Film
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
Other titles called Please Don't Eat the Daisies: the 1965 series (NBC).
- Screwball comedy
- Light-hearted
A cheerful 1960 Manhattan family decamps to the country, where a drama critic husband continues chasing nightlife and theater while his wife attempts domesticity with four rambunctious sons. It's a frothy romantic comedy built on marital tension and suburban chaos, designed to showcase Doris Day's warmth and brightness. Perfect if you like effortless charm and midcentury domesticity wrapped in colour and song.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy brisk, sunny domestic farce where a sharp-tongued household keeps tumbling into chaos and the jokes come from character rather than slapstick.
Skip it if you find the mid-century gloss and gentle innuendo of old studio comedies wearing thin, or you need wit to cut sharper than this one ever does.
What it asks of you: Expect an unhurried stretch of nearly two hours where the laughs arrive in scenes of household mishap and sit comfortably beside a lighter romantic thread.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Breakfast at Tiffany's1961
Audrey Hepburn in New York sophistication, navigating romance and independence with style. A jewel of early sixties cinema that defined an era's sense of elegance and charm.
But The pacing is slow and deliberately unhurried, which won't suit anyone wanting plot momentum or contemporary storytelling speed.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers1954
A musical with genuine wit, athletic dancing, and a plot about civilising rough men through love and marriage. The barn-raising sequence alone justifies the watch.
But The gender politics are unmistakably 1950s, and the central premise involves semi-kidnapping. Some will find that hard to enjoy.

Singin' in the Rain1952
The greatest Hollywood musical ever made. Joy in every frame, three perfect stars, and sequences you'll replay forever. Pure cinema working at its best.
But If musicals make you itch, this won't convert you—it's unabashedly, gloriously itself.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Please Don't Eat the Daisies
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Egg and I1947
Both are about urban sophistication colliding with rural domesticity, and a woman adjusting to a life she didn't choose. Both pit marriage against aspiration in fundamentally the same way.
Claudette Colbert as a socialite learning to farm in Washington State, opposite Spencer Tracy. A marriage-adjustment comedy with real grit beneath the charm, and farming detail that grounds it.
But The portrayal of Indigenous characters is offensively dated. This is a film of its era in ways that will sit uncomfortably.

More like this (8)
The Parent Trap1961
Hayley Mills as identical twins reuniting their divorced parents, with impeccable comic timing and genuine warmth. A family film that respects its audience's intelligence.
But Some plot mechanics feel contrived now, and the resolution is predictably neat. You're not watching for surprise.

Sabrina1954
Audrey Hepburn between two men, with Billy Wilder directing and Humphrey Bogart delivering dry comedy. Elegance, romance, and chemistry that crackles.
But The class dynamics feel dated, and Hepburn's ingénue is passive for stretches. Modern viewers may find the powerlessness grating.

Roman Holiday1953
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Rome, playing a princess and a reporter discovering each other. Romance, charm, and a bittersweet edge that lingers.
But The plot is thin and predictable from the start. You're purely watching for the pairing and the location.

Funny Face1957
Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire dancing through Paris and philosophy. Visually gorgeous, witty, and utterly winning, even when the story wobbles.
But The romance between a 28-year-old and a much older man has aged poorly. Some will find it difficult to overlook.

Easter Parade1948
Fred Astaire and Judy Garland as dancers falling in and out of love through New York nightlife. Irving Berlin songs and effortless chemistry.
But The film stops for production numbers in ways modern audiences find static. Pacing stutters if you're not in the mood for that.

Raintree County1957
Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in a sweeping period romance with gorgeous cinematography. A prestige film that swings for emotional territory.
But It's lengthy, the plot tangles itself, and pacing drags in the second half. Beautiful but not always engaging.

Sitcom1998
Ostensibly a sitcom-style family film that pulls the floor away beneath itself. Where Daisies is genuinely sunny, Sitcom weaponises that form against the audience.
A French comedy about a family in crisis disguised as a cheerful household—tonal whiplash that's shocking, hilarious, and darkly clever. Completely transforms what a domestic comedy can be.
But It goes to places genuinely disturbing and obscene. This is not family viewing. The tonal shifts will alienate anyone wanting straightforward entertainment.

I Remember Mama1948
Both centre a wife managing household chaos and family logistics, but this one strips away the comedy to show the actual weight of what that work means. Daisies is what the surface looks like; Mama is what it costs.
Irene Dunne as a Norwegian-American mother holding a large, chaotic family together through Depression and hardship. Unsentimental, moving, and genuinely about the labor of domestic life.
But The pace is glacial and episodic. There's no plot engine—it's a series of moments. Some will find it slack.

People
Cast
Doris DayKate Mackay
David NivenLarry Mackay
Janis PaigeDeborah Vaughn
Spring ByingtonSuzie Robinson
Richard HaydnAlfred North
Patsy KellyMaggie
Jack WestonJoe Positano
John HardingNorman McQuarry
Margaret LindsayMona James- Carmen PhillipsMary Smith
Mary PattonMrs. Hunter
Charles HerbertDavid Mackay
Directing
- Al JenningsAssistant Director
- Charles WaltersDirector
Writing
- Jean KerrBook
- Isobel LennartScreenplay
Production
- Joe PasternakProducer
- Martin MelcherProducer
- Irving AaronsonProducer's Assistant
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