The first of the three so-called "sex comedies" made with Doris Day and Rock Hudson.
Day plays interior decorator Jan Morrow. She shares a party line with womanizing Brad Allen (Hudson). She hates him for always monopolizing the phone calling his various girlfriends. Allen's best friend Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall) is in love with Jan. Brad sees Jan, falls in love, disguses himself as a Texan and proceeds to steal her away from his buddy. Some friend!
SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!!
This movie has a lot of negative things about it--the sexual innuendo is stupid and extremely unfunny (I groaned aloud at one of the lines). Thelma Ritter plays an alcoholic maid named Alma--her alcoholism is presented as cute and funny--alcoholism is NOT funny (although I did laugh when she drank Hudson under the table). There are a few homophobic lines that come from Hudson--homophobia is never funny and hearing them come from Hudson is extremely disturbing. The film also makes the point that a woman living alone with a successful job can never be happy without a man in her life. Sheesh!
The good things--the acting is good--Hudson and Day play off each other beautifully. I love the split screens used throughout the picture. Everything looks colorful and beautiful--Day is just breathtaking and her clothes are incredible--Hudson is strong, handsome and when he smiles...sigh. Also this is where some of the things we now see as cliches were invented--the voiceovers, split screen, the (purposedly?) lousy back screen projection and the montage of Hudson and Day seeing the sights.
So, on one hand I liked this a lot--there's always something to look at. On the other hand the stupid sex jokes and treatment of women make me uncomfortable. I can only give it a 7. And don't let the term "sex comedy" bother you--this might have been extreme in 1959 but it's very tame today.
Day plays interior decorator Jan Morrow. She shares a party line with womanizing Brad Allen (Hudson). She hates him for always monopolizing the phone calling his various girlfriends. Allen's best friend Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall) is in love with Jan. Brad sees Jan, falls in love, disguses himself as a Texan and proceeds to steal her away from his buddy. Some friend!
SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!!
This movie has a lot of negative things about it--the sexual innuendo is stupid and extremely unfunny (I groaned aloud at one of the lines). Thelma Ritter plays an alcoholic maid named Alma--her alcoholism is presented as cute and funny--alcoholism is NOT funny (although I did laugh when she drank Hudson under the table). There are a few homophobic lines that come from Hudson--homophobia is never funny and hearing them come from Hudson is extremely disturbing. The film also makes the point that a woman living alone with a successful job can never be happy without a man in her life. Sheesh!
The good things--the acting is good--Hudson and Day play off each other beautifully. I love the split screens used throughout the picture. Everything looks colorful and beautiful--Day is just breathtaking and her clothes are incredible--Hudson is strong, handsome and when he smiles...sigh. Also this is where some of the things we now see as cliches were invented--the voiceovers, split screen, the (purposedly?) lousy back screen projection and the montage of Hudson and Day seeing the sights.
So, on one hand I liked this a lot--there's always something to look at. On the other hand the stupid sex jokes and treatment of women make me uncomfortable. I can only give it a 7. And don't let the term "sex comedy" bother you--this might have been extreme in 1959 but it's very tame today.