Send Me No Flowers
Send Me No Flowers is a 1964 American comedy directed by Norman Jewison, starring Rock Hudson as a hypochondriac who believes he is dying and sets out to find a replacement husband for his wife, played by Doris Day. It was the third and final film to team Hudson, Day, and Tony Randall for Universal Pictures, following Pillow Talk (1959) and Lover Come Back (1961).1
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Opened 14 October 1964 in Los Angeles theaters and drive-ins; 12 November 1964 at Radio City Music Hall, New York City2 |
| Source | Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, based on the play by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore, which debuted 5 December 1960 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway1 |
| Principal cast | Rock Hudson (George Kimball), Doris Day (Judy Kimball), Tony Randall (Arnold Nash), Clint Walker (Bert), Paul Lynde (Mr. Akins), Edward Andrews (Dr. Morrissey)3 |
| Key crew | Producer Harry Keller; executive producer Martin Melcher; cinematography (Technicolor) Daniel Fapp; music De Vol; editor J. Terry Williams3 |
| Runtime | 100 minutes; not rated4 |
| Box office | $9,129,247 domestic gross4 |
| Critical scores | 60% Tomatometer (15 reviews); 74% Popcornmeter from more than 5,000 audience ratings5 |
Spoilers
Plot
George Kimball (Rock Hudson), a middle-aged hypochondriac, eavesdrops on his doctors as they discuss another patient and leaves a hospital visit believing he is terminally ill.5 Assuming he will soon die, he enlists his friend Arnold Nash (Tony Randall) to help find a new husband for his wife Judy (Doris Day), and they settle on Bert (Clint Walker), a successful businessman.5 George's odd behavior leads Judy to suspect he is covering up an affair.5
The misunderstanding-driven plot marked a change from the team's earlier films. In Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back, Hudson played a sexy charmer maneuvering the prim Day toward marriage; in this film the two stars begin as a happily married suburban couple, and the comedy turns on mistaken beliefs rather than mistaken identities.6
From stage play to screen
Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore's stage play Send Me No Flowers opened on 5 December 1960 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway and ran until 7 January 1961; despite the short Broadway run, it succeeded at playhouses around the country, and in May 1963 producer Harry Keller acquired the screen rights.1 Keller and screenwriter Julius J. Epstein prepared by viewing a performance of the play at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago, and Norman Jewison left his post as executive producer of The Judy Garland Show to direct.2
Production delays. Principal photography, scheduled to begin 19 December 1963, was stalled when Doris Day fell ill with influenza and was hospitalized in Glendale; filming started 23 December 1963 and was completed in early March 1964.2 A role once discussed for James Arness went to Clint Walker, and when Daniel Fapp withdrew as director of photography because of a painful sinus infection, Clifford Stine replaced him.2 A dream sequence featuring Day in a black wig tested poorly, and Jewison conceded it would likely be cut; a clip from the film was also integrated into an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies to promote the release.2
The film was a Martin Melcher Production for Universal, with Martin Melcher, Day's husband, as executive producer.3 The title song was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach.2
The Day–Hudson–Randall teaming
Doris Day and Rock Hudson co-starred in only three films, but they are remembered as a screen team on the order of William Powell and Myrna Loy or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; Day, for once, had a partner who carried as much box-office clout as she did.3 The first of their comedies, Pillow Talk (1959), earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Day, and won for Best Screenplay; it made Day the number-one box-office draw with Hudson at number two, and Lover Come Back (1961) matched its critical approval and surpassed it commercially.3 Tony Randall appeared in all three as the bemused friend.3
Send Me No Flowers was the last teaming. For the next twenty years Day and Hudson looked for another project, at one point discussing a television movie, but nothing came of it. Hudson explained that they could not find a story with the same sexual innuendos that had made the earlier comedies work, in terms valid for modern audiences.6 The two did appear together once more: Hudson's last public appearance before his AIDS diagnosis was revealed was as a guest on Day's cable show.6
Reception
The film did well at the box office despite a lukewarm critical response.6 Variety wrote that it "doesn't carry the same voltage, either in laughs or originality" as the two previous Day–Hudson entries.5 TV Guide called it "the last and weakest Hudson-Day pairing," while Tom Milne of Time Out judged it "probably the best of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson vehicles," and Matt Brunson gave it 2.5 out of 4, citing "another of Rock's rock-solid comedic turns."5 On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds 60 percent on the Tomatometer from 15 reviews and 74 percent on the audience Popcornmeter.5
References
- Send Me No Flowers (1964), AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Send Me No Flowers (1964), AFI Catalog, history and credits
- Send Me No Flowers (1964), Toronto Film Society film notes
- Send Me No Flowers (1964), The Numbers
- Send Me No Flowers, Rotten Tomatoes
- Send Me No Flowers, Turner Classic Movies article by Margarita Landazuri
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1960s
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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