The 9 May 1961 DV announced that the Universal-International (U-I) picture, provisionally titled Touch of Mink, would be the first onscreen teaming of Doris Day and Cary Grant. The studio was considering contract actress Laura Devin for a role, as noted in the 25 May 1961 DV. Comedienne Kaye Ballard was also under consideration, but she was already committed to the 1961 Broadway musical, Carnival. Principal photography began 10 Jul 1961, according to 14 Jul 1961 DV production charts.
       A news item in the 20 Jul 1961 DV noted that Cary Grant telephoned the
French automotive company, Citroën, to order a new car for use in the film. The factory reportedly shipped “the display model” to the studio without hesitation. The 21 Jul 1961 DV reprinted the text of that day’s call sheet for the “automat sequence,” which advised cast members to forego breakfast, “as lunch scenes will be filmed all day.” The 26 Jul 1961 DV later revealed that the automat food dispensers were altered for the second day of shooting to accept counterfeit coins, or “slugs,” rather than real U.S. currency. On 3 Aug 1961, DV reported that the company was moving that day to Burbank, CA, for exterior filming on the “New York City” set at Warner Bros. Studios. The 13 Jun 1961 NYT stated that stand-ins would substitute for Day and Grant during location filming in Bermuda. Careful attention was paid to matching the stars’ wardrobes to that of their doubles, especially in the case of Doris Day, whose clothing determined the color scheme of the sets.
       Casting announcements included Sally Hughes (12 Jul 1961 DV) ; Rosalind Roberts (17 Jul 1961 DV) ; Helen Brown and Kathryn Givney (24 Jul 1961 DV) ; veteran actress Minta Durfee Arbuckle (25 Jul 1961 DV) ; William Lanteau (27 Jul 1961 DV) ; Bernard Deacon (28 Jul 1961 DV) ; Edna Bennett (2 Aug 1961 DV) ; Laiola Wendorff (7 Aug 1961 DV) ; Ralph Manza and Fred Essler (8 Aug 1961 DV) ; Wally Brooks (10 Aug 1961 DV) ; Barbara Pollentine (17 Aug 1961 DV) ; Alice Backes (23 Aug 1961 DV) ; Nelson Olmsted (31 Aug 1961 DV) ; Cathy Merchant (5 Sep 1961 DV) ; William Gleason (18 Sep 1961 DV) ; Yvonne Peattie (21 Sep 1961 DV). The film marked the screen debut of nightclub entertainer June Ericson, and baseball stars Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, and Mickey Mantle.
       On 10 Jan 1962, DV reported that George Duning was recording his musical score with a forty-five-piece orchestra. The 30 Apr 1962 DV noted that U-I’s Don McDonald was embarking that day on a “‘personalized publicity service’ tour,” meeting with entertainment editors in twenty-one cities on behalf of five upcoming releases, including the re-titled That Touch of Mink. According to the 6 Jun 1962 DV, a private screening was scheduled for the following night at the Academy Theatre. The audience was comprised of members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Publicists, the Hollywood Women’s Press Corp, and the Los Angeles Press Photographers. The location of the theater cannot be determined from available information.
       That Touch of Mink opened 14 Jun 1962 in New York City, 15 Jun 1962 in Chicago, IL, and 20 Jul 1962 in Los Angeles, CA. Reviews were generally positive, although the 9 May 1962 DV credited co-stars Audrey Meadows and Gig Young with providing much of the comedy. However, the reviewer took exception to Young’s portrayal of an unethical psychiatrist, believing it disparaged a “critical area of medicine.” The 15 Feb 1962 DV reported that the Catholic Church’s Legion of Decency gave the film a “B” rating for “glamorizing illicit sex and treating perversion as humor.” Regardless, the picture earned a record-breaking $123,000 in its first four days at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, as stated in the 18 Jun 1962 DV. The 2 Aug 1962 DV reported Los Angeles receipts of $444,019 over two weeks. That Touch of Mink was ranked the fourth highest rental of 1962, earning approximately $8.5 million, according to the 9 Jan 1963 Var. The 4 Jan 1963 NYT reported that readers of Motion Picture Herald voted Doris Day “the top audience-attracting film star” in the U.S. and Canada.
       The picture was nominated for three Academy Awards: Writing—Story and Screenplay, Written Directly for the Screen (Stanley Shapiro, Nate Monaster); Art Direction-Set Decoration—Color (Alexander Golitzen, Robert Clatworthy, George Milo); and Sound (Waldon O. Watson). It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Comedy, Golden Laurel Awards for Day, Grant, and Young, along with an award for Top Comedy, and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award. In the 25 Mar 1962 LAT, columnist Joe Hyams gave Day a mock “Award for Narcissism,” noting that she insisted on all of her 8,547 freckles (which she reportedly tallied) appearing in her close-ups. When Hyams repeated the story a year later in the 24 Mar 1963 LAT, he lowered the number of freckles to 584.
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