That Funny Feeling (5 stars)

That Funny Feeling, from 1965, is a totally adorable romantic comedy starring Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin.  The third film that the real-life couple made together, That Funny Feeling made its TCM debut earlier this week, and I was positively thrilled to catch it (my very first viewing of this movie and, thus, my first 5-star discovery of 2012).  Easily, it ranks up there with Pillow Talk as a completely delightful romantic comedy and one of my absolute favorites.  I loved every single minute of this film and found myself smiling and laughing the whole way through.

Living as frugally as possible while she tries to get into show business, Joan Howell (Dee) shares a tiny apartment with a friend, while working as a maid on the side.  One of the apartments she cleans belongs to playboy Tom Milford (Darin), a man she has never seen before; shortly after the film begins, Joan is notifed that he is going to be out of town for ten days.

A bit later, a handsome businessman asks Joan for a date, and though the man asks Joan what she does for a living, she doesn't reveal to him that she is a maid, nor does she want him to know she lives in a tiny apartment; therefore, when he insists on seeing her home at the end of the evening, Joan comes up with the idea of calling Milford's apartment her own...after all, he's out of town, so what difference can it make?!  What a surprise to the businessman when he walks Joan to the door of his very own apartment, for he is none other than Tom Milford, whose business trip was cancelled.

At first shocked, Tom isn't quite sure what to do, but since he's convinced Joan is not a thief, he allows the charade to keep on playing out.  Joan settles in and makes the apartment more and more her own, while Tom tries to keep her from discovering that he is, in fact, Mr. Milford.

This film was an absolute delight!  Yes, it's predictable, as most romantic comedies are, but getting there was loads of fun.  Sandra Dee was a total joy to watch...so beautiful and sweet and innocent.  I was in love with her wardrobe, especially the bright green dress.

Bobby Darin was handsome and funny.  Together, I thought they were magical....great chemistry between them, which, of course, is to be expected since they were happily married at this point in their careers.

The supporting cast was alot of fun...especially Robert Strauss as a bartender.  Some of his facial expressions were hilarious.  Oh, and finally, Bobby Darin sings the theme song.

For me, That Funny Feeling is easily as wonderful a film as Pillow Talk, which is one of my favorite romantic comedies ever.  I think it's a definite must-see gem of a film, and since it's out on DVD, it should be fairly easy to track down.

Happy viewing!!