DORIS DAY

A perky, bubbly blonde who was the perfect Girl Next Door to millions, Doris Day lived to the good old age of 97. She had a splendid singing voice, and her hits like Que Sera Sera are still heard frequently. Her sterling film career was just about equally divided between romantic comedies and darker dramas. 
Many of the romantic comedies paired her with the handsome Rock Hudson. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Jan Morrow in Pillow Talk (1959). Day plays an interior designer who shares a party line with lothario Hudson. She complains about his phone use, he decides to meet her without revealing his identity and of course romance blossoms. Until mutual friend Tony Randall spills the beans. The movie received six Oscar nominations, and won for Best Original Screen Play. Day was nominated for Best Actress but lost to Simone Signoret for Room At The Top.
Day, Hudson and Randall teamed up in two more romantic comedies: Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). These are pleasant entertainment but not especially memorable.
Day’s first appearance of note was opposite Kirk Douglas in the biopic Young Man With A Horn (1950), based loosely on the life of musician Bix Beiderbecke.
Douglas plays cornetist Rick Martin who works his way up to the big bands and a doomed marriage to a bad girl (Lauren Bacall). Day is the band’s soloist and stands by Rick when his drinking lands him in a rehab facility. A happy ending, typical for the time, is tacked on, one not even close to the true story. 
Doris Day’s only appearance in an Alfred Hitchcock movie is as Jo McKenna
 in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Jimmy Stewart plays her husband, Dr. Ben McKenna. They are vacationing with their young son in Morocco when everything breaks loose. The plot is too complicated to summarize here, but I will say that this film contains a famous scene where a murder is supposed to take place at a concert. The gunshot is to be covered by a cymbals crash. The tension builds.
She gets a chance to use that marvelous voice in The Pajama Game (1957), a musical comedy spawned by a Broadway play. It is about a pajama factory in Iowa. Day plays Babe, one of the workers and a union leader. The story is a little dated, but there are really good songs like Hernando’s Hideaway and Hey There.
A complete change of pace for Doris Day is in the thriller Midnight Lace (1960). She plays Kit Preston, terrified of a stalker who threatens her constantly and from several directions.  It also features Rex Harrison and John Gavin, and has a surprise ending I don’t think you’ll see coming. 
I’ve really only hit the high spots of Doris Day’s film career. You might want to check out Calamity Jane (1953) or April In Paris (1952). Oh, and Day had a very successful TV show for five years (1968-73).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. They are fine for all audiences.