Pillow Talk (1959)

A man and a woman who share a party line cannot stand each other, but he has fun romancing her with his voice disguised.

Director:

Michael Gordon

Writers:

Stanley Shapiro (screenplay), Maurice Richlin (screenplay)

Stars:

Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rock Hudson	...	Brad Allen
Doris Day	...	Jan Morrow
Tony Randall	...	Jonathan Forbes
Thelma Ritter	...	Alma
Nick Adams	...	Tony Walters
Julia Meade	...	Marie
Allen Jenkins	...	Harry
Marcel Dalio	...	Pierot
Lee Patrick	...	Mrs. Walters
Mary McCarty	...	Nurse Resnick
Alex Gerry	...	Dr. A.C. Maxwell
Hayden Rorke	...	Mr. Conrad
Valerie Allen	...	Eileen
Jacqueline Beer	...	Yvette
Arlen Stuart	...	Tilda

Storyline

In New York, the interior decorator Jan Morrow and the wolf composer Brad Allen share a party line, but Brad keeps it busy most of the time flirting with his girlfriends. They do not know each other but Jan hates Brads since she needs the telephone for her business and can not use it. Coincidently Jan's wealthy client Jonathan Forbes that woos her is the best friend of Brad and he comments with him that he feels an unrequited love for Jan, who is a gorgeous woman. When Brad meets Jan by chance in a restaurant, he poses as a naive tourist from Texas named Rex Stetson and seduces her. But Jonathan hires a private eye to find who Rex Stetson is.

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Plot Keywords:

telephone party line | telephone | split screen | womanizer | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

Apart...they rocked the house! Together...they'll raise the roof!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 October 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Problemas de alcoba

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$18,750,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arwin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Gordon had hoped to make a sequel to this movie in 1980. It was to be set 20 years after the events of 'Pillow Talk' and involve Brad and Jan having their first daughter, played by Kristy McNichol with Gregory Harrison as her boyfriend, and getting a divorce, which would allow Jonathan to have another chance of wooing Jan. Jan schemes to get Brad back, while he does some scamming of his own. Doris Day and Rock Hudson were both interested in returning for the sequel, but it unfortunately never materialized, with Day's retirement from acting being one of the reasons why.

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Goofs

When "Rex" is split-screened with Jan when she is in bed and they are talking on the phone, you can see a fly buzzing around at the foot of it. A true high-rise apartment in the city is unlikely to have even an occasional fly.

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Quotes

Alma: Takes only one sip of wine to tell if it's a good bottle.

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Crazy Credits

As Doris Day sings 'Pillow Talk' over the closing credits, the film finishes with 'the end' on two horizontal pillows' followed by 'not quite' 'not quite' 'not quite' 'not quite' stacked vertically on four pillows.

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Connections

Referenced in The Upper Hand: Pillow Talk (1992)

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Soundtracks

I Need No Atmosphere
by Joe Lubin and I.J. Roth
Performed by Perry Blackwell (uncredited)

User Reviews

The wildest behind in New York City!

A party-line turns an interior decorator and a songwriting ladies' man into enemies--that is, until he gets a look at her. When Doris Day is forced into a nightclub by a junior-suitor, she makes the best of it and does a shimmy on the dance-floor in a tight white dress--you can't blame Rock Hudson (at a nearby table) nor the cameraman for zooming in on her derrière, which wiggles seductively and comically. This businesswoman is really a closeted gal-about-town, and Day gives one of her freshest, funniest performances here. I also liked the tinkly background score and the handful of songs (the title cut, "Roly Poly" and "Possess Me"), but apparently Doris didn't. In her autobiography, she scathingly dismisses all the music from her '60s bedroom comedies as "mediocre", blaming her skinflint husband for bypassing top-rank composers like Henry Mancini for "a bunch of no-names". Why Doris!!

***1/2 from ****