Doris and Rock Engage in Pillow Talk

Doris Day as Jan.

Interior designer Jan Morrow shares a party line with composer Brad Allen--and that's a problem. You see, Brad (Rock Hudson) is a lothario who uses the telephone to woo his admirers. When Jan (Doris Day) complains to the telephone company, it sends a female representative, who immediately succumbs to the handsome Brad's charms.

Brad is equally frustrated with Jan until he sees the pretty professional at a nightclub. Knowing that she would never give him the time of day, Brad invents a new persona: a naive Texan named Rex Stetson, who is visiting New York City. Sparks fly between Jan and "Rex." She believes she may have found the perfect gentleman. Brad thinks he can make Jan one of his conquests within five days (at most).

Rock Hudson as Brad.

Made in 1959, Pillow Talk is a smart, well-written comedy that benefits from brilliant casting. It was the first of three films made with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. The two were already big stars, but their on-screen chemistry is far greater than the sum of its parts. Hudson, who had made over a dozen dramas during the previous five years, was not known for his comedic skills. However, his funny side blossoms alongside Doris Day. That works to her advantage because she doesn't have to carry the comedy all by herself, as she did in later films with Rod Taylor (The Glass Bottom Boat) and Richard Harris (Caprice).

Brad goes drinking with Alma.

It helps, of course, to have Tony Randall and Thelma Ritter in the supporting cast. The typically delightful Ritter actually has a small role, but it includes a wonderful scene in which Brad unwisely tries to get her drunk. Randall has a field day as a quirky millionaire pursuing Jan while trying to mount a Broadway musical with his good friend Brad. He also gets many of the best one-liners. Upon learning that Brad has been rejected by Jan, he quips: "The great Brad Allen, chopped down to size, floating down the river with the rest of us logs."

Director Michael Gordon injects Pillow Talk with a playful sense of humor. He uses split screens periodically throughout the film to show Jan and Brad talking on the party line. The technique is especially effective in the opening scene in which we see Jan, Brad, and one of Brad's girlfriends all at different locations talking on the phone. In a later split scene, Jan and "Rex" seem to touch feet romantically as they talk on the phone. However, an even more effective technique is allowing the audience to hear the thoughts of Jan and Brad as voiceovers (check out the clip at the end of this review).

Interestingly, Michael Gordon specialized in serious dramas early in his career (e.g., An Act of Murder, Cyrano de Bergerac). His career was interrupted when he was blacklisted in the early 1950s. Pillow Talk (1959) was his first feature film in eight years. He directed Doris Day again in Move Over, Darling (1963). He was the grandfather of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun, 500 Days of Summer).

Pillow Talk earned five Oscar nominations, with its writers winning the award for Best Screenplay. Doris Day was nominated for Best Actress and Thelma Ritter for Best Supporting Actress. Doris, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall reteamed for two more comedies: Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). The best of their three films is the sparkling classic Lover Come Back. But if it's their #1 film, then Pillow Talk is #1a!

The Five Best Doris Day Performances

Carol learns the truth about "Linus."

1. Lover Come Back (1961) - Doris Day wasn't just a fine comedienne--she was an outstanding comic actress. Yes, she generates plenty of laughs in Lover Come Back, but she also makes her character believable. That's why it's so funny to see aggressive advertising executive Carol Templeton turn into mush when she thinks she has found an intelligent, sensitive, male virgin that looks like Rock Hudson. She earned her only Oscar nomination for Pillow Talk (1960), but I think she's even better in Lover Come Back (which is also a better film...functioning as a satiric look at the world of advertising).

2. Calamity Jane (1953) - Considering her success as a singer, it's surprisingly that Doris didn't make more musicals than she did. This one is her best, allowing her to strut around as a sharpshooting tomboy and then find her sensitive side with a sublime rendition of "Secret Love." She also teams wonderfully with Howard Keel (from an acting and musical standpoint).

3. Pillow Talk (1960) - Speaking of movie teams, who was the genius that paired Doris Day and Rock Hudson? Granted, the wonderfully written Pillow Talk provides them with tailor-made roles as an early feminist and a swinging playboy. However, the duo have an incredibly natural rapport and I don't think it's a stretch to say that Doris Day helped Rock Hudson become a first-rate comic performer. (To be honest, his non-Doris comedies, such as Come September and A Very Special Favor, just don't compare).

4. The Thrill of It (1963) - James Garner essentially played the straight man (and did so very well) in his comedies with Doris Day. That allowed Doris to shoulder more of the comic load, which she does effortlessly in another comedy about advertising. This time, though, she plays a mother who unexpectedly becomes spokesperson for the Happy Soap company. This movie also features my favorite Doris Day quote when her character inadvertently states on camera: "Hello. I'm... I'm Beverly Boyer and I'm a pig."

5. Love Me or Leave Me (1955) - I have mixed feelings about this fictionalized biography of jazz singer Ruth Etting which co-stars James Cagney. However, it features Doris' best dramatic performance...and allows her to sing some classic tunes, too.

A publicity still with Cameron Mitchell and James Cagney.

Honorable Mentions: That Touch of Mink; Move Over, Darling; and By the Light of the Silvery Moon.

The Five Best Rock Hudson Performances

Following a recent less-than-flattering review of Magnificent Obsession (1954), someone on Twitter asked why I didn't like Rock Hudson. Nothing could be further from the truth! Over the last decade, I have become a Rock Hudson fan, which prompted the following list of what I consider his five best performances:

Doris mistakes Rock, fresh from a
fishing trip, for a scientist.

1. Lover Come Back - After mostly dramatic roles in the 1950s, Rock Hudson developed into a gifted comedian with Pillow Talk (1959) and this delightfully delirious follow-up. Rock stars as Jerry Webster, an unethical Madison Avenue advertising executive who will do anything to beat his rival, Carol Templeton (Doris Day). When Carol mistakes the womanizing Jerry as a nerdish inventor, he plays along--even to the point of emphasizing he's "never been with a woman." This leads to Rock's best scene, as Jerry tries to encourage Carol to seduce him in her apartment--during which a convenient phone call enlightens her about his true identity. While Lover Come Back is sometimes described as a variation of Pillow Talk, it's actually a superior film, with clever jabs at the advertising industry and sparkling supporting performances (especially from Tony Randall and Edie Adams).

Rock as Brad playing "Rex Stetson."

2. Pillow Talk - That's not to say that Pillow Talk isn't a first-rate--and very funny--film about a swinging bachelor (Rock) and a conservative interior decorator (Doris) who share a party line...but have never met. Brad (Rock) exploits the situation by posing as Rex Stetson, a sincere Texas millionaire rancher, who takes an interest in Jan (Doris). This wacky scenario allows Brad to disparage Rex when talking on the phone with Jan--and then later have Rex act in exactly the same manner as Brad predicted. The brilliance of Rock's performances in both Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back is that he makes unlikable characters likable, long before the love of a good woman makes them better men. Simply put, without his innate charm and expert comic timing, neither of these comedy classics would work.

Yes, that's Rock...in Seconds.

3. Seconds - Rock Hudson's best dramatic performance can be found in this seldom-shown, disturbing 1966 film about a wealthy middle-aged man dissatisfied with his life. An organization called the "Company" approaches him and promises him a fresh start. It fakes his death, makes him look younger through plastic surgery, and gives him a new identity. But all is not what is seems and his "new" life is not what he expected. Directed by John Frankenheimer, Seconds is a downbeat film, which may account for its infrequent appearances on cable TV. Still, it's well-done and creepy and Hudson skillfully captures the conflict of an older man living in the body of a younger one.

With Liz Taylor in Giant.

4. Giant - I am not a huge fan of this sprawling Texas family saga, but I still admire Rock's performance as Jordan "Bick" Benedict, a wealthy rancher who marries an East Coast socialite (Elizabeth Taylor), clashes with a former friend, and struggles to develop relationships with his children. He allows us to see both the good and the bad in his strong-willed character. That's the only reason it's listed here in lieu of All That Heaven Allows, an immensely likable film about the romance between a middle-aged widow (Jane Wyman) and a younger gardener (Rock).

5. Send Me No Flowers - In a great change-of-pace role, Rock plays a hypochondriac who becomes convinced he's going to die and sets out to find the ideal husband for his wife (Doris Day). It's a nice contrast to the suave bachelors portrayed in earlier comedies, though overall, the film is not on the same level as Lover Come Back and Pillow Talk.

Honorable Mentions:  a friend of mine is a huge fan of The Spiral Road (I'm gradually beginning to appreciate it); World War III (a now-obscure TV movie featuring Rock as a U.S. president trying to thwart a war with the Soviet Union); and Ice Station Zebra (one of his better action film outings).

If one of your favorites is missing (and I'm sure there are some Written on the Wind fans), please leave a comment!