TheLittleSongbird Speaking as one myself. Cannot get enough of her beautiful voice and her charmingly natural presence in her films. Many of the songs are justifiable classics, and the involvement of director Michael Curtiz and being someone who loves musicals promised so much.'I'll See You in My Dreams' may not be perfect, but it is such an easy film to like, like having a nostalgic memory or a dream that you don't want to wake up from. It may be slight story-wise and the chemistry between Day and Danny Thomas doesn't sparkle or is as irresistible as with some of Day's other leading men (i.e. Rock Hudson, James Garner, Gordon McRae, Howard Keel).However, it is a beautifully produced film, beautifully photographed and opulent. Imagine though how even better it would have been if in colour, as good as the film looked parts did cry out for colour. There are not enough adjectives to describe the brilliance of the songs, which have such beautiful melodies and lyrics that are witty but also meaningful. Standouts are the title song, "It Had to Be You", "Makin' Whoopee" and "The One I Love".Day is just captivating in one of her best performances. Her acting is natural, charming and sincere and she not only sings sublimely but the songs suit her and her voice so well. Thomas is likable and portrays Gus Khan with much competence and making it easy to root for him, if perhaps slightly one-dimensional.A top notch supporting cast helps too, with standout performances from the always reliable James Gleason and especially a well-meaning but sometimes takes-no-prisoners character.Curtiz's direction is admirable and shows yet again that his musicals output is fairly undervalued, especially when compared to better known films of his. The script is light, witty and at times poignant, while there is a real sense of nostalgia and enchanting atmosphere.Overall, a lovely film and a dream for fans of Doris Day. 8/10 Bethany Cox

edwagreen Outstanding musical biography where Doris Day, as the wife of songwriter Gus Kahn, (a wonderful Danny Thomas) actually gets to act and sing in this film.Some ironies of the film are that Hans Conreid, who played Uncle Tanoose on the Danny Thomas television series, briefly appears in one scene with the same type of accent. The casting people must have remembered Conreid when they were casting a man with a similar accent for the television show. Day has to watch as another woman sings the ever popular "Love Me or Leave Me." 4 years later that was the title of the film of the biography of Ruth Etting, where Day was so memorable in the title role.The film chronicled the life of Gus Kahn and his wife Grace. Grace interfered with his career from the time they met. At first, she wrote the music for his lyrics, but that soon changed. It took the Great Depression to almost-end Kahn's career, but he persevered and the ending was a rousing tribute to his illustrious career.

bkoganbing I'll See You In My Dreams is one of the many songs that lyricist Gus Kahn had a hand in writing during the first half of the 20th Century. You couldn't possibly have gotten all the titles and fairly well known ones at that into a nearly two hour picture though Warner Brothers certainly gave it a try. Even if maybe a bar or two of music was played the film tried to get them in.Gus Kahn was not as well known a public personality as say George Gershwin or Cole Porter was so I'm sure certain liberties had to have been taken. Doing a little bit of internet research I learned next to nothing about him personally before writing this review. Kahn died in 1941 and his widow Grace LeBoy Kahn was still alive and she collaborated in the writing of this film. Danny Thomas and Doris Day play Gus and Grace and since their public personalities were a blank slate I'm sure what we saw was Danny Thomas and Doris Day on the screen pretty much as themselves. In fact Danny Thomas in his domestic scenes with Doris, their children and with wisecracking maid Mary Wickes is not any different from the Danny Thomas from the long running television family comedy that Thomas starred in.This was the first of two projects that Doris Day starred in as the widow of a famous personality, the second being The Winning Team where she is the wife of Grover Cleveland Alexander the famous baseball pitcher. In both cases Grace LeBoy Kahn and Amy Arrants Alexander served as custodians of their husband's legacy although Grover Cleveland Alexander led a far more public life than Gus Kahn.A lot of liberties were taken with the lives of Gus and Grace and there's no way the average moviegoer would know. But with these films it's the music that counts and the Kahn lyrics are sung beautifully by Doris, Danny, and others.One that wasn't sung by either was Love Me Or Leave Me which in real life Gus Kahn wrote for Ruth Etting for the show Whoopee. Here Patrice Wymore plays a fictional musical comedy star who unsuccessfully tries to seduce Kahn. Her character is far more like Marilyn Miller than Etting. And coincidentally enough when Ruth Etting's story came to the screen in 1955, Doris Day played her and played her well in both a great acting performance and a great singing one as well.Kahn wrote lyrics for many different composers, but the only one of his partners who gets a substantial role here is Walter Donaldson played by Frank Lovejoy. Donaldson apparently had a love of the sport of kings and required his partners to indulge same. When Kahn proved he could write at the clubhouse track he was in as far as Donaldson was concerned.I never worry that these films ever get the biography right and I don't know how close they came here, but the lyrics that Gus Kahn wrote will be sung for the next millenia and that's what really counts.

Polo This is a movie for which Doris Day should have gotten an Oscar nomination. Her best film of the fifties aside from Pillow Talk. She gives a remarkable performance as Gus Kahn's wife, Grace. And Danny Thomas gives a great performance as well. This a movie for anyone who loves Doris Day or just good clean tasteful films.