Beverly Boyer makes her debut as spokeswoman for “Happy Soap” by declaring, “I’m Beverly Boyer and I’m a pig” and then proceeds to stammer through a sweet family story about how much her young daughter enjoys the product.  Everyone laughs and she’s humiliated but old Tom Fraleigh, the owner of “Happy Soap,” is enchanted by Beverly’s potential to appeal to other housewives.  She’d landed the gig out of thin air when she accompanied her husband, Dr. Gerald Boyer, an obstetrician, to a dinner party given by one of his patients.  Dr. Boyer ignores his wife’s new role at first, never imagining that she would eventually become a star pitch woman, a huge celebrity, leaving her little time for him and her household duties.

Although many hijinks ensue, that’s the basic premise of Norman Jewison‘s, The Thrill of it All (1963), which stars Doris Day and James Garner as Dr. and…