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Pillow Talk, 1959
Interior decorator Jan (Doris Day) is absolutely fed up with having to share a phone line with composer Brad (Rock Hudson), who hogs the line communicating with his many romantic and sexual conquests. Jan is also being romantically pursued by one of her clients, Jonathan (Tony Randall). By chance, Brad is composing songs for Jonathan, and is thus able to worm his way into her life in the guise of a tourist Texan. But what starts as a ploy to distract Jan morphs into genuine feelings for her.
While the lead characters are somewhat bland and unlikable, the film holds your interest with inventive staging, a script loaded with double entendres, and incredibly fun supporting performances.
I have nothing against Day or Hudson, both of whom have a certain amount of natural charisma, but I found Jan and Brad to be pretty boring as characters. Jan is poorly defined outside of her irritation with Brad, which the film chalks up to jealousy over his robust love life. Brad, likewise, is mainly characterized by the fact that he enjoys romancing and sleeping around, with his only character growth related to discovering the joy of monogamy.
Much more vivid and engaging are Randall as the wealthy and ostentatious Jonathan and the fabulous Thelma Ritter as Alma, Jan’s maid who arrives every day to work in the grip of a massive hangover and is always thrown to the ground by the force up the upwards elevator ride. Jonathan, despite the film’s framing as comedy, actually has the potential to be the creepiest of the men in the film (and every man in this film is really creepy in one way or another!), but Randall plays him as such an absolute goober that he stays in a sweet spot between ridiculous and slimy. I’d also give Perry Blackwell a nod as a singer in a bar where Jan and Brad go for drinks. Sure, she has to pretend that she’s super into Jan singing her song, but her knowing eye on the couple adds a much needed depth to their interactions.
The movie gets a lot of energy from the boundary-pushing screenplay, which sees winking sexual references popping up with great frequency and plenty of quippy dialogue. The actors seem to be having a good time with their line deliveries, and the film has a lightness to its step that keeps the pace at a good clip. The sense of humor extends to the staging of the story, with plenty of split screen action and cartoonish musical cues.
But there are a few things that bog the film down. Ultimately I felt a bit sad about the trajectory of the two main characters. Jan goes from being a confident, independent woman to realizing she needs a man . . . because. Brad goes from a life of breezy non-monogamy to wanting to just be with Jan . . . because. Each of them being underwhelming makes the mutual giving up of lifestyles kind of a bummer. While I enjoyed the film for the dialogue, I never felt particularly loyal to either of the lead characters.
And while, sure, you expect some dated humor in a romantic comedy from the 50s, it was still pretty striking how often sexual violence was played for laughs and just how awful all of the male characters were. Jonathan, of course, using his money to manipulate and control Jan. Brad, who sets out to seduce Jan in a way that can’t help but end in humiliation for her. And a yucky sequence in which the son of a client, Tony (Nick Adams) offers to drive Jan home and then tries to force himself on her. It’s in the aftermath of this assault that Jan meets Brad for the first time, and thus the film lets its male protagonist clear that lowest of bars: better-than-a-rapist. Later Brad forcibly carries Jan back to his apartment and when she asks a police officer for help, he just laughs and says he “can’t blame” Brad. Now, obviously these sequences aren’t staged in a super realistic way, you don’t actually think Tony’s going to rape Jan, etc. But I still found them jarring and uncomfortable, mostly because of the casual acceptance of the characters and the film’s insistence on scoring them with jaunty music, like fighting a strange man off of you in a parked car at night is just one of those funny old experiences that women just have to put up with.
Certainly enough personality and hilarious supporting performances to merit watching, but it’s not one I see myself returning to any time soon.
Pillow Talk, 1959
Interior decorator Jan (Doris Day) is absolutely fed up with having to share a phone line with composer Brad (Rock Hudson), who hogs the line communicating with his many romantic and sexual conquests. Jan is also being romantically pursued by one of her clients, Jonathan (Tony Randall). By chance, Brad is composing songs for Jonathan, and is thus able to worm his way into her life in the guise of a tourist Texan. But what starts as a ploy to distract Jan morphs into genuine feelings for her.
While the lead characters are somewhat bland and unlikable, the film holds your interest with inventive staging, a script loaded with double entendres, and incredibly fun supporting performances.
I have nothing against Day or Hudson, both of whom have a certain amount of natural charisma, but I found Jan and Brad to be pretty boring as characters. Jan is poorly defined outside of her irritation with Brad, which the film chalks up to jealousy over his robust love life. Brad, likewise, is mainly characterized by the fact that he enjoys romancing and sleeping around, with his only character growth related to discovering the joy of monogamy.
Much more vivid and engaging are Randall as the wealthy and ostentatious Jonathan and the fabulous Thelma Ritter as Alma, Jan’s maid who arrives every day to work in the grip of a massive hangover and is always thrown to the ground by the force up the upwards elevator ride. Jonathan, despite the film’s framing as comedy, actually has the potential to be the creepiest of the men in the film (and every man in this film is really creepy in one way or another!), but Randall plays him as such an absolute goober that he stays in a sweet spot between ridiculous and slimy. I’d also give Perry Blackwell a nod as a singer in a bar where Jan and Brad go for drinks. Sure, she has to pretend that she’s super into Jan singing her song, but her knowing eye on the couple adds a much needed depth to their interactions.
The movie gets a lot of energy from the boundary-pushing screenplay, which sees winking sexual references popping up with great frequency and plenty of quippy dialogue. The actors seem to be having a good time with their line deliveries, and the film has a lightness to its step that keeps the pace at a good clip. The sense of humor extends to the staging of the story, with plenty of split screen action and cartoonish musical cues.
But there are a few things that bog the film down. Ultimately I felt a bit sad about the trajectory of the two main characters. Jan goes from being a confident, independent woman to realizing she needs a man . . . because. Brad goes from a life of breezy non-monogamy to wanting to just be with Jan . . . because. Each of them being underwhelming makes the mutual giving up of lifestyles kind of a bummer. While I enjoyed the film for the dialogue, I never felt particularly loyal to either of the lead characters.
And while, sure, you expect some dated humor in a romantic comedy from the 50s, it was still pretty striking how often sexual violence was played for laughs and just how awful all of the male characters were. Jonathan, of course, using his money to manipulate and control Jan. Brad, who sets out to seduce Jan in a way that can’t help but end in humiliation for her. And a yucky sequence in which the son of a client, Tony (Nick Adams) offers to drive Jan home and then tries to force himself on her. It’s in the aftermath of this assault that Jan meets Brad for the first time, and thus the film lets its male protagonist clear that lowest of bars: better-than-a-rapist. Later Brad forcibly carries Jan back to his apartment and when she asks a police officer for help, he just laughs and says he “can’t blame” Brad. Now, obviously these sequences aren’t staged in a super realistic way, you don’t actually think Tony’s going to rape Jan, etc. But I still found them jarring and uncomfortable, mostly because of the casual acceptance of the characters and the film’s insistence on scoring them with jaunty music, like fighting a strange man off of you in a parked car at night is just one of those funny old experiences that women just have to put up with.
Certainly enough personality and hilarious supporting performances to merit watching, but it’s not one I see myself returning to any time soon.