It Happened to Jane (1959) User Reviews (45)

General Bullmoose meets The Lobster Lady

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 25 October 2005]

It Happened to Jane presents Doris Day as a woman on a mission. She's inherited a lobster business from her late husband and due to some cost cutting on the railroad that President Ernie Kovacs has put through, her lobsters were dead on arrival at their destination.

I'd be burned up as well and Doris and lawyer Jack Lemmon sue the railroad. They win a nominal sum, but that ain't good enough. They both carry on the fight and she becomes a media star. Kind of like a Fifties version of Erin Brockovich.

Of course all of this is done at the incredible stupidity and abominable sense of public relations that Ernie Kovacs has. His character is yet another version of Al Capp's General Bullmoose. And that character was a satire on Eisenhower's first Defense Secretary Charles E. Wilson. Wilson at his confirmation hearings uttered that never to be forgotten phrase that he had always operated on the principle that what was good for General Motors was good for the USA. Wilson was a fatuous sort of gent, just like Ernie Kovacs here. I'd have to say Kovacs was having a whale of a good time in this part.

The movie had some nice location shooting which definitely helped. And I completely agree with the previous reviewer who said that Lemmon and Day meshed nicely together as a team. It is a pity they weren't ever teamed again.

A favorite character part in the film for me is Russ Brown who plays Day's uncle and a former railroad engineer, a fact that comes in handy during the climax of the film.

It's a nice family film, but it also gets in a few good satirical shots at American business types.

A clever film that is better than its reputation might suggest.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 12 December 2011]

This film was produced by Doris Day's husband at the time, Marty Melcher.

The film is set in Maine. Doris Day is the owner of a tiny company that sells lobsters. When a shipment of hers is allowed by the railroad to sit for several days instead of sending it to the customers, the lobsters die and her company loses several important contracts. She contacts the railroad to have them pay damages and they agree to pay the going rate for the lobsters. However, Day isn't about to just accept this--her company reputation has been harmed and she is without customers. And, she hires her goofy friend (Jack Lemmon) to represent her in a lawsuit, as the railroad isn't about to budge. Normally, you'd think that the railroad would just pay her off, but the owner (Ernie Kovacs--who is very difficult to recognize under all the makeup) refuses. The case is decided in Day's favor, but the lawyers for the railroad mean business and promise to tie this up in appeals for years--even though the amount is only a couple thousand dollars. Fortunately, the judge must have really felt that the railroad was acting in bad faith, and so Day is awarded one of the railroad's engines to hold until they do pay. Soon, things escalate wildly out of proportion, as the story hits the national newspapers and the public support for this tiny company against an uncaring corporation is strong. So strong, in fact, that Day becomes an instant celebrity. As the case escalates further and further, where is all this going to lead?! The railroad is mean and nasty and they aren't about to give in--nor is Day.

Despite losing money and being considered one of Day's 'lesser' films, I enjoyed this little civics lesson very much. Kovacs was quite enjoyable as the evil corporate giant and the script was fresh and amazingly original. If you like this film, try watching "Solid Gold Cadillac"--a film with a similar one lady versus corporate big-wigs script.

One of the most underrated of Doris Day's films

[mrsastor · 7/10 · 20 April 2007]

This has to be the most underrated and overlooked of the comedies from Doris Day's later career. I'm surprised at the relatively low score it has received here on IMDb, as it's a really fun and entertaining movie (particularly following the unfortunate Tunnel of Love she appeared in the prior year).

Rather than the lush, opulent interiors and wardrobe we usually look forward to in a Day comedy, this one is stunning for its exteriors. Filmed in New England in the summer of 1958, the film exudes idyllic small town splendor. Day plays Jane Osgood, a widowed entrepreneur (all "independent" women in 1950's TV or movies are either widows, as in Lucille Ball's later television work, or impossible-to-marry shrews like Joan Crawford in The Best of Everything). Osgood operates a budding lobster business, and when an expensive shipment is ruined by the laxity of the railroad, she takes on railroad magnet Harry Foster Malone in a highly publicized David & Goliath lawsuit. Ernie Kovacs is particularly memorable in his portrayal of Harry Foster Malone, an obvious and amusing allusion to Orson Welles' Charles Foster Kane, which was of course an allusion to William Randolph Hurst. In her legal battle, Osgood enlists the aid of local attorney and old friend George Denham, the man she's "supposed" to be with and just doesn't realize it, played well by a young Jack Lemmon. Throughout the course of the story, the film seems to at regular intervals inject some rather insightful observations on a multitude of thought-provoking topics, including the place and nature of democracy in a capitalist society, the overwhelming power wielded by big business, even the (at the time) ever expanding place of television in our lives and its ability to influence and inform. And all of this in a comedy!

The only negative I can think of is the inclusion of perhaps the worst musical number ever put on film. Jane Osgood is the den mother of the local boy-scout troop (naturally) and at the camp out in her back yard she leads them in a sing-a-long of the single most stupid, dreadful and endless song you ever heard in your life. "Be Prepared"…well they warned you! It starts out as amusingly bad, but then seems to last about fifteen or twenty minutes until you think you'd rather take your own life than hear one more note. Any self-respecting boy scout over the age of five would kick you right in the nuts if you asked him to sing this wretched torturous piece of nonsense.

This aside (it is unfortunately not that uncommon in films of this era), this film benefits well from a strong, well written script and an excellent cast. It is actually much more intelligent and heart-warming than any of the Doris Day-Rock Hudson pairings, and while it is a very different kind of film, it can hold its own against any of those. Highly recommended, but be prepared to hit the "mute" button when those boy-scouts start singing!

a surprising delight

[rupie · 7/10 · 28 August 2002]

Having expected a run-of-the-mill comedy effort I was surprised to be drawn into this unusually well-written, -acted, and -produced effort. The story avoided dropping to the "cutesy" level; there was enough grit in the conflict between Jane and the railroad magnate to keep one involved. I can only echo the plaudits given by others in this space to the efforts of Day, Lemmon and, especially, the underrated Ernie Kovacs. I echo the criticism of the brief flash of gratuitous partisanship in Lemmon's little speech about the stingy, nasty Republican running for selectman, but it's a minor flaw. A nice plus is the rich look of the movie, with its portrayal of the New England countryside and its nice footage of the venerable steam locomotive, a form of transport sadly passing from the scene when the flick was made. (The color technology of films from this period is superior to what we have nowadays). All in all, a delightful surprise, and well worth catching.

That Jane From Maine

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 2 August 2013]

Doris is full of pluck and moxie fighting a big corporate jerk who actually seems unhinged in his singular quest to squash the hard working widow Jane. Jack is the earnest lawyer who has loved her since childhood. Together they make a wonderful pair as they go through no end of complications that drive them apart and united them again. Charming comedy was an inexplicable failure on its initial release probably in large part because of that atrocious title. It's re-release title of Twinkle and Shine was hardly an improvement, why they didn't stick with the initial title of That Jane from Maine which would have fit it perfectly is a mystery. Be that as it may this is a cute family comedy with wonderful location shooting and high production values as well as a super supporting cast.

A Slice of Americana

[dougdoepke · 17 April 2009]

Entertaining A-budget production, but too plot-heavy to really succeed as a comedy, despite the heavyweight talents of Lemmon, Kovacs, Day, and director Quine. In short, the comedic moments have to compete with too many plot developments in a screenplay more seriously complex than most comedy set-ups. Strong-willed Day is determined not to be bested by railroad tyrant Kovacs in getting her lobster business going. Throw in a romantic triangle and Lemmon's political ambition and you've got a crowded storyline. Nonetheless, all the principals are in fine form—Day's all sunny spunk, Lemmon's a slightly pixilated attorney, while Kovacs does his usual moustache-twirling villain.

As entertaining as these characters are, the movie really succeeds as a slice of idealized Americana. Whoever decided to film in an actual New England small town and use the residents for the many crowd scenes deserves a medal. The resulting visuals are a permanent record of small town America at mid-century and wonderfully colorful to look at. There's a bit of Norman Rockwell nostalgia in some of the set-ups that could have come off a Saturday Evening Post cover, especially those around the train station. And what could be more popularly American than the little guy (gal) besting the big guy at his own game. I just wish the script had eliminated the unnecessary and non-comedic Day/Forrest subplot, and instead mixed in more interaction between Kovacs and Lemmon whose chemistry is superb as shown in the under-rated Operation Mad Ball (1957). Nonetheless, there are enough compensations to make this a very watchable 90 minute diversion.

Kind of Assuaging.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 6 April 2012]

Doris Day is a lobster marketer in a small Maine town. Jack Lemon is the suitor who is unwilling to "commit" -- that is, marry her. But don't worry. Later, Steve Forrest's interest in Day will kick start Lemon into a proposal.

Romantic busyness aside, Day has a run-in with railroad magnate Ernie Kovacs over a shipment of lobster. Kovacs owns everything. But Day and Lemon acquire an old steam engine and determine to market their lobsters in towns all the way down to the big cities. Kovacs throws every possible impediment, legal and physical, in her way. Day becomes a figure as popular as Charles Lindbergh. (Kids, Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly across the Atlantic -- that's an ocean -- by himself, and that was in 1927, before you were born, assuming you were born.) Day and Lemon fight against all these obstacles. Ernie Kovacs is "the meanest man on earth." He looks great, though. His name is "Harry Foster Malone", as in "Charles Foster Kane." The top of his head has been shaved so that, from certain angles he actually resembles Orson Welles in old age make up.

Kovacs has a fine time with the role too. At one point, surrounded by dozens of hostile witnesses, he's trying desperately to persuade Day and Lemon to follow some suggestion that will work to his advantage and he's interrupted by some snotty little child's remark. Kovacs looks down at the brat, with an expression that's no more than a sneer trying to mimic a smile. Then he slowly reaches out a large, claw-like hand as if to pat the kid on the head, but the hand takes on a willfulness of its own and seems to glow with the desire to crush the little monster's skull.

It's hardly a riotous comedy and far from a masterpiece but it's a movie with more substance than most of the films Doris Day was to make during the decade that followed. The conflict between Day and Malone holds the story together and the shots of the old locomotive puffing through the greenery of New England are colorful.

The fictional town of Cape Anne, Maine, is almost like a portrait of Norman Rockwell's America. There is a Town Hall meeting where anyone can stand up and speak his mind on an issue. Day shows the visiting Steve Forrest around the village. Here is the town church, spic, span, and sparse, the interior painted white with brown trim. You can almost smell it. This is the town hall where issues are decided democratically. Here is the cemetery where Day's ancestors are buried, including one who fought in the Revolutionary War. The streets are clean, the furniture sturdy, the people well intentioned. Oh, there is a hint of selfishness but the good folk of Cape Anne are soon shamed out of it. It's like brushing away a fly speck on that Rockwell portrait of the lean, craggy guy in the worn leather jacket who is standing up and speaking at the Town Hall.

It's reassuring. Here are the little people acting independently, David against Goliath. And they win. Of course, the greater message is that, to put it simply, small towns are good while the cities are cesspools of evil.

I rather enjoyed it, despite its being a predictable fantasy. I wouldn't mind living in a small New England town like that. I could be the crazy old coot who buys nothing but pork and beans at the grocery store and of whom everyone is both tolerant and fond. Anybody could play that role.

Good film to watch

[Michael1958 · 7/10 · 20 January 2003]

The best thing about this film is seeing what small town America looked like in the late 1950's. While some Hollywood sets were no doubt used, this one looks as if most were shot Down East in Maine. The plot is simplistic and yet a quasi Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Doris Day and Jack Lemmon handle their roles very well. My personal favorite in the film is the great Ernie Kovacs as the bad guy in this story about a small town woman (Jane/Doris) fighting to have her lobsters shipped fresh to the big cities like Boston and New York by train. After a shipment of lobsters end up dying before reaching their destination-Jane/Doris, with the help of her sweetheart/lawyer Jack Lemmon decide to challenge greedy Railroad tycoon Kovacs-who hams up his role quite well. I will let you watch the movie to learn the results of the challenge.

MM

A fun Family period Movie

[bgarry999 · 10/10 · 26 November 2006]

This is a fun period movie. It's a great snap shot of rural New England in the late 1950's. I remember watching this movie when I was a young boy growing up in the Hartford area of Connecticut. Thought the story is about the fictitious town, Cape Anne, Maine, the story was actually filmed in Connecticut. I remember everyone being excited about the movie because they had filmed scenes at the Hartford Railroad Station, one being where George kisses Jane. Back then we all had traveled someplace from the Hartford Station. The movie's vivid color gives us great views of the landscape, the old New England houses, stores, churches, and court house. The "Town Meeting" as it was, and still is, in some ways still in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The various types of cars of the time, and of course the different trains. It's a great story of the little guy (gal in this case) against the big corporation. Doris Day and Jack Lemmmon are at their best as well as the supporting cast. This is a movie the whole family can sit down to and have a great time, especially if you are from New England.

All-American David and Goliath story that puts a widowed mother of two against a railroad tycoon.

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 9 August 2023]

Doris Day is delightfully wholesome as the widowed single mother of two potential lobster business owner...and when her lobsters are returned to her dead from a large country club because the railroad didn't pay to have a staff member man the station in a Friday, she decides to take on Harry Foster Malone, the railroad tycoon himself in this epic David vs the Goliath like story. Dorris Day's character Jane and her two kids live in this picturesque small town where everyone still votes in person on every issue and her lawyer George Denham, played by Jack Lemmon, is not only her best friend from school but her son's Boy Scout troop leader.

Zany and fun, Jane ends up owning an old fashioned train in which she, her lawyer, and kids all go for a crazy ride in...in an effort to deliver her own lobsters.

More sweet than funny, this film did make me want to visit Cape Anne, Maine!

Innocent and wholesome, this is a wonderful show to share with a family. I highly recommend for a good family movie night.

bad information in article

[snertgjs · 3/10 · 28 December 2005]

I have seen this movie many times..Why?,,because, the most of it was filmed in Chester CT,,,,not Deep River or Essex. How do I know that? I grew up in that town,,,and can give many instances relating to that movie....the beginning of the movie,,when Doris Day goes to Jack Lemons office,,,was in Chester center, my parents owned the building where that scene was filmed. The meeting house scenes was located around the corner from my house. I spent hundreds of hours in that building as well as playing baseball in the open grass field with my brothers.... The time when Doris Day runs out of the meeting and Jack Lemon goes out in his car and catches up to her at a water fall. That area is next to the house I grew up in, and spent many hours on hot summers day playing on and near that waterfall.. The last scene of the movie, with the fire truck, was filmed in Chester Center. The fire truck was turned over the town fire department (Chester Hose Company) after the filming was finished and served the town over 25 years.

I could go on and on, loved the seeing the movie in part, because of all the memories it brings back and about every 5 years, the town holds a movie festival and shows that movie in the meeting house. It was a fun event for all who attends. To this day, some of the locals who had bit parts in the movie show up to shine once again.

Thanks for listening. Please write back if you have any comments or questions Gary

Wonderful Team Effort By Doris Day and Jack Lemmon

[sobaok · 10/10 · 6 August 2001]

After watching this film several times -- one wonders why the natural talents of Doris Day and Jack Lemmon weren't paired more often. Their totally believable portrayals really hold the viewer -- one can't overlook the fact that these two were at the top when it came to natural talent on the screen. Day's fight with railroad magnate (Ernie Kovaks fits his role like an old shoe) brings to the fore "corporate/community greed" vs. "human rights" as the townfolk and eventually the "nation" get behind Doris' quest to save her lobster business in Maine. The humor is mixed with some thought-provoking questions. In 2001, the film is almost a glimpse at the last vestage of the "town hall meeting" government. The supporting cast is fine (Mary Wickes, in particular adds great comic touch) -- but it's Day and Lemmon together that make this film a must see.

Jack or Steve...and Lobsters, Too

[JLRMovieReviews · 6/10 · 2 April 2009]

As the tag line says, it could have happened to anyone, but it happened to Jane. What is it? It's this nice story of Jane, who inherited a lobster business from her dad and her struggles to get them to restaurants etc. due to "the meanest man in the world" Ernie Kovacs, the man who owns the train service that goes through her little town in Maine. Jack Lemmon is a local attorney who's been friends with her since so high. For such an unknown movie, you would think it's pretty lame. It's not what I would call a laugh-a-minute or a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it's very good at creating character and life in Cape Anne, Maine. They make us care very much about the people in this small town, but the battle between Ernie and Doris gets out of control and in the last half hour, one tends to lose some interest. But overall, a pleasant diversion for Jack and Doris fans, with a dashing Steve Forrest to boot, to give Jack a run for his money. Who will win Doris' hand? Well, it happens like this...

Great scenery and really annoying kids.

[al-345 · 4/10 · 2 October 2005]

Apparently, this film was shot mostly around Kennibunkport, Maine. It's an interesting view of the arrogance of the rail barons, showing how they took what was left of their passenger franchise and drove the sinking ship (pardon the mixed metaphor) into the ground. From a plot point of view, it takes everyone FOREVER to realize that the the central plot point (no rail service out of town) is easily solved by using the train Doris Day has impounded.

On a more negative note, this has some of the most ANNOYING "cute children" scenes ever filmed. Not only do Ms. Day's children grate, but there is an astoundingly annoying scene where the entire Cape Anne, Maine cub scout troupe "sings". Cicadia sound better.

not only an old fashion comedy

[Vincentiu · 4 April 2015]

for discover the entire force of film , it is not a bad idea to see it twice. first time for its adorable cast and extraordinary humor. than, for the message. it is more than an old film and it is more than a comedy. it has a splendid charm but the fight between a young widow, the role of media for case, the great corporation against the simple people are more great challenges for 2015 than for 1959. another aspect - Doris Day's acting who could be, after too many easy roles, a surprise. Jack Lemmon is himself and the dose of romanticism is perfect for admire a film who use all its potential. a remarkable comedy. and one of the splendid roles by Doris Day.

Enjoyable, Sleepy Sunday Afternoon Type Movie

[parrish42 · 6/10 · 7 October 2005]

Summary: Enjoyable, Sleepy Sunday Afternoon Type Movie It Happened to Jane (1959) ... aka Jane from Maine (USA) ... aka Twinkle and Shine. Richard Quine of "World of Suzie Wong (1960)" fame (directed this lovely little movie during the last part of President Eisenhower's Administration. All was "okay" with the world and America was recovering from the trauma of World War II. We had a Good versus Bad, Black & White mentality about our society and it was alright to call the president "Ike". This Movie symbolizes that synergy of a vibrant do anything culture along with the emergence of women in business for themselves. Immediately, our heroine Jane Osgood played aptly by the beautiful and loving Doris Day, runs into trouble with the villainous Railroad owner Harry Foster Malone who dining habits alone makes the viewer cringe. Mr. Malone is played by Ernie Kovacs who appears to have put on 40+ pounds for the film, and shaved his head, bearing a definite intentional resemblance to "Citizen Kane (1941)" character Charles Foster Kane. Jane's business dilemma must be solved or their is ruin to be had. Jane turns to lifelong friend and unrequited lover, George Denham played by Jack Lemmon. Mr. Denham is the local attorney and the want-to-be First Selectman of the town of Cape Anne, Maine. This wonderful corner of the American landscape could have been painted by Norman Rockwell, including the Cub Scout Troop with their Pack meeting and the proverbial Town Hall meeting where the last of America's Democracy happens and every person of voting age gets a vote. Jane has the seemingly brilliant plan of suing Mr. Malone, after a preliminary settlement proves unacceptable, and from there the fight is on. Having won her local court case, Jane seizes "Old 97", one of Malone's trains. A reactionary Malone fires back with "Track Rent" for Jane's Train. The American media of the time takes up the cause-Celeb and reporter Lawrence Clay 'Larry' Hall played by Steve Forrest is dispatched finding Jane more interesting than the story. Mr. Hall coaxes Jane to come to New York and make the rounds of the television programs of the era seeking support, even appearing on "I've Got a Secret" with Gary Moore. This turn of events throws George into a jealous dither as only Jack Lemmon could portray, fearing the loss of affection from his Small town sweetheart Jane. Jane nearly falters when the Town administration speaks out, but George saves the day, concocting a plan to fill the Lobster orders Jane has garnered form her publicity. In an effort to deliver her lobster orders, a terrific Train journey on "Old 97" ensues with Malone tossing "route-blocks" and detours at every turn. Finally, our villain sees the light of day and turns from the "Meanest Man in the World" into an old softy with a heart of real gold, concluding with his donation of a new fire truck for the town. This movie presents the viewer with a terrific view of east coast American life at a time when anyone could take on the big boy and win. This film is fun, enjoyable and perfectly fit for children, with a great life lesson and a solid moral letting our families know that right is just that and wrong cannot triumph over good.

It Happened to Jane Runs Out of Steam **

[edwagreen · 6/10 · 24 November 2006]

Disappointing Doris Day-Jack Lemmon 1958 vehicle.

The plot is funny where a widow with 2 children fights a railroad magnate, played to the hilt by Ernie Kovacs. It becomes a back and forth battle.

As the lawyer for Day, Lemmon never really breaks through in this part. The comedic gifts of Mary Wickes are wasted in a role as a switchboard operator turned newspaper reporter.

Steve Forrest plays a N.Y. reporter who picks up on the feud as well as having romantic designs on Day.

The laughs are purely predictable. Nice scenery depicted along with a patriotic Maine having their city council meetings with full participation by the citizenry.

Day and Lemmon deserved better.

Brings a twinkle to the eye and a smile to the face, but didn't shine as brightly as it could have done

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 23 July 2017]

Saw 'It Happened to Jane' as a fan of Doris Day and wanted to see the films of hers not yet seen for completest sake. And it is a decently pleasant film that had potential to be so much more.

'It Happened to Jane' is not one of her best. It is no 'Calamity Jane', 'Pillow Talk', 'Move Over Darling', 'Lover Come Back', 'On Moonlight Bay' and 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon'. However, no it is not one of her worst either (if anything it's a middling effort of hers that does deserve a better reputation). It is much better than 'Starlift', 'Lucky Me', 'The West Point Story' (aka 'Fine and Dandy') and 'Do Not Disturb' of her films seen to date (which is most but a few more to see).

Not without its faults. The children are badly cast, being irritating and trying so hard to be cute that it's almost too sickly sweet. Their scenes are overplayed, under-directed, dull and annoying. The "Be Prepared" number did not fit within the film, went on for far too long (wouldn't have been so much an issue if it didn't interrupt the flow, seeing as it did substantially it was an issue), one really doesn't see the need of its inclusion and it's just not a good song and a weakly done scene all round in general.

Would have liked to have seen more chemistry between Day and Jack Lemmon. There are certainly some lovely and enjoyable moments that Day and Lemmon bring out beautifully, but mostly there could have been more of it and generally it could have been better executed. It's through no fault of Day, neither is it through fault of Lemmon, who really tries his best and gives an earnest charm, but their chemistry just seemed bland and underwritten. Lemmon's character is also a little underused and sketchily developed, a waste of a fine actor who still gives his all.

The story is lightweight and far-fetched, and, although there are plenty of entertaining and charming moments and most of the pacing is fine, the slightness is obvious at times which leads to a few scenes lacking zip. Without some of the children's scenes and "Be Prepared" there would already be a better film.

This may sound like 'It Happened to Jane' was a bad film to me. It wasn't, far from it. It just could have been much better and had some major faults even for somebody taking it for what it was and set out to do.

For all its flaws, however, there are a number of positives. 'It Happened to Jane' is lovely to look at, the exteriors and fashions are fabulously lavish and it is beautifully photographed. The locomotives also look amazing and like their own characters. With the exception of "Be Prepared", the music is not bad at all, it has the right amount of quirkiness and elegance. While Day has certainly had better songs in her career (don't misunderstand, this is not a musical but it has a few songs sung by Day), the music here is nonetheless pleasant and suit her voice, especially the title song. She sings them very well with her usual uniquely beautiful sound and with her usual musical and interpretive understanding and sincerity.

Regarding the script, a lot of it is amusing and almost to the level of an Ealing comedy in its best bits, charming and touching, with parts that also probe a great deal of thought like with the social satire Frank Capra style. The town hall speech is also stirring, packs a punch content-wise and has a message that still resonates and feels relevant. The story is hardly great, but there is an amiable light-heartedness and never too cloying sweetness that makes 'It Happened to Jane' still pleasing to watch and difficult to be too tough on. Most of the pacing is bright and breezy.

Day is perky and luminous, has deftly witty comic timing, sincerity and just charms everybody every time she's on screen in front of the camera and to the viewer watching. Lemmon is compromised somewhat by his writing and character, but still brings an earnest charm and he really sells it intensity-wise in his speech. Steve Forrest is dashing, and there is dependably solid support from Russ Brown, John Cecil Holm and Mary Wickes. Stealing the show, with the film's juiciest character, is Ernie Kovacs (reminding one of legendary Harry Cohn), who gives the film so much zest. The quirky and witty direction was a suitable fit and added a lot to the best of the material.

Overall, decent pleasant film that could have been more. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Not quite a Lobster Newberg.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 3 October 2015]

Doris Day is an astute businesswoman who deals in the mass production of Lobsters. When her latest delivery goes awry due to incompetence of the E&P Railroad, she decided to take them on. All while affairs of the heart try to come into play.

Nothing really wrong with the film as such, it's all very harmless, a pleasant romantic comedy, with a likable cast (Jack Lemmon & Ernie Kovacs join Day)to while away the time with. It's just not a very interesting story, one where the love arc plays second fiddle to a bunch of over cooked sequences elsewhere. Whilst what could have been a strong feminist front never quite gets driven home. 6/10

Any Day that starts with Doris is a good Day

[whitermornrjf-com · 9/10 · 9 July 2006]

Viewing this as a baby boomer today and remembering watching as a near teenager in 1960 or there about; I found this to be refreshingly warm, funny, and filled with some very beautiful scenery of America the beautiful. When I originally viewed this movie it was more of a good guy or girl versus a bad guy. Today on a cable movie network I watched it and was in awe of the beauty I missed as a young lad. Watch the movie for content, for Jack Lemon, Ernie Kovacks, or just because of Doris; but take a moment to observe the buildings, the towns, the scenery featured during the train ride, or just to see the townspeople in the parade at the end and maybe you will find yourself asking these same questions.

Where did the filming of this movie actually take place? Was the parade the actual city's population and band? Why did the movie industry abandon a wholesome Americana for such violent and explicit movies? It Happened to Jane; is a wonderful movie that should be a real life experience that happens to all of us. This today was more like a journey back to my childhood than just watching a movie. Perhaps if we as movie goers supported this venue of entertainment, then we might get back to being America the Beautiful as beautiful as she once was. Yes, she is still the best place in the world, but wouldn't it be grand to return to those happy glorious Doris Day(s) of yesteryear. R. John a fan of America the Beautiful

NOT a typical Doris Day film, this film is far more serious and contrived, I found it disappointing

[inkblot11 · 6/10 · 16 August 2010]

Jane (Doris Day) is a widow with two young children, living in Maine. She is a lobster trapper and her kids help her with the business. But one unlucky day, her shipment of lobsters, headed toward restaurants and businesses down the east coast, are not picked up by the scheduled train. Consequently, the lobsters die. Jane fumes, not only because this shipments' loss hurts, but her disappointed customers cancel future shipments, too. Turning to her lawyer friend, George (Jack Lemmon) for help, the two decide to petition the railroad for her losses. However, the head of the train company, Harry (Ernie Kovacs) is one tough nut and he offers her a paltry $750, take it or leave it. Nothing doing! Now, Jane sues. Harry, naturally, fights back, rerouting his train, among other things, to the dismay of the locals. Will Jane and George win the battle? And, since Jane has met a handsome, Manhattan journalist in the course of the resulting publicity, will George finally "wake up" and realize he loves Jane, too? I hate what I am about to write but it is so...this film is far from Day's best work and is NOT the lighthearted movie depicted on the cover. It is much more serious and has very few comedic situations. Also, it is quite contrived, from Day's leading her son's boy scout troop in a rousing (?) song of goody-two-shoes merits to the "we-are-the-last-to-know-we're-in-love" coupling of Jane and George. Lemon, to his credit, gets more out of his role but is still not given much of a chance to show off his comedic talents. On the plus side, the scenery is beautiful and the David/Goliath storyline has some good aspects. Therefore, perhaps, you the viewer should judge for yourself and give the flick a chance. As for me, I was totally let-down, for I thought there was no way that a Day-Lemon pairing could falter. I was wrong.

The Strain In Maine Is Mainly Due To Jane

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 16 July 2006]

On paper this must have seemed a pretty good bet, after all Little Man Takes On The Big Guys is always good for a premise so Little GAL takes on the Big Guys must be worth twice the money; cast Doris Day as the little Gal and you're rounding third while the ball's still climbing and how about that new guy Lemmon to co-star. Jeez! What a GREAT idea; he made his movie DEBUT in It Should Happen To You so Lemmon in a movie with Happen(ed) in the title is a lead-pipe cinch. If only. Somehow there's just no chemistry between Day and Lemmon although both are fine individually and Ernie Kovacs is really OTT as the cut-out cartoon heavy who has a completely unrealistic volte face in the last reel. The idea of an ordinary housewife capturing the hearts of the public was sound enough for Day to repeat it much more successfully in The Thrill Of It All a few years later. This is just about up to one viewing but that's it.

Psst! Wanna see something amazing? Watch THIS! . . .

[Holdjerhorses · 10/10 · 7 March 2011]

Ever wonder what made some on-screen actors (and behind-scenes talents) great? Why they lasted so long in show business? There's no better proof than the astounding IHTJ!

The old axiom, "If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage," generally holds true. But IHTJ demonstrates conclusively and joyously what GREAT talents can do with an average script.

In any hands other than these consummate pros, this script would be standard B-movie fare: stock characters, contrived situations, late-50s sit-com dialogue.

The best line in the film is Jack Lemmon's – "Live!" – delivered to a lobster. Yes, a lobster. (To the writer's, Norman Katkov's, credit, it's been perfectly set-up and placed. But look what Lemmon DOES with it!) Go back and read the full credits with deep appreciation. Every scene has been beautifully lit, staged, shot, directed and edited.

But in the end it's these incredible actors who turn this otherwise forgettable fluff into a genre masterpiece: funny, moving, tender, rousing film making!

We think we "know" Doris Day's oeuvre because she made everything look so easy. In fact, singing, dancing, acting or all three, she was NEVER the same in any picture. She was a natural from her debut in "Romance on the High Seas." An incredibly disciplined, professional, ambitious "natural." Yes, she got handed her share of "perky" characters. But even THOSE performances are different from film to film. She handled drama with equal aplomb, in "Storm Warning," "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "Midnight Lace," for instance.

The same may be said for Jack Lemmon. Contrast "Days of Wine and Roses" with his other star turns, from "Some Like It Hot" and "The Apartment" to "Missing" and "Save the Tiger" and "Glengarry Glen Ross."

Now, watch what Day and Lemmon (and Richard Quine, director) do with the most improbable and ostensibly silliest "reverse proposal of marriage" scene ever filmed, in IHTJ. On a moving train (no green screen), with Day in a spotless white dress crawling atop the coal car and Lemmon blackened and shoveling coal.

Just watch in awe! Never a false note, never an ounce of overacting, every second totally believable and heartfelt until your own heart leaps for joy at the sheer improbability of the myriad combination of screen talents – on and off camera – that carry off this scene and this picture! (The dialogue? You've heard similar before, and since.)

Ernie Kovacs, all but unrecognizable as "Malone," is pluperfect as the comedic villain who finds his heart before Fade Out. He would steal the picture . . . except he CAN'T, because everybody else delivers their lines with genius too!

As an interesting exercise, contrast the terrific, spot-on, human-scaled FILM performances in IHTJ with those of the vaudevillian / Catskills comedians (wonderful though they were) overplaying to the balcony in Stanley Kramer's desperate, straining and ultimately off-putting sledgehammer, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

Though IHTJ is considered a throwaway picture in retrospect, it's really testimony to what geniuses can do with a so-so script when they're under contract and dedicated to giving the audience their best.

Plus Jack Lemmon drives a Studebaker convertible. Who could ask for anything more!

What happened to Jane? (not much)

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 14 October 2005]

One of Doris Day's few disappointments. The perky freckle-face is effervescent as usual playing small-town widow with two kids and a lobster business who is wooed by both long-time friend and lawyer Jack Lemmon and handsome but stolid reporter Steve Forrest. A bald Ernie Kovacs has the film's most colorful role as slimy, cigar-chomping railroad tycoon who tries muscling into Day's lobster action. Aside from some beautiful shots of trains and Doris interacting with a troop of Boy Scouts, this light-hearted whimsy fails to sparkle. It's slow and thinly plotted, and the child actors are badly cast (particularly the pig-tailed tyke playing Day's daughter, who looks like The Bad Seed). Kovacs' hamming-- and the faint whiff of chemistry between Doris and Jack--almost makes "It Happened To Jane" worthwhile. ** from ****

The Unlisted Star of the Film

[Gary747 · 10/10 · 3 March 2001]

"It Happened to Jane" might have deserved a better title, as this one hardy reflects the nature of this great family picture. Be that as it may, many engineers and technical types would argue that one of the main stars of the film is the TRAIN. The demise of steam power and the production of this movie coincided in time, and thus, "It Happened to Jane" provides one of the last images of steam on the mainline system. Like the TV show "Petticoat Junction", the train becomes central to much of the theme. Doris Day and Jack Lemmon make the story entertaining, but without the train, there would be no movie.

A Doris Day classic, this film is fun!

At the time of this review (3-3-01), a VHS or DVD version of this movie was not available. When (if) it does get released, I'm buying it.