Move Over, Darling, starring Doris Day, James Garner and Polly Bergen, was a 1963 Hollywood remake of the 1940 screwball comedy My Favorite Wife. The plot revolves around a woman who is lost and presumed dead after an airplane accident at sea. But she survives on an island, is rescued, and returns to her husband just as he remarries.
The Jeep, apparently with a non-original soft top, is seen only briefly in the background of the scene above, but the Surrey colors in the movie poster (right) suggest that the style of the Jeep was a perfect fit for the film.
According to Wikipedia, Move Over, Darling was originally intended to be a comeback vehicle for Marilyn Monroe, playing opposite Dean Martin, under the title of Something's Got to Give. Following Monroe's death, Doris Day and James Garner were eventually cast in the roles originated by Irene Dunne and Cary Grant in My Favorite Wife.
The film also features a 1963 Chrysler Imperial, and there are stills and movie clips on the Imperial Web Pages.
A Surrey also pops up in another 1963 film, Jerry Lewis' classic Jekyll and Hyde takeoff, The Nutty Professor. The Surrey fits perfectly into the film's very colorful art direction and costume design. The Jeep is unfortunately missing its chrome bumpers; see also a rear view (60K JPEG).
The Nutty Professor was selected in 2004 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Jerry Lewis plays both the klutzy Professor Julius Kelp and his alter ego the suave Buddy Love. Stella Stevens plays his student Stella Purdy.
Buddy Love ("Here y'are, baby. Take this, wipe the lipstick off, slide over here next to me, and let's get started...") is often considered as a lampoon of Lewis' former show business partner Dean Martin, although Lewis consistently denied this.
This frame is from the old CBS-TV series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. The episode is "One of Our Shells Is Missing" from Season 3, original air date 5 April 1967, and features Marine Pvt. Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) and Sgt. Vince Carter (Frank Sutton) searching for a live mortar round lost by Gomer during practice.
Marine Corps Jeeps didn't feature prominently in Gomer Pyle, although Vilero at IMCDb has found examples of various Jeeps used in the series, including a CJ-5 and an MB (50K JPEGs).
Gomer is also seen on a comic book cover (110K JPEG) driving a Mighty Mite, and the illustration on a kids' lunchbox (170K JPEG) features a joke involving what looks like a high-hood Jeep.
Dean Martin himself appeared in a movie with Jeeps a few years later. The pink and white DJ-3A's of the Las Brisas resort in Acapulco (and some Jeepster Commandos) were featured in the 1967 "Matt Helm" movie The Ambushers (left). See Matt Helm Rides Again -- In a Jeep on CJ3B.info.
This star-studded sixties flop was another movie with a superb Jeep scene set at Las Brisas. It also had a few other Willys cameos. See Jepes in Pepe (1960).
A Surrey Gala had a starring role in the classic beach movie Ride the Wild Surf (1964), alongside Shelley Fabares and Barbara Eden. There are other Jeep connections too -- see Jeeps in Ride the Wild Surf.
This 1962 low-budget film is about an army of young ladies in a fleet of Jeeps, planning to entice rebel soldiers on a Caribbean island to desert their leader. See lots of photos in Jeeps Aplenty on CJ3B.info.
How do you make an MB look like a DJ-3A? This is one of several Jeeps starring in the 1967 season of Roger Moore's TV series. Check out Surrey Gala Jeep in The Saint (plus some interesting Willys MBs).
A Las Brisas Hotel Jeep again, in a 1965 episode of the TV show I Spy! Lots of photos of this one (and its stand-in being crashed) are at See Acapulco in a Pink Jeep.
A few Jeeps were seen in the background of the 1963 Elvis Presley vehicle Fun in Acapulco. A Surrey also appeared briefly in his movie Blue Hawaii.
Elvis owned a pink Surrey which is still on display at his Graceland mansion in Memphis (see Elvis Presley's Jeeps.)
There was also a Tuxedo Park CJ-5A in Tickle Me and an M-38A1 in Kissin' Cousins.
Anybody recognize the movie or TV show that featured a Surrey with loudspeakers (50K JPEG)?
Thanks to Vilero in Spain, and to Mike Boyink. -- Derek Redmond
See more DJ-3A Surrey Gala Jeeps on CJ3B.info.
See also The CJ-3B in the Movies.
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