believe it? Some dirty dog of a scoundrel, some mean, low-down, cheap, conniving, two-faced, lecherous snake in the grass, why
." He stops when he sees Tom and Joan come into the bar. She sits on a bar stool and as Tom is about to sit down, O'Shea walks over to him, taps him on the shoulder, and when Tom faces him, O'Shea socks him and knocks him out. He steps over Tom and walks away, muttering, "You and your English tailoring."
Main bartender (Robert Strauss), "You know somethin', Charlie. When you got her around you don't need television."
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