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Teacher's Pet (George Seaton, 1958)
I liked it! I'd seen it before like 12 years ago and I liked it then too. Funny thing is I didn't remember a thing about the movie, so it was almost like watching it for the very first time. And I found Teacher's Pet very watchable. I never got bored and found the story and the sets interesting.
I don't know what it is about old b&w movies set in a newspaper's main room with all the hubbub and clanking typewriters, but it makes for a visually exciting set. Speaking of visually exciting, Mamie Van Doren added some zest with her on-stage performance of The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll, which sounded a bit like Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel. Oh, that was Mamie actually singing in the movie too.
I think the highlight for me was seeing a very young Marion Ross (Happy Days TV show). I got a kick out of thinking I was seeing her back in the actually 1950s. She was great on Happy Days and she added alot to Teacher's Pet too.
Of course the stars of the movie are Doris Day and Clark Gable. I thought Gable did quite well here and made for a good, hard boiled newspaper editor. Of course any movie with Doris Day is going to win points with me. I got a kick out of her hairdo which was a feminine form of the DA hair cut, also known as the 'duck ass' that cool guys wore in the late 1950s. You can mainly see her unique hair in the school office scene when she turns and walks away from the camera. I swear the back of her head looked just like Fonzie's. No wonder they got Mrs C. (Marion Ross) to be in the movie
The big standout to me, and this was a surprise, as I didn't know he could do comedy so well was....Gig Young. I'm not real familiar with his body of work, but I kinda thought he was a matinee idol hired for his looks, but nope, he can do comedy too! BTW he had an Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role.
So yeah, I liked the movie a lot as a drama with some light comedy. I'm not surprised to read that the original script was a straight drama, then when it didn't sell some comic touches were added. So while I didn't find it all that funny, I sure did like it.
I don't know what it is about old b&w movies set in a newspaper's main room with all the hubbub and clanking typewriters, but it makes for a visually exciting set. Speaking of visually exciting, Mamie Van Doren added some zest with her on-stage performance of The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll, which sounded a bit like Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel. Oh, that was Mamie actually singing in the movie too.
I think the highlight for me was seeing a very young Marion Ross (Happy Days TV show). I got a kick out of thinking I was seeing her back in the actually 1950s. She was great on Happy Days and she added alot to Teacher's Pet too.
Of course the stars of the movie are Doris Day and Clark Gable. I thought Gable did quite well here and made for a good, hard boiled newspaper editor. Of course any movie with Doris Day is going to win points with me. I got a kick out of her hairdo which was a feminine form of the DA hair cut, also known as the 'duck ass' that cool guys wore in the late 1950s. You can mainly see her unique hair in the school office scene when she turns and walks away from the camera. I swear the back of her head looked just like Fonzie's. No wonder they got Mrs C. (Marion Ross) to be in the movie
The big standout to me, and this was a surprise, as I didn't know he could do comedy so well was....Gig Young. I'm not real familiar with his body of work, but I kinda thought he was a matinee idol hired for his looks, but nope, he can do comedy too! BTW he had an Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role.
So yeah, I liked the movie a lot as a drama with some light comedy. I'm not surprised to read that the original script was a straight drama, then when it didn't sell some comic touches were added. So while I didn't find it all that funny, I sure did like it.