Pillow Talk (1959)

Uh, I, uh, caught this movie on TV. Uh, yeah, and I was paralysed by a Brazilian punching worm, so I had no choice but sit and watch this Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic comedy Pillow Talk. That's it. I absolutedly did not see this on the Doris Day four-pack I definitely did not buy...

Ok, I'm a Doris Day fan. I've seen On Moonlight Bay and its sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon about four times each! Doris Day is always fun, as are the movies she's in.

Pillow Talk is about Jan Morrow (Doris Day), an interior decorator and one part of a telephone party line, which she shares with womanizing ladies man* Brad Allen (Rock Hudson). Allen becomes intruiged by Jan, and since there's no way she'd go out on a date with him, he ptetends to be a wholesome Texan gentlemen named Rex Stetson...

*Yes, the tautology was necessary.

Pillow Talk is a very fun movie! As far as I think, everything works here, from the acting (and chemistry), to the characters, to the writing, as well as pacing. The film isn't one to overstay its welcome, thankfully.

When it comes to phones, the movie is dated, but in a charming way. Sure, party lines may be a thing long since dead in the past, but given how advanced and different phones are in this day and age, it's interesting seeing a time capsule like this.

Like I said above, the characters are all fun and well written, and the acting is all fine. Tony Randall is fun as Brad's neurotic friend, and Jan's attempted suitor, Johnathan, and Thelma Ritter is awesome as boozehound maid Alma! Jan: "We're you listening in?" Alma: "Yes M'am.". Brad: "Boy, I've had hangovers before, but this time, even my hair hurts..." Jonathan: "And you were gonna get her drunk, huh?" Brad: "I stayed with her through a bottle of scotch. I lost her halfway through the vodka." Yep, Thelma Ritter can drink Rock Hudson under the table! Unfortunately Ritter is not nearly in the movie enough.

The film is very funny, and has some great dialogue-Jonathan"Jan, if you marry him, you'll have to live out there. Look at that, New York! People, jostling, shoving, struggling, milling, fighting for their lives and you're part of it! In Texas, there's nothing but a bunch of prairie dogs and stuff. And even the air out there, there's nothing in it but air! In New York you've got air you can sink your teeeth into, it has character!"

The ending is insanely ridiculous, but still very funny. Though don't try to emulate Rock Hudson's moves unless you are in fact Rock Hudson, otherwise your girlfriend will gut you like a fish, and have you mounted (which wouldn't be the kind of mounting you were expecting).

So, in closing, this is a film I definitely recommend, unless you have a seething contempt for all things romantic comedy...