Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)

67% of critics liked it
(6 reviews)
67% of users liked it
(5,057 ratings)

In this entertaining comedy by Charles Walters, everyone seems to get in on the act, even the dog and especially the four overactive kids in a wildly challenging family. David Niven co-stars with Doris Day as Lawrence and Kate Mackay, distinctive parents struggling with home, life, and family.… More In this entertaining comedy by Charles Walters, everyone seems to get in on the act, even the dog and especially the four overactive kids in a wildly challenging family. David Niven co-stars with Doris Day as Lawrence and Kate Mackay, distinctive parents struggling with home, life, and family. Lawrence opts for leaving his job teaching at Columbia University in New York for a post as a drama critic for a Gotham newspaper, bringing new problems to the pile the family already owns. First, they are forced to move out -- far out -- to the countryside with their brood and canine. And next, while Kate handles home, hearth, and hellions, Lawrence proceeds to alienate one of his best friends with a shattering review. That unhappy beginning to his new career also brings in one of the actresses damaged by his cutting remarks (Janis Paige), who wreaks her own form of havoc on poor Lawrence. In the meantime, Day gets to sing some songs which add to the light-hearted attitude of it all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 51 min.
Directed By: Charles Walters
Written By: Isobel Lennart
Genres: Kids & Family, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 31, 1960 Wide
On DVD: Apr 26, 2005
Studio: MGM

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Doris Day's fluffy comedy, made at the height of her popularity, is based on Jean Kerr (married to film critic Walter Kerr), and co-stars a smooth David Niven as her husband.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Enjoyable romantic comedy suffers from excess length.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Cute little flick, and it has absolutely nothing to do with daisies.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...if you're a Doris Day fan, no film of hers is too light or too fluffy.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
It's so ho-hum, it's hard to stay awake through it. And the title? One of the Mackay kids eats the daisies at the new house. Somehow, in the book that seemed a lot funnier.

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Cast

            Doris Day as Kate Mackay

            David Niven as Larry Mackay

            Janis Paige as Deborah Vaughn

            Spring Byington as Suzie Robinson

            Richard Haydn as Alfred North

            Patsy Kelly as Maggie

            Jack Weston as Joe Positano

            John Harding as Rev. Dr. McQuarry

            Margaret Lindsay as Mona James

            Charles Herbert as David Mackay

            Stanley Livingston as Gabriel MacKay

            Flip Mark as George MacKay

            Madge Blake as Mrs. Kilkinny

            Jhean Burton as Actress

            Kathryn Card as Miss Yule

            Richard Collier as Salesman

            Bobby Darin as Man

            Burt Douglas as Young Man

            Amy Douglass as Martha

            Milton Frome as Gus the Waiter

            Marianne Gaba as Girl

            Dog: Hobo
            
            Marina Koshetz as Jane March

            Peter Leeds as Larry's Secretary

            Len Lesser as Waiter

            Mary Patton as Mrs. Hunter

            Carmen Phillips as Mary Smith

            Charles Seel as Upholstery Man

            Guy Stockwell as Young Man

            Irene Tedrow as Mrs. Greenfield

            Geraldine Wall as Dr. Sprouk

            Frank Wilcox as Interviewer

            Wilson Wood as Photographer

            John Brennan as Young Man

            Benny Rubin as Pete

            Gail Bonney as Woman

            Donald Foster as Justin Winters

            Anatole Winogradoff as Paul Foster
See full cast

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