That Touch of Mink

A movie from another time and another place ...  and given how radically different the vision is from the world of today, it's practically by and about a different species (and I don't mean mink). For those of us with a slightly more expansive view of life, and particularly human relations, this is a movie that it’s hard to watch without having a big grin on your face. The humor throughout the story is light, breezy, dry and droll, a quality that is helped immensely by Cary Grant being Cary Grant and delivering his lines with his classic aplomb. Doris Day gets in her share of gentle zingers, too, while the supporting cast in roles large and small deliver snappy moments that pick up the slack whenever the principals need a break. Additional pleasures come from the time machine visuals of early ‘60s New York City like the Automat, various city locations, and even old Yankees Stadium (complete with cameos from Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra). Mostly, the fun comes from watching outdated manners and mores played for laughs in their native habitat and time frame. Such a story, with these sensibilities, would be impossible to tell today; you have to reach back in time via the magic of cinema to get an experience like this. The bad old days weren’t always bad, and tomorrow—or today, for that matter—ain’t as good as it seems…and here’s the proof.