edalweber I have always liked this movie, as a nice relaxing movie when you are depressed.The cast is uniformly well suited to their roles, especially Kovacs as the nasty tyrannical railroad tycoon, he couldn't be improved upon.The wonderful old steam locomotives is one of the stars, and provides some of the best scenes. It has its serious side as an example of someone standing up for principle regardless of the odds, something all too rare today. Some people consider using the train to be far-fetched, and maybe it is. But sadly by far the most far-fetched thing in today's society is everyone being shamed by Georges wonderful and elequent speech and rallying to the support of their neighbor.In todays society that is less likely than the train lifting off the tracks and flying. but the beauty of the countryside and the village are lasting and endearing. and as an escape to the America that once was, even if idealized it provides some escapist comfort

Spikeopath 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

dougdoepke 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.

writers_reign 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.