User reviews

I highly recommend this fun movie. This movie was great when I was a kid, it gave us lots to talk about with our parents. - I'm sure it would stand the test of time. Why is it not out on video at least? The cast is chock full of 'stars' from the era and the theme is an excellent commentary on society then and now. Imagine a world where Feeling Good is considered an illness that requires a cure? The 60's thing is so popular right now that this movie should be re-released just 'cuz it feels good. Maybe they can do a remake - it works with everything else from the 60's and 70's!?

If anyone knows how to get a copy - please dish!

Nice film, agree with other comments that it is just as appropriate today as in 1968 although our youth would be too mature possible for some of the humor. The bureaucracy portrayed in this movie seems quite realistic in this post 911 mentality.

The real question is why this movie has never been released. So many other pieces of trash seem to have been redone, why has this one not been released on either VHS or DVD? I can only assume that this because of some copyright or estate issue. Have George Peppard's family restricted its release? Does Universal Studio's have some issue with releasing it? Unfortunately the last time it appeared on TV was before the general availability of VCRs.

With the coronavirus pandemic still creating havoc around the world, I thought it was timely to talk a little bit about What's So Bad About Feeling Good?, a light-hearted comedy about a very different type of virus, one that makes you happy and kind. A little known film, which unfortunately bombed upon its release and was quickly forgotten, it's now a perfect diversion for those feeling down and heavy because of Covid-19. When seen against the backdrop of the current outbreak, there are some surprising parallels between how the authorities react to deal with this 'feel-good' virus and the present situation, especially as the story is set in New York City, which has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus. The premise is as original as it is ridiculous: good feeling is being spread by a toucan on the loose, and can be further transmitted upon contact (in much the same way as the coronavirus). It first hits a down beaten hippie community that has adopted lethargic depression as an existential philosophy and spreads throughout NY from there. While there does not seem to be any negative sides to the contamination (after all, what's so bad about feeling good?), the powers that be, led by a neurotic buffoon (delightfully played by Dom DeLuise), are bent on eradicating both virus and toucan, as you just can't have New-Yorkers running around feeling happy and polite, and not caring a damn about competing in the rat race...plus it's obviously a commie scheme to undermine the USA. In that respect, the film uses the spread of the so-called virus to make some fairly smart comments and mild criticism of modern society. There are also some amusing takes on hippie and beatnik culture of the time that contribute to the good-natured fun. Much of humor is silly, but George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore and DeLuise manage to make the whole thing mildly entertaining. Unfortunately, the plot does not develop its premise in particularly inventive directions, ultimately focusing more on the efforts of the authorities to combat the infection than depicting its actual spread within the society writ large and the potentially crazy and amusing repercussions and situations that could have resulted. While Peppard and Tyler Moore are an engaging starring duo, there is limited development of their characters or their relationship. I was left with the feeling that this was a great idea that should have led to more entertaining possibilities. Still I found the overall result somewhat above average considering the originality of its starting point, some good jokes and satirical observations, and satisfying performances.

This is a movie that should definitely be brought out on video, or played on television, or somehow brought into availability now. It is such a great commentary for our time, and probably more significant now than it was when it came out. I haven't seen it since 1968, and yet I still remember the lessons I learned from it. With all of the drugs and medications that are used to make people feel "good" and "happy", maybe we need to be reminded that if it's real, it comes from the inside. It is a silly movie, and certainly a dated one (beatniks?), but a young George Peppard is worth seeing in this one.

This is a distinctly old-fashioned comedy, created by middle-aged guys who'd written Marx Brothers movies and cute comedies like Miracle on 34th Street. In some ways, the movie feels antiquated and out of touch; its '60s nihilistic "East Village artists" are Beatnik throwbacks, and the writers believe that if people were happy, men would be clean shaven and wear suits, women would get their hair done, and everyone would get married.

But if the film is out of touch with the world it's set in, it is perfectly in touch with the Capra-esque sensibility it's aiming at. After a slow start, the movie becomes quite funny, and it has a charm and sweetness about it that was already long out of style by the time of its release.

I saw this movie decades ago and really liked it, and I'm happy to say that, all these years later, I still find its humor and positive message (and no, it's not a particularly subversive message, though it is a sweet one) compensate for its old-fashioned out-of-touchness.

This film is a funny comedy and broad satire of the day. It pokes fun at three major areas of society. First, is the "rate race" of living in the congestion of the Big Apple. Second, is the hippie or yuppie drop-out culture of the late 60s. And, third, is government and the local politics of the big city. "What's So Bad About Feeling Good" has the clear message that the assumed "happiness" of the first two situations is false. The one is masked by anxiety, anger, impatience, fear, and hurry. The second is masked by drugs, depression, self-centeredness and lack of any drive or sense of responsibility.

A toucan (Amigo) out of nowhere interrupts the cultural scene of the Big Apple by some strange infectious air that restores a sense of life, kindness, charity, drive and true happiness. People begin to smile and laugh. The hippies shave their beards and get jobs. But, there's a downside - at least in the eyes of the local government. As the health of people improves, cigarette and liquor sales decline and with that - the city's tax revenues.

It's a nice idea for a plot and it works well with this story in which all the cast give very good performances. This doesn't rank up there with the great comedy satires, but it is a very good one and spoofing of the American urban culture of the 1960s and 1970s. The film has some very funny scenarios, with the fantasy dialog from the bird that some of the characters are able to understand.

George Peppard as Peter, Mary Tyle Moore and Liz, Dom DeLuise as J. Garner Monroe and John McMartin as The Mayor are particularly good in their roles.

Here are some favorite lines from the film.

Barney, "Unlike you, we only use first names We believe that last names are superfluous. Because when the world is destroyed, our first names will be our last names."

Park Commissioner Williams, "Gentlemen, as you all know, we desperately need more parks in Lower Manhattan. Well, I've finally come upon the perfect solution. We tear down the New York Stock Exchange and the Treasury Building across the street, and use that space for a beautiful playground. We can condemn that property for very little. It's cost the city less than $6 million an acre." The Mayor, "We'll continue this discussion in the fallout shelter." Williams, "There'll be plenty of rom for the kiddies to play baseball and football and hopscotch, jacks. There's be jungle gyms and slides and swings, see-saws, chess boards for the senior citizens...."

Phil, "It's not just the sales tax that worries me, but suppose some of us gets it and starts making irrational decisions."

Lou Bolton, "And gentlemen, the more I've thought about Pete's idea, the better I like it. Honesty in advertising - what a fresh idea. Just great, Pete. To show our appreciation, here's a bonus for you."

T.V. Newscaster (Martin O'Hara, uncredited), "The latest figures show that marriage licenses are running 912% above average. Also, in the last 24 hours, only one application for divorce has been granted. And 75% of all pending lawsuits have been settled out of court."

J. Gardner Monroe, "Can't you do anything without that bird? I mean, they didn't need the original mosquito to cure malaria." Dr. Shapiro, "Well, they didn't need an infected brain." Monroe, "Well, grab a stiff from the morgue. Must be somebody there who died laughing."

J. Gardner Monroe, "When was the last time you were in Cuba, Mr. Jackson?" Pete, "Cuba?" Monroe, "Oh, come on. We ran check on you and your gang. One of them had a beard just like Castro and they all had some kind of a beard. How do you explain that?" Peter, "We didn't shave."

J. Gardner Monroe, "What are you, a listening Tom?"

J. Gardner Monroe, "I wanna come back and see a normal couple screaming and yelling at each other - check?"

An epidemic, caused by a colourful Toucan bird on a Greek cargo ship, spreads through New York in the late 60's, the symptoms are feeling content, hopeful, friendly and happy. People are putting their rubbish in bins! Authorities are very concerned and want to find a cure. Why? Primarily because it is financially damaging to the city's tax revenue. Alcohol and Cigarettes, for instance, have taken a dramatic plunge in sales. Presumably, so have pharmaceutical ant-depressants and the like. Emergency plans are activated (face masks, movement into and out of the city, quarantine) to stop the spread of general content. Some individuals might even quit their jobs, due to an overnight rise in their self esteem.

Much of the movie's end message revolves around, 'Environmental Psychology'. A branch of psychology that gathers facts on how an individual's environment, is a very large component of how an individual ultimately behaves, within that environment, in this case, New York City. The main message being that, a critical mass of citizens, who exhibit friendliness and optimism, can 'spread' this positive attitude and modify the more negative and hostile behaviour of a city's citizens. There's lot's of little fun details sprinkled throughout, like foreshadowing of 'Reality TV'. One authority character suggests that a TV show ('Big Brother' like) would be a great idea, when surveillance is used to verify if their air spread cure is effective on 'patient zero', whom is in bed with his girlfriend. The down beat, negative, Beatnik apartment ('commune') was a great touch. Particularly the girl that lived in a Hessian potatoe sack, obviously a reference to the Greek philosopher, Diogenes, who made a virtue of poverty. Never did see this pop up as a mid-day movie when I was a kid. Enjoyed it, but felt it could have explored the consequences of widespread optimism, and conversely pessimism, a little more fully, and humorously.

Although the cast and script make this piece rather like "Beach Blanket Bingo in the Bronx", the internal analysis of the Beat philosophy makes this a classic comedic excursion into 20th century mentality.

Fairly ordinary turns by Peppard and Moore are turned, by clever directorial work into a glib and pleasing commentary on the Cold War, American values and the paranoia of being the stalking horse of the Free World.

Mary Tyler Moore is wonderful as a free-thinking positivist drawn by her boyfriend (George Peppard) into the grim world of "Hoffnungslosigkeit", the theory of Hopelessness proposed by a renowned German existentialist thinker.

Given that your parents were either Beats, Hipsters or Hippys, you will wonder how you were ever conceived....

I almost can't find anything significant to criticize about this film. Amigo the toucan is as cute as can be, the humor is good, the mood is very positive, the scientific foundation is plausible, the political implications are right on target, the fragments of '60s psychedelic music are good, and there are deep philosophical issues underlying it all. Excellent!

The only part I regard as a minor fault is that after the drop-out philosophers become euphoric with the happiness virus, they want to cut their hair, get jobs, and get married. The implication is that American society's current conventions are the optimal route to happiness. Sorry, but I can't buy that. Other than that one lapse of insight, though, the film is well thought-out, charming, and humorous.

Some of the humorous high points are Liz (Mary Tyler Moore) giggling hysterically as the toucan hidden under her dress begins tickling her, Pete (George Peppard) putting on his German philosopher disguise in order to infect as many friends as possible with the airborne happiness virus, a morose beatnik lady called "The Sack" who lives with a sack permanently draped over her head, a hotheaded Greek freighter captain who undergoes a complete personality change, and the voyeuristic officials watching a couple on their honeymoon night via hidden cameras with suspiciously excessive eagerness.

In this era of explicit torture films and child murder films, it's practically a sin that such an upbeat, positive film about happiness isn't even available while all those other depressing movies are. This film is definitely among my top 20 favorite films of all time.

Exchange Mary Tyler Moore here for Marlo Thomas and you'd have the makings of a good two-part episode of "That Girl". As a feature film, however, "What's So Bad..." seems a little twee--and if the topic of a euphoric virus is supposed to be symbolic, any modern references towards getting high or living as we did in a previous era barely register (it's just too silly). Beatniks in Greenwich Village come across a mysterious Toucan who arrived in New York Harbor via a Greek freighter. Seems the bird spreads an extremely contagious "happiness bug," sending all the cynical, jaded drop-outs into the streets with their instruments and brooms. They dance on the rooftops to Frank DeVol's music, and it's breezy and corny, perfect for connoisseurs of '60s sitcoms. Unfortunately, a 'realistic' angle is dropped in, as mayor John McMartin and his cronies become fearful that all this lightheartedness will reduce sales in cigarettes and alcohol! They take refuge in a fallout shelter and work on getting an antibody which will turn everybody back into their old rotten selves. Forgotten Universal comedy has some big laughs--and gives us a marvelously gregarious George Peppard in the bargain!--but the handling is too flimsy for any sort of insight, and the second-half drags its feet. Supporting cast is filled with familiar faces (plus Thelma Ritter in a cameo), and the location shooting is very good, even if the cinematography is muddy and the direction flat. ** from ****

I saw this on TV many years ago when I was a kid and the ideas have stayed with me like no other story. I think the basic story has the core of a fable for the ages like "Groundhogs Day" or "It's A Wonderful Life". In particular I remember the Idea that some people didn't need the infection. They were capable of happiness all the time ; and some were not. Now thirty years later the research of psychiatry and psychology finds that the basic ability or disposition to be happy underlies much of what happens in our lives. If they had seen this movie. We see constant advertisements for medications to make us happy. The characters in the movie are dated but the basic question of happiness haunts each of us and all of us together. I only wish I could see it again.

Beyond its attractive, feathered hero and a surprise appearance by Thelma Ritter (her last as it happens) as a woman in the hospital's waiting room, "What's So Bad About Feeling Good?" actually has very little to recommend it even to the most desperate entertainment-seeker.

In this labored farce, seemingly endless variations on its one joke are tirelessly milked to extinction.

True, Dom De Luise, when he finally appears on the scene, does liven things up considerably. But is it worth waiting for Dom through a boring hour with pallid George Peppard and tiresome Mary Tyler Moore? Even the New York locations and a Vic Mizzy score fail to overcome the ennui produced by a combination of dull writing and charmless leads.

This movie was very silly but fun and actually a little thought-provoking. Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard play two hippies who live with several of their friends in a dingy New York apartment. Their only goal in life is to "tune in and drop out" of mainstream society. After a toucan carrying a "happy virus" infects them, however, they "clean up" their acts, and begin to dress and act like your typical 60's establishment types. Moore and Peppard begin to think about marriage and children. The virus spreads all over New York City and people begin to be nice to one another. This alarms the makers of such products as alcohol, tobacco and gambling since demand for these begins to plummet! I always liked the scenes where rude New Yorkers begin to treat each other with respect and kindness, and the "hippy pad" was intriguing to me as a little kid. It wasn't just the silliness of the movie, though, that I liked. It actually made me think about how just waving a wand and making everyone happy would have a lot of unintended consequences. It was an early introduction for me to the economic concept of opportunity costs.

I remember this fun comedy as a kid and have been hoping and waiting for it to be released on Video & DVD...not yet. While silly on the surface, the ideas expressed were thought provoking. The crazy 60s style of the film would would lend it a current popularity promoted by films like Austin Powers.

I saw this film during my impressionable teen years. Its message has haunted me since. Suppose a virus exists that alters human brain chemistry and folks become happy? What would that do to contemporary society based on fear, insecurity and petty neuroses? What would be the response of our critical, western socio-economic institutions that were established to deal with those very fears, hang-ups and neuroses? From our consumer society to our police, mental health, religious and military institutions? How would these institutions and hierarchies react and respond to the a spontaneous outburst of mass euphoria? I have looked for this comedy for decades. Only once to my memory has it been shown on television. I have always been suspicious about that, considering it is wrapped in rather cutesy, mid-60's Paramount-picture-esque, candy-coated plot much like the Rock Hudson/Tony Randall/Doris Day comedies typical of that era. Don't get me wrong, this comedy is no "Dr. Strangelove" but unlike the Doris Day pap of the day, under all the silliness, this movie hides a seditious message. I don't know who wrote or directed it, but if you told me Norman Lear, Buck Henry, or Terry Sothern (sp?) it would not surprise me. This is the kind of message-laden stuff Lear taught us to expect in the early 70's. Only three other comedies from that era stayed with me, "The President's Analyst," "Watermelon Man," and "Cold Turkey." All hid powerful messages under their surface silliness.

I just got the film & watched it tonight! An old recording from Comedy Central, first to VCR and I got it on DVD. I'd say it is acceptable quality, but MUCH better than nothing. Available at, E-Bay com under "What's So Bad About Feeling Good". The seller is in California and is OK. I would also make copies for people in Europe.

so much of the film remains with me.... The title song. Many things were just bits & pieces.... except the feeling that I got from it. Pete pretended to be the head of the cult from Germany. All wondered why such a hopeless man was so cheerful. He asked if it is true that the only hope is the end of the world? Then if the world is destroying itself? They said yes. He continued by pointing out that they then had nothing to worry about. Pete as the "cult leader" wanted to kiss Liz and pass on the virus. She resisted. Then he explained it would be a teeny-weeny kiss, like he gives his sister. She allows it. She tries to fight him off as he lays a 5-10 second kiss on her. Shocked she say's, "And that's how you kiss your sister?!?". He answers in his accent, "My zizter and I have a zleitly inzestuous relazionzhip." larryzweig@yahoo.com

This is one of my favorites and haven't seen it or been able to find it to buy anywhere, I only recently found out about your data base this is a great place to find if movies are available on VHS, or DVD. "What's So Bad About Feeling Good" is a great comedy and hope to find it soon

This incredible film starring the late Mary Tyler Moore and the late George Peppard deserves a lot more attention than it received at the time of its initial release. It is difficult to locate today and that is a shame. Funny and profound, it offers wonderful entertainment for all ages. The story seems timeless in many ways. Although the plot might not please Madison Avenue, it perhaps reflects truths about a consumer economy. Yet its uplifting spiritual message and completely charming plot make it truly memorable. It seems to me this really overlooked gem of a movie sets a high standard. Very well acted and directed, beautifully written and filmed with visual power, it deserves a 10 in my opinion. Watch this film to spend an enthralling period of time. It is really, really, really excellent!

What a terrific movie...and a profound comment on society in general...A timeless story, it could hold up very well if remade (a la Psycho). But since hardly anyone has seen the original, it would be a HUGE hit this time around... Amigo is the best !!! The title says it all-What's so bad about feeling good ?

It's like they predicted COVID- but gave it the happy old-Hollywood spin. It's eerily predictive of the pandemic! Wow.

This version of it though, I want! And that bird is like an angel from Heaven!

This movie also reminds me of the Kristen Stewart movie about feelings being considered a disease.

Overall, a nice film that I would recommend if you can appreciate lite 1960s comedy with something to say. My mom had never seen it, and when I told her about it, she thought it sounded like it would be stupid or overly silly. And while it might give that impression initially, because of the plot seeming so implausible, there is actually such truth throughout it too!

Plus, Mary is her usual charming self, and Goerge Peppard was a treat to see! I want to live in that pandemic! This is one of those movies that I wish so much were real! Yet, it IS very real in a lot of ways... I wanna jump through the screen though and be in THAT reality.

Good movie, and thrillingly uplifting in a way!

Hi I've been searching for the movie "What's so bad about feeling good for years, but have been unable to find it, Your information was helpful, but I can't remember which Network it was released on I think it was ABC, but I'm not sure, if you or someone can help me I'd be very happy. Because I can then contact the network, as I have done in the past. That's how I was able to get, Ice before it was available to the general public. The Networks are very helpful that way, Thank You and I hope you can help me Pat White, 28672 Hillside Rd, Lincoln, MO. 65338. 660-668-2406. I can't see this movie being remade, just either released or re-released Thanks again

I'm reviewing this in March of 2021, during the pandemic, having watched it again last night. It's amazing how topical the movie now seems, what with quarantine and everyone wearing masks, as politicians consider all the angles. But that's not why I love it. The message is great, and the music--really just one song, but used to great effect--casts a spell that, if you're lucky, never really goes away. I bought my DVD online, very cheaply so I can't complain, but someone had obviously just recorded it off TV, so the quality was poor. Still, I'm very glad to have it!