Considering Doris Day

by Tom Santopietro

The biggest female box office attraction in Hollywood history, Doris Day remains unequalled as the only entertainer who has ever triumphed in movies, radio, recordings, and a multi-year weekly television series. America's favorite girl next door may have projected a wholesome image that led Oscar Levant to quip "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin," but in Considering Doris Day Tom Santopietro reveals Day's underappreciated and effortless acting and singing range that ran the gamut from musicals to comedy to drama and made Day nothing short of a worldwide icon.
Covering the early Warner Brothers years through Day's triumphs working with artists as varied as Alfred Hitchcock and Bob Fosse, Santopietro's smart and funny book deconstructs the myth of Day as America's perennial virgin, and reveals why her work continues to resonate today, both onscreen as pioneering independent career woman role model, and off, as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. Praised by James Cagney as "my idea of a great actor" and by James Garner as "the Fred Astaire of comedy," Doris Day became not just America's favorite girl, but the number one film star in the world. Yet after two weekly television series, including a triumphant five year run on CBS, she turned her back on show business forever.
Examining why Day's worldwide success in movies overshadowed the brilliant series of concept recordings she made for Columbia Records in the '50s and '60s, Tom Santopietro uncovers the unexpected facets of Day's surprisingly sexy acting and singing style that led no less an observer than John Updike to state "She just glowed for me." Placing Day's work within the social context of America in the second half of the twentieth century, Considering Doris Day is the first book that grants Doris Day her rightful place as a singular American artist.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Film

400 pages, Hardcover

First published March 20, 2007

About the author

Tom Santopietro is the author of seven books: Why To Kill a Mockingbird Matters, Barbara Cook: Then and Now, the bestselling The Sound of Music Story, The Godfather Effect: Changing Hollywood, America, and Me, Sinatra in Hollywood, Considering Doris Day (New York Times Sunday Book Review Editor’s Choice) and The Importance of Being Barbra. A frequent media commentator and interviewer, he lectures on classic films, and over the past thirty years has managed more than two dozen Broadway shows.

Reviews

[4cats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating breakdown of Doris Days career both in film and music.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars since it is about Doris Day and that the author likes Doris Day. Otherwise, I wasn't impressed. It is marketed as a biography, but really the bulk of the content is the author analyzing her performances. Additionally, I wasn't into the author's voice. It seems as if he was trying to have a relaxed writing style, but the casualness and colloquiality come across as forced. He also wrote a bio about Barbra Streisand so it is understandable that he would compare the two performers, but it got pretty old after a while. All in all, I wished that there was more about Doris the person instead of Doris the entertainer.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the most common way to tell the story of someone's life is to begin at the beginning and end up at the end. Tom Santopietro took a somewhat different approach to his biography of Doris Day. He divided it into three large parts and a smaller one. The first "chapter" is 158 pages concerning her work in films; the second is 70 pages on her recordings; and the last is 58 pages on her work on television. Appropriately, he concludes the book with a consideration of her work fo... (show more)

[Mary Pauline M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough. Maybe it's me, but the section on music seemed to drag. I think maybe that was due to my having a hard time reading about music. Really enjoyed the section on her television series as that brought back memories.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another selection in my Summer with Doris Day, this one was what I was hoping

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable critic's overview of Doris Day's incredible career, nearly divided into film, music, television and animal rights activism. If Santopietro's analysis verges too often into the cliché-filled fawnings of a gay admirer, at least he gets at Day's eternal appeal (a mix of sensuality and approachable wholesomeness).

[HR-ML · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doris Kappelhoff was born in Cincinnati Ohio. The world
later knew her as Doris Day. Read the paperback edition
& gave this 3.5 stars.

Doris Day sang on WLW radio "the Nation's Station,"
on the road with big bands, & as a recording artist. She
did best w/ slow tempo ballads. She was a movie actress
and later had her own sitcom. I agree w/ the author
that Doris was underrated as an artist.

Doris @ age 17 yr. old wed a musician who beat her even
when pregnant. Her 2nd spouse cut out b/c he refused
to be known as "Mr. Doris Day." Reportedly there was
real love w/ her agent then business manager/ husband
Marty Melcher. Marty adopted son Terry from her 1st
marriage.

Doris excelled at expressive singing, while showing
various emotions. Doris revered Ella Fitzgerald.
Doris tried various music genres, but country and
rock didn't play to her strength. She had a 20 year
Columbia recording contract. Doris had a naturalness
on the screen which made her a popular movie star.

In the mid 1950s Doris made $500 K a year on movies
& $5 M a year on records sold.

Marty hired unknown songwriters in order for Doris
to control the publishing rights. He gave the "green
light" for her to sing novelty songs, IE "Purple Cow"
or songs which didn't maximize her gifts. He chose
some movies for her w/ substandard scripts. She did
not question his business decisions. After Marty's death
she learned he'd made poor investments w/ her atty
& she lost all her fortune. Marty had committed her
to a 5 yr TV contract w/ CBS w/o her knowledge or
consent. The author concluded Marty helped de-rail
her movie career w/ his poor movie choices, especially
toward the end of her film career.

Doris made a few films which cut too close to the bone
where she portrayed an abused woman. This chillingly
brought back her spousal abuse at the hands of spouse
#1.

Record producer, Terry, her only son, helped her bounce
back from financial disaster. She took the crook investor
to court and won $22 M, but received a fraction of this.

Downsides of this book. The author talked too much
about how Doris' innate sexiness came across in her
songs & movies. He noted 3-4 of her films had homo-
erotic subtexts. He spent too much time re-hashing
her TV show. We 'get' that the show had uneven scripts
and characters.

Movie critic Molly Haskell said of Doris on the big
screen, " (She had) a dazzling personality. She had
confidence, an intensity, a freshness, quite unlike
anyone else."

[DEVON RAINS · Rating 4 out of 5]

The brilliant Doris Day

A charming book that concentrates not on her personal life but her artistic output. Development, big bands, Recordings, movies, television and activism. Doris Day is my favorite singer and I've read so much about her but still I learned so much more. With this approach. Worth reading if you love her!

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a review of her career in chronological order. Not much depth on Doris herself.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Doris day but know nothing about her, this is the book to read because it covers everything and I mean, everything. A fan's dream !

[Daisy!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying that I am a big fan of Mrs. Day and her films and recordings and such it was a disappointment that I learned very little of her as a person through this book. Considering Doris Day is a biography written as if every sentence is a retort. A retort to what exactly? Day's reputation as the perennial virgin, Get ready you'll hear that term many, Many times throughout this book. Doris Day was unfairly criticized for being outdated when feminism gained popularity in the 1960's and 1970's. Her work, Specifically her films, Were seen as outdated and she represented the backwards way that women were treated in the pre sexual revolution era. As this author states Day's films, Specifically her sex comedies with Rock Hudson, Were decently ahead of their time in showing a single working woman. Doris Day in these films was a single woman traversing the pitfalls and obstacles of being a woman in then modern day America, She was also not a virgin. Day's films and recordings show that she was not America's perennial virgin and she was in fact very aware of her allure. Here's the problem, At least here's my problem. The author makes this point very well, Over and over and over. There are long passages of this book where the author analyzes her films, Recordings and television performances and points out all of the ways that the baby boomer generation was wrong about Miss Day. This grows tiring fast. By the time the introduction is over one is well aware of the author's feelings toward this view of Miss Day and the rest of the book is spent repeating it. So what is the rest of the book? Well it's analysis of her films and her recordings and her television shows and specials. The film analysis is frankly hard to read, The author is very preoccupied with reality which is something that is missing from classic hollywood fare. In my opinion one needs to have an extension of disbelief when watching hollywood movies from the 1940's to the 1960's as there was a reason why the new hollywood movement took over from then on. The films weren't realistic and it's fair to criticize that but hearing it stated over and over for nearly all 39 of her hollywood films is a little too much. The author doesn't seem to like very many of Miss Day's films so it's a wonder on how he continues on about her innate talent for comedy and drama. Doris Day is a good actress (Her performance during the symphony hall scene in The Man Who Knew Too Much is a great indicator of what could've been had she gotten better scripts) but in my opinion she isn't among the all time greats (Again this comes down to the problem with scripts which I agree with the author in that she deserved much better) and the constant praising just comes off odd in my opinion. Here's the real problem of it all, As I stated in my opener one does not get to know Day as a person. Her life up to her signing with Warner Brothers takes up a brief chapter and from then on it's the film analysis and music analysis. The author continually references her autobiography and frankly that's the book I wish I had read. (I didn't even know she had written one. This book was on display at the library and I was interested so I checked it out, Blame me for not being the informed reader.) Her days with the Les Brown band and her marriages are glossed over, There are references to her husband Marty Melcher's sour financial dealings but it is only referenced and one has to go elsewhere to learn the whole story. Reading this book one gets very little sense of what Miss Day was like as a person until the very end when her animal rights activism is covered briefly. I will give the author credit though, He is right on the money in regards to her musical talent. Though again I personally don't think she is as good as the author says, He is right when he says that Miss Day was an underrated vocalist despite her gold records and worldwide fame. (Listen to her recording of Dream A Dream Of Me to hear just how good she was.) Overall the author's style is just not my cup of tea, He is constantly retorting Day's reputation as the perennial virgin and he is constantly saying how sexy she was, It all just doesn't work for me. In short, Maybe seek out her autobiography instead. Thanks for reading!

[Robert Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was obviously written by a man who is a huge fan of Doris Day and her work. Although he adores her, he is also honest about her work in movies, music and TV. But, the book is an exhausting ride through every single movie and album she ever made. While I enjoyed much of the discussion and history, I found the lack of personal information unfortunate. There was very little discussion about the creation of the movies and her interaction with the directors, actors etc. This was very different from Gerald Clarke's terrific bio on Judy Garland where her interaction with co-workers was well explored and its affect on the films analyzed.
I have a great appreciation for her work but gathered very little insight into who she was as a person.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen I'm a fan of Doris Day, a big one but I'm a mere piker compared to the slavish veneration bordering on idolatry that this author has for the woman. There is no question that Doris was an immensely talented and likable entertainer and person but the author makes her seem superhuman to the nth degree.

Obviously to undertake this exhaustive overview of her career he would have to be an admirer but the often purple prose he resorts to in his swoony exaltation of all things Doris gets to be a bit much at times. If you can skim over the near relentless fangirling there is a great deal of interesting information about both her film and music careers.

[Kivrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read a biography about Doris Day because I loved her growing up, and I still think she was a beautiful, talented performer. This book is not about her. This book is about EVERY movie and t.v. show and record she ever made. The author takes you through every single one in excruciating detail. Some of it was interesting, but it was just too much detail with a lot of repetitive comments about Day's talents, shortcomings, etc. I stuck it out to the end but it was a really long book!

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Doris Day (may she rest in peace). Tom Santopietro loves her even more, and this biography shows it on every page. Even though he does include some negative comments here and there during his exhaustive review of her career, they are rarely directed at Doris herself, but at poor scripts, poor direction or bad choreography. It's true that Doris Day was an excellent singer and a good actress, but she clearly made several bad choices in her life. Then again, who hasn't?

[Dawna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up adoring Doris Day & since she recently passed on, I wanted to pay tribute & honor her by reading about her life. This writing, however, is heavy with too much detail. I felt it drowned the true essence of such an iconic, beautiful & extremely talented lady.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following his witty overview of Streisand's career in "The Importance of Being Barbra" (2005), Tom Santopietro turns to Doris Day and delivers a sharp-eyed, carefully researched career evaluation that also convincingly rebukes many modern misconceptions about her pristine screen persona and status as a singer.

With the exception of That Touch of Mink ("a film nearly devoid of wit or humor"), most of Day's onscreen characters were far from eternal virgins; they were proto-feminist icons ranging from successful career women with healthy libidos to smart can-do housewives. Santopietro's sassy assessment of Day's 39 films illuminate her best (Love Me or Leave Me, Pajama Game, Thrill of It All), analyzes her worst (Tunnel of Love, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?) and offers some surprises (he defends the KKK melodrama Storm Warning, but is more reserved about Pillow Talk).

Delving into her prodigious recording career (from 1948 to 1967, she released more than 600 songs), Santopietro appraises her songs almost track-by-track with such full-blooded enthusiasm that most readers will be racing to iTunes to download her catalogue. While not intended as a full biography, there is enough biographical detail as it concerns her career choices to create a vibrant portrait of the artist and the woman.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed overview of Day's film, recording and television work. Each of her films, albums and television appearances are discussed in detail. Not really a biography as such. An entertaining and welcome discussion of Day's career, placing it in perspective, and championing her sometimes groundbreaking, almost always memorable, talent.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great performer who did not take charge of her own career and suffered thereby...

[Gary Shapiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hear my conversation with Tom Santopietro
http://web.mac.com/garyshapiro

[Lindsay Diggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a few years since I read this, and I remember i was drawn to it purely based on the cover. I remember liking it, but i should probably reread it again sometime

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fair