{"id":20749,"date":"2011-12-02T10:53:06","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T17:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=20749"},"modified":"2020-12-25T20:08:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T03:08:56","slug":"pillow-talk-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=20749","title":{"rendered":"Pillow Talk (1959)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Have you any idea what it&#8217;s like to be on a party line with a sex maniac?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-20750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Poster.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a frustrated interior designer (Doris Day) lashes out at the playboy composer (Rock Hudson) who&#8217;s been monopolizing their party line, Hudson retaliates by wooing her in the guise of Texas oilman &#8220;Rex Stetson&#8221; &#8212; much to the chagrin of her would-be suitor (Tony Randall), who also happens to be good friends with Hudson.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Doris Day Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Rock Hudson Films<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Thelma Ritter Films<\/li>\n<li>Tony Randall Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary labels this &#8220;Stanley Shapiro-scripted American sex comedy, co-written by Maurice Richlin, lavishly produced by Ross Hunter, and bringing together Doris Day and Rock Hudson ([in] his first comedy) for the first time&#8221; as &#8220;quintessential&#8221;. Yet he simultaneously refers to it as a &#8220;claustrophobic comedy&#8230; full of unfunny sexual innuendo&#8221; which &#8220;has a smutty feel to it&#8221;. He argues that the &#8220;film seems to imply that because [Day] has a job rather than a love\/sex life, she feels much anger and hostility&#8221;; at the same time, however, he concedes that Day&#8217;s character is actually quite laudable and progressive, given that &#8220;she seems more determined to maintain personal integrity than her virginity; [she believes] having a boyfriend is more important than having a husband; she is as successful at work as Hudson is; [and] she does not take being treated badly lying down &#8212; she has claws&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not quite sure I agree with Peary&#8217;s cynical take on this one. Surprisingly, I didn&#8217;t find it &#8220;smutty&#8221;; instead, I simply enjoyed the calculated sexual banter liberally sprinkled throughout the screenplay:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Day<\/strong>: &#8220;I have no bedroom problems; there&#8217;s nothing in my bedroom that bothers me.&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong>Hudson<\/strong>: &#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s too bad&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, Day and Hudson go at it like the inevitable to-be-couple they&#8217;re posited as from the beginning &#8212; but them&#8217;s the rules of this particular genre. And it&#8217;s exactly Day&#8217;s strength and feistiness as a female protagonist (outlined by Peary himself) that prevent the film from descending into ho-hum mid-century mores. Meanwhile, though one really <em>should<\/em> detest Hudson&#8217;s character on some level (given that the charade he&#8217;s carrying out it with Day is questionable at best, and mean-spirited at worst), somehow his character remains oddly <u>likeable<\/u> throughout. I&#8217;ll bet this is due in large part to the fun Day and Hudson admitted to having with each other on set; their (asexual) attraction to one another is in clear evidence. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Doris Day as Jan Morrow<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Day.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Day-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Day-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Day-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Day-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Day.png 1593w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rock Hudson as Brad Allen\/&#8221;Rex Stetson&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Hudson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Hudson-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20762\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Hudson-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Hudson-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Hudson-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Hudson.png 1591w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Tony Randall as Jonathan Forbes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Randall.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Randall-1024x567.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"354\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Randall-1024x567.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Randall-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Randall-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Randall.png 1593w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Thelma Ritter as Day&#8217;s tippling housemaid<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Ritter.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Ritter-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"356\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Ritter-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Ritter-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Ritter-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Ritter.png 1595w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fun use of split-screen filming<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen.png 1595w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen2-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen2-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen2-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen2.png 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen3-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Pillow-Talk-Split-Screen3.png 1593w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A fine, witty, Oscar-nominated screenplay by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;There are plenty of warm rolls in the bakery; stop pressing your nose against the window.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a classic mid-century romantic comedy. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0053172\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1959\/10\/07\/archives\/the-screen-pillow-talk.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.edwinjahiel.com\/pillow.htm\">Edwin Jahiel&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1334talk.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/4363\/pillow-talk#articles-reviews?articleId=12722\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brightlightsfilm.com\/24\/pillowtalk1.php\">Bright Lights Film Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/pillow-talk\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Have you any idea what it&#8217;s like to be on a party line with a sex maniac?&#8221; Synopsis: When a frustrated interior designer (Doris Day) lashes out at the playboy composer (Rock Hudson) who&#8217;s been monopolizing their party line, Hudson retaliates by wooing her in the guise of Texas oilman &#8220;Rex Stetson&#8221; &#8212; much to the chagrin of her would-be suitor (Tony Randall), who also happens to be good friends with Hudson. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Doris Day Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=20749\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20749"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59563,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20749\/revisions\/59563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}