Coffee, Tea or Me? (film)

Coffee, Tea or Me?
Genre	Comedy
Written by	Stanley Ralph Ross Norman Panama Albert E. Lewin
Story by	Stanley Ralph Ross
Directed by	Norman Panama
Theme music composer	Morton Stevens
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Mark Carliner
Production locations	London CBS Studio Center
Cinematography	William T. Cline
Editor	Bud S. Isaacs
Running time	74 min.
Production company	CBS Television Network
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 11, 1973 (1973-09-11)

Coffee, Tea or Me? is a 1973 American TV film based on the book of the same name. It was directed by Norman Panama.

Plot

An airline flight attendant juggles husbands in different cities.

Cast

• Karen Valentine as Carol Burnham-Byrnes
• John Davidson as Dennis Burnham
• Michael Anderson Jr. as Tommy Byrnes
• Louise Lasser as Susan Edmonds
• Lou Jacobi as Waiter
• Erica Hagen as Lisa Benton
• George Coulouris as Doctor
• Nora Marlowe as Mrs Fitzgerald
• Kenneth Tobey as Captain
• James Sikking as Businessman

Production

Film rights to the book were once owned by Robert Aldrich who bought them in 1968. ^[1]

Aldrich wanted to make it under a deal he had with ABC Pictures. He had a script done by Theodore Flicker which he described as "very funny, very dirty" about a stewardess who tries to lose her virginity. "We took the Doris Day formula of all those successful Pillow Talk comedies and inverted it", said Aldrich. ^[2] However ABC did not want to make it. "Nobody likes our script of it except me", said Aldrich. ^[3]

When Aldrich's option lapsed it was picked up by CBS who made it as a TV movie which used the plot of The Captain's Paradise (1953). "It's not all that naughty", said star Karen Valentine. "It's done in the best possible taste." ^[4]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times praised the acting but criticised the "creaky material". ^[5]

However the ratings "went through the roof" when the show aired. ^[6]

References

1. "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Poll to Produce 'Garden'". Los Angeles Times. Dec 10, 1968. p. e27.
2. Ringel, Harry. "Up to Date with Robert Aldrich". Sight and Sound. Vol. 43, no. 3 (Summer 1974). London. p. 166.
3. Silver, Alain. "mr. film noir stays at the table". Film Comment. Vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring 1972). New York. pp. 14–23.
4. Smith, Cecil (Aug 28, 1973). "Coffee, Tea or Karen Valentine?". Los Angeles Times. p. c13.
5. Smith, Cecil (Sep 11, 1973). "Stumbling Out of the Starting Gate". Los Angeles Times. p. d17.
6. Smith, Cecil (Sep 17, 1973). "Network Brasss Lands With Thud". Los Angeles Times. p. c23.

External links

• Coffee, Tea or Me? at IMDb
• Coffee, Tea or Me? at the TCM Movie Database