Five Questions I Had Watching...Pillow Talk
If you've been around here a minute, you've noticed that I'm basically President of the Pillow Talk Fan Club and a card-carrying member of the Doris Day Fan Club and the Rock Hudson Fan Club. I never need a reason to revisit this masterpiece of a movie, but I'm doing it again so I can find the answers to a few questions I have...
So let's dive in to Five Questions I Had Watching...Pillow Talk!
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The whole Tony plotline, though it introduces Jan and Brad, always makes me roll my eyes. Like, when this 'Harvard man' walks onto the screen and coerces Jan into letting him drive her home then tries to force himself on her, then forces her to go out dancing with him until he passes out on the dancefloor, it takes everything in me...
But Tony is played by a young actor named Nick Adams, who appeared in some of the major films of the '50s and '60s. Among his screen credits: Mister Roberts, Rebel Without a Cause, and Sweet Smell of Success.
He'd appeared with both Rock and Doris in other films before Pillow Talk was released: with Rock, he appeared in Giant; and with Doris, he appeared in Teacher's Pet. He'd earn his only Oscar nomination in 1963 for Best Supporting Actor in Twilight of Honor, and had a solid television career as well, starring in shows like Wagon Train, The Rebel, and Saints and Sinners.
Unfortunately for him, his personal life was troubled and his scandals plagued the last decade of his life. He married a former child star named Carol Nugent and they had two children. Nick and Carol would announce their separation, then reconcile, then announce another separation. He lost custody of his children and was served with a restraining order against Carol due to threats of violence.
But on February 7, 1968, he was found dead in his home in Beverly Hills and the death certificate listed his death as "paraldehyde and promazine intoxication" but was unable to determine if it was an accidental suicide, though it was noted that he'd consumed enough drugs to have fallen into immediate unconsciousness. The mystery surrounding his death would become a Hollywood legend, each story more Hollywood Babylon-esque in its details.
In the decades since his death, his life has been scrutinized for details of his private life and relationships, though nothing remains in his papers to support the ideas that some have about his friendships with James Dean and Elvis Presley.
2. Rock and Doris... they got along, right?
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Yes, thank God! I'm a firm believer in not being able to fake that kind of chemistry, and the truth is that they truly enjoyed each other's company. Like, in Doris Day's sort-of autobiography, Doris Day: Her Own Story written with A.J. Hotchner, she writes that she got to know Cary Grant (from That Touch of Mink) the least out of all her co-stars, and it shows. Anyways, onto Rock and Doris!
Rock, who was admittedly nervous about appearing in comedies as he'd made more dramatic fare up to that point, said that he learned comedy from Doris. In the afore-mentioned autobiography, he writes a section about working with her and said that chemistry only works with the great screen pairings, like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, when the actors genuinely like each other.
Doris wrote: "I had never met Rock Hudson before, but that very first day on the set I discovered we had a performing rapport that was remarkable. We played our scenes together as if we had once lived them. Every day on the set was a picnic—sometimes too much of a picnic, in that we took turns at breaking each other up."
She'd also say that Rock and James Garner were her two favourite co-stars: "Truly a blessing to have had two such talented, amusing, darling me to work with, men with whom I have had enduring friendships. I really love Rock and Jimmy."
Before his untimely death in 1985 from AIDS, Rock told Doris: "The best time I’ve ever had was making comedies with you."
3. Party lines did what exactly?
I'm familiar with the concept of party lines, since my parents had them through the '80s and have often told stories of how they'd purposely pick up the phone when it wasn't their ring to eavesdrop on the neighbours (who among the party line generation didn't do this at least once or twice, really?), but for the uninitiated: once upon a time people shared a telephone number and the only way they could tell that the call was for them was by the ring (for example: your ring might be a short one, the other person's might be a long one).
It was entirely possible to pick up the phone and hear a conversation taking place, in which case, like Jan finds out, you can't make an outgoing call because the line's tied up. And there's no rhyme or reason to how you'd get that free time: you'd have to keep trying. Plus, if you had an emergency, if the other subscriber was on the line, you couldn't call out. Eventually laws were made that required party line subscribers to vacate the line if one person needed to make an emergency call.
As someone who's constantly nostalgic for a time period she never lived in (and who rarely makes telephone calls if she can help it), I'd love to be hooked up to a party line, but alas. There are still some party lines in existence, but the heyday, and the rise of mobile phones and the decline of landlines, means that it's almost an extinct practice.
For more on telephone usage in old movies, here's a stellar post from The Blonde at the Film that's well worth your time.
4. Why was Thelma Ritter perfect in every movie she appeared in?
I can't pretend to know what it is about her comedic timing, natural style and instinctive acting that just works, but let's not sleep on how great Thelma Ritter was and how short her career was. Imagine her acting well into the '70s, '80s and '90s. We were robbed!
Thelma Ritter got her big break in Miracle on 34th Street (she's the mouthy shopper who wants to get the toy that the 'Macy's Santa' promised her son) and then went on to have a career that included hits like All About Eve, Rear Window, Pillow Talk, Birdman of Alcatraz, and How the West Was Won. She's also a part of Oscar history as one of three actresses splitting the most nominations without ever winning (the other two are Glenn Close and Amy Adams, so she's in great company).
Over the course of her career, she was nominated six times in the Best Supporting Actress category, for All About Eve, The Mating Season, With a Song in My Heart, Pickup on South Street, Pillow Talk, and Birdman of Alcatraz.
Sadly, Thelma died of a heart attack on February 5, 1969.
5. What were the interior design trends of the late '50s?
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The whole premise of the movie is that Doris Day's interior designer character can never get any work done from home because her party line is always tied up; and we know from seeing Jan's apartment that she has good taste, but Good God, she makes Brad's apartment fugly at the end of the movie.
But what, exactly, were the design trends of the late '50s? A big one, plainly visible throughout Cathy's apartment: the colour pink. Inspired by the First Lady at the time, Mamie Pink was everywhere and her influence inspired décor trends throughout her husband's term as President.
Aside from Mamie Pink, other pastels were en vogue at the time, as were vibrant modern colours like electric shades of yellow and blue. A tastefully decorated house was one that successfully blended these colour schemes with furniture either made of wood or Formica and chrome. Another popular design trend? The earthy Scandinavian design trends were also popular this decade.
All this to say: if you want an example of classic '50s interior design, look at Jan's apartment or Brad's apartment pre-makeover.
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