Daily Archives: November 4, 2016

Pillow Talk
Directed by Michael Gordon
Written by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin; story by Russell Rouse and Clarence Green
1959/USA
Universal International Pictures/Arwin Productions
First viewing?/Netflix rental

[box] Alma: If there’s anything worse than a woman living alone, it’s a woman saying she likes it.[/box]

This Technicolor 50’s “sex comedy” was rescued for me by the chemistry and performances of its leads.

Jan Morris (Doris Day) is a smart, independent interior decorator to the New York elite. She shares a party line with Brad Allen (Rock Hudson), a womanizing song writer.  Brad gets on her last nerve by talking on the phone constantly with his various conquests.  Eventually, she confronts him but he continues behaving badly.

Jan’s wealthy client Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall) wants to marry her.  He also happens to be the backer of the Broadway show Brad is composing.  Jonathan’s description of his prickly neighbor intrigues Brad so he poses as a mild-mannered Texas rancher to date her up.  Misunderstandings and witty repartee ensue.  With Thelma Ritter as Jan’s hard-drinking housekeeper and Marcel Dalio as Jan’s boss.

This was cute, pleasant and entertaining.  One can immediately see why Day and Hudson went on to make two other films in the same vein.  The supporting performances are strong and the dialogue, while silly, is sharp.  This film just screams late 50’s Technicolor comedy.  If you like those, you should not miss this.

The DVD I rented contained a fun and affectionate commentary by film historians.

Pillow Talk won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Actress (Day); Best Supporting Actress (Ritter); Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Color; and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Trailer

Two Men in Manhattan (Deux hommes dans Manhattan)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville
1959/France
Belfort Films/Alter Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “If you’re purely after facts, please buy yourself the phone directory of Manhattan. It has four million times correct facts. But it doesn’t illuminate.” ― Werner Herzog[/box]

This is sub-par film noir but, as a time capsule of late-night late-50’s Manhattan, it’s a winner.

The French delegate to the UN has gone missing.  The editor of the French news service AFP assigns crack reporter Moreau (Melville) to track him down.  Moreau looks up photographer Delmas, a paparazzi who knows the dirt on everyone.  Delmas has pictures of three different women who have been the diplomat’s mistresses.

The two search through the night for the women.  They eventually lead them to their man. When they find him, they are faced with an ethical dilemma. The two men face this in very different ways.

This is one of those foreign films containing lots of English.  It appears to be both spoken and written by non-native speakers and is a distraction.  The plot slowly meanders all over the place until the final act, when the ethical question provides some interest.  The ending doesn’t help, though.

However, this was recently restored and Melville makes a loving and beautiful travelogue of New York at night.  It is accompanied by a really good jazz score.

Restoration trailer