I Don't Believe That WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT? is a Real Movie.
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to finish out Doris Day's filmography, and it's going swimmingly, I have two movies left, plenty of time until December, but here's the thing: Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?, her second-to-last movie, is nigh-on impossible to find.
In the year of Our Lord 2022, why is it impossible to find Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
What are they hiding?
Just how bad is this movie? I don't know much about it, but I know that Doris called it one of her worst and the critics seemed to agree.
The plot itself sounds fake: it's set during the great blackout of 1965 in New York City, but the action takes place in Connecticut, and it's all about supposed infidelity that's neatly timed to the blackout but who's to say what actually happens?
Here's a review from Roger Ebert: "Here is another movie about how Doris Day preserves her virtue. Frankly, I have lost interest in Doris Day's virtue. Doris Day without doubt has the most threatened virtue in history. Compared to her, Helen of Troy was a registered nurse. Oh, I'll confess there was once a time when I was concerned. Once there was a time when I was downright worried about Doris Day's virtue. Not long ago, Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor and Richard Harris were all hot on the trail of Doris Day's virtue. But their efforts came to naught, and Doris Day's virtue, as they say, emerged intact. [...] it is supposed to be very funny that Doris Day got into this embarrassing but really innocent situation by accident—see? I don't find it funny at all. By this time it's taking on the elements of tragedy. If I were Doris Day, and I had accidentally gotten in an embarrassing situation with Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor and Richard Harris and Robert Morse and everyone else in the phone book in 27 straight movies, and my virtue were still intact, frankly I'd start to worry."
Want more reasons why I don't think Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? is fake? There's no trivia for it on its TCM entry, only that it was filmed in New York City. Oh wow, it was filmed in New York City? So was a million other movies.
Two of its trivia entries on the IMDb page are that Doris Day considered this one of her least favourite movies. Three are about it being loosely based on the 1965 blackout. Here's the Variety review: "On November 9, 1965, large parts of the eastern US were blacked out. Almost six months later, this film was announced. Some 15 months later, it rolled. And over 30 months after the event, it was released. How’s that for reacting to events?"
I guess it's notable in that Morgan Freeman appears in this (uncredited), but aside from that, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? has all but vanished from the collective consciousness.
When you read the trivia for Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? on IMDb, this is the first entry: "There appears to be a rights issue tied up with the issuing of this film. While it was a television staple for many years and was released on videocassette several decades ago, it has not been televised or released in digital format since that time. As of 2018, the film has been out of circulation for nearly 25 years."
For all of you rare unicorns who've seen this movie, weigh in in the comments. Am I missing much by not being able to find this movie? Tell me your thoughts!
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