Pillow Talk (1959)
Jan Morrow (Doris Day), a strong, independent women, lives next door to misogynistic Brad Allen (Rock Hudson) whose womanizing monopolizes the party line in their building, repulsing Morrow while charming her older housekeeper Alma (Thelma Ritter). Through a series of contrived circumstances, Allen and Morrow fall in love.
Day and Ritter earned Oscar nominations, although neither won.
Doris Day was one of the biggest box office draws of the 1960s, but her movies, associated with attitudes and morays of a bygone era, have fallen out of favor. I hope they’re rediscovered by later generations, because she’s an excellent actress who deserves more recognition.
Although not as famous, Ritter is consistently funny as a smarter-than-she-first-appears older woman, a contemporary wise fool. Although she didn’t make her film debut until she was in her mid forties, she still earned six Academy Award nominations before her death at 67.
Rock Hudson had a successful dramatic career in films such as Magnificent Obsession (1954), Giant (1956), and Written on the Wind (1956), before successfully transitioning to romantic comedy with this film. Unfortunately, his closeted homosexuality and death from AIDS overshadow his work.
Tony Randall is best remembered as half of The Odd Couple, but his work as Morrow’s suitor, Jonathan Forbes, demonstrates he was capable of much more than exasperated fastidiousness.
Positioned in an awkward historical moment, when women’s liberation was beginning to assert itself but before the sexual revolution had taken hold, this romantic comedy plays like an updated comedy of manners by Molière and holds up surprisingly well fifty years later.
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
The Fabulous Baker Brothers (Beau and Jeff Bridges) add a female singer, Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), to their act to stay viable.
Jeff Bridges has eclipsed the fame of his actor father, but his older brother Beau has been mostly relegated to smaller, supporting roles. It must have been fun for them to act alongside each other, but I wish the experience had resulted in a better movie.
Michelle Pfeiffer was nominated for an Academy Award, and her interpretation of “Makin Whoopee” has become an iconic image of a jazz singer.
The directorial debut of Steve Kloves is competent movie, but he’s better suited at writing screenplays. Outside of a few great scenes, this doesn’t have enough to sustain it for two hours. The lingering suspicion the Bridges are acting out their personal insecurities isn’t enough. As it turns out the Baker Boys, aren’t so fabulous.