A song, written by
Ray Noble, but often heard as performed by
Nat King Cole or
Bing Crosby.
The very thought of you, and I forget to do
The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of daydream
I'm happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem
To me that's everything...
My all-time favorite rendition is by Charles Durning's character in the film Home For the Holidays, near the end as he drives his daughter (played by Holly Hunter) to the airport. Okay, so he's no Bing Crosby, but his performance fits in to the movie perfectly: the sort of contented complacency his character has while he hums a few bars makes me feel all wistful.
It would be an interesting coincidence if this song were inspired by the 1944 movie of the same name; this is probably not the case, unfortunately. This older movie is a drama touching on how women dealt with their loved ones being away at war; it was directed by Delmer Daves and starred Dennis Morgan, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark, and Faye Emerson.
Another movie of the same name was produced in 1998, significantly after the song was released. This movie is notable in that it does not feature the song from which its title is taken. A romantic comedy, this movie was originally released in Britain under the somewhat awkward title Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. The name "The Very Thought of You" was not used until the 1999 USA release, which may explain the otherwise incongruous lack of the similarly-titled song.
The plot of this later movie deals with how a Minnesotan named Martha (Monica Potter) flees her life in the United States and visits London. Within two days, she unbelievably first meets Daniel (Tom Hollander), then Laurence (Joseph Fiennes), and finally Frank (Rufus Sewell), all of whom turn out to be best friends with each other. (Is anyone else noticing that the order of introductions doesn't match the order in the original title? Bizzare.) This sub-90-minute movie was directed by Nick Hamm and is quite warm and fuzzy (although the MPAA awarded it an R rating for language). The plot may be a bit far-fetched but the story is presented with a great deal of levity and has relatively well-developed characters.