Must-See Movie: Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk (1959)
One of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, this movie sparked the Doris Day/Rock Hudson/Tony Randall trio that would be followed by two other hit comedies.
Doris Day plays a single working woman named Jan Morrow who lives in a nice apartment in Manhattan. Her only problem is that she shares a partyline with a playboy-slash-songwriter Brad Allen, played by Rock Hudson. She often picks up her phone to make a call and hears Allen crooning the same love song to a different woman. "You are my inspiration...(fill in the name of any woman)."

Incensed after many attempts to notify him of his rudeness, Day goes to the phone company to ask for her own number. It is explained to her that if this was an emergency, she'd jump to the top of the list. Perhaps if she were to get pregnant she would get her own line sooner. Day replies that she is not married, so of course she can't just go and get pregnant! (I heart 1959!)

Day goes back to deal with Hudson herself, making an agreement that they each use a half hour of phone time. Hudson breaks the rule almost immediately, not caring if he offends the "frigid" other half of the partyline.

"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day: Harry James

Harry James
Taken from the official Harry James website:
Harry Haag James was born in 1916 in Albany, Georgia, in the United States. He learned the trumpet from his father, a circus bandleader. James decided to pursue a professional career in music after winning a state high-school trumpet competition.

Harry began to perform with several dance bands, including that of Ben Pollack's popular group. The flawless, technically outstanding trumpeter played for several years with the Benny Goodman Band before forming his own band in 1939 with a gifted but little known vocalist, Frank Sinatra.

During the golden era of the big bands, Harry recorded a number of hits, including "I've Heard That Song Before," from the motion picture Youth on Parade (1942), "You Made Me Love You" (1941), the number-one instrumental hit "Sleepy Lagoon" (1942), "I Had the Craziest Dream" (1943), "You'll Never Know" and his theme song, "Ciribiribin." His band helped launch the careers of many pop music stars of the World War II era, including Frank Sinatra and Helen Forrest.  Ed. note: Doris Day sang with him on one of the greatest albums ever, "Young Man With a Horn," which was the soundtrack for the movie of the same name.

The Perfect Day

Well, since today is my $#@!&-th birthday, I thought I'd put together my best day. A day where everything went perfectly, and I got to do whatever I wanted.

First of all, I'd wake up next to Dyno. (Or maybe a young James Garner, if we're really wishing here.) He'd bring me a Starbucks café mocha, nice and hot, and we'd watch television in bed. Perhaps "Snapped" on Oxygen, or "Dog Whisperer" on NatGeo.

Then after a couple hours Dyno and I would finally get up and take my dog on a nice walk along the beach. (The dog wouldn't poop the entire time -- it'd be a miracle.) And it'd be a beautiful, sunny, and clear day, too. Oh yeah, and I'd be tan and weigh about 20 pounds less.

I come home and all the laundry is done, the house is clean, the dishes are out of the dishwasher, and a nice lunch of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and pickles have been made. And a nice Manhattan to go with it all. I turn on the television to relax and eat, and the newest episode of "Survivor" is starting -- yes, even though it's Monday, and not Thursday.

Dean Martin, Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn, and Esther Williams call during the day to wish me a happy birthday and to ask what my plans are. I speak briefly with them, but really I just want to spend the day on the couch with Dyno. I fall asleep and end up napping until it's time for dinner, preempted by a few cocktails.

For dinner, Dyno takes me to the Playboy Club circa 1965, and I'm like Doris Day, wearing a beautiful gown with a matching coat, hat, and gloves. We sit and watch Bob Newhart do a stand-up routine, and then Mel Tormé comes out and croons to us. Dinner is a thick prime rib steak, lobster mashed potatoes, and a bold red wine.

I'm not going to go in to what happens after dinner. But let's just say (as they do in the old movies), the curtains flap in the wind and the camera pans left and then we fade out.

...And that's my perfect day!

Must-See Movie: Teacher's Pet

Teacher's Pet (1958)
I got the chance to watch this movie over the weekend (as Dyno watched football). It's yet another Doris Day comedy where a man pretends to be someone else after he finds out she hates him, although she's never met him.

James Gannon (played by Clark Gable), the gruff city editor of a newspaper, believes that the only way to learn the business is by doing, and so thinks college education is superfluous. Thus he's not pleased when he's invited to lecture at a college journalism class. He turns down the invitation and writes a nasty letter to the instructor. Yet his editor-in-chief orders him to go. When Gannon shows up to confront Professor Erica Stone (played by Doris Day), he finds her attractive. Before he is able to introduce himself and apologize for the letter, Erica reads it aloud and mocks Gannon before the entire class.

Humiliated, he decides to join the class to show her up, posing as a wallpaper salesman named Jim Gallagher. As they circle around their mutual attraction, they both begin to gain respect for each other's approaches to reporting news.

I found myself laughing out loud many times during the movie. Especially whenever the character of Dr. Pine was on-screen. Played by Gig Young, the character is the successful doctor that Gannon sees as his competition for Erica's affections. Young has played these types of characters before (especially in Doris Day movies), and he's always hilarious. His role in this film, however is different in that we don't know what kind of relationship he has with Erica.

Gable is great in this comedic role (much like his gruff It Happened One Night character), and his reactions are priceless. The only thing distracting is the obvious age difference between Gable and Day. Apparently the movie was deliberately filmed in black & white in an attempt to disguise Clark Gable's age and weight. And other actors turned down the role, seeing that there was such a huge age difference (Cary Grant and James Stewart, allegedly -- although it didn't seem to bother Grant in That Touch of Mink). But all in all it was a fun movie to watch and laugh along with.

What You Didn't Know...

*YAWN* So it's already 9:00 AM and Pixie has tagged me. I've been tagged before, but I just hate answering these things. Then I thought to my self, "Self, you never reveal enough information about yourself. No one knows any details about your personal life." So here are 7 things about me that you may not know:

1. I am a graduate of St. Pyre's School of Technical Pyrotechnics in Fioria, Virgin Islands, majoring in Pyrotechnical Arts. I studied under Pietro Pierre, the great international flame thrower. A genius in the world of deflagration.

2. I spend at least 5 hours a day at work procrastinating. This mostly consists of surfing the internet, blogging, playing on my MySpace page, or tooling around in Photoshop.

3. I have a thing for trumpet players. Especially those named Harry who know how to play Hora Staccato.

4. I have an unusually long tongue. When I was born, the doctor suggested to my mother that I get the tip of my tongue chopped off. The very thought of this procedure made her cringe, so she declined. As a result, I can touch my tongue to my nose (as well as many other special talents that shall remain unsaid).

5. Before my work as a pinup girl and go-go dancer, I was a famous big band singer under the stage name Kitty Keller. I sang for our wonderful men in uniform during WWII for the USO, and had 12 very successful albums throughout the 30's and 40's. However, I strained my voice during a performance with Doris Day (okay, more of a shouting match, but that's another story for another day) and I lost my record deal.

5. I've dated many famous men, but Peter Lawford was the one who really broke my heart. I'm especially hurt since there is no record anywhere of our relationship, which leads me to believe that he never has revealed to anyone that we were lovers.

6. I'm a MySpace whore. If you ask to be my friend, I'll automatically just say yes. I don't care who you are, what you believe in, or what you look like. I just want you as a friend!

7. I tried to sleep with Irving Thalberg to get a movie deal at MGM, but Norma Shearer beat me to it. That bitch.

As far as tagging people...I don't really go to other people's blogs, but I do hang out around other people's MySpace pages and websites (see the list on the right). I think if I tagged someone they'd never do it back. And if you're hurt that you didn't get tagged, it's because I don't know what the hell your blog is! Leave your addy in the comments so I can put you in a post or on my links list. Stop lurking and start commenting!!

Oh yeah... the obligatory rules (that I really had trouble following)...
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Must-See Movies: My Favorite Wife & Move Over Darling

For the first time in Lounge history (add pompous fanfare here) I'm endorsing two movies at once:

• My Favorite Wife (1940) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, and
• Move Over Darling (1963) with Doris Day and James Garner.

If you mention one movie, you have to mention the other, because the the 1963 flick is a remake of the 1940 film -- and both are excellent.

In both movies, Ellen Arden (Dunne and Day) arrives 7 years after being given up for dead in a shipwreck, to find her husband Nick (Grant and Garner) just remarried. Ellen decides to crash the honeymoon before the marriage can be consummated (ah, the 40's and 60's!) and to surprise her husband. But that's not even the half of it. Nick finds out that while Ellen was stranded on an island for 7 years, she was not alone. As Ricky Ricardo says, "She's got some 'splaining to do!"


I do tend to lean towards the 1963 version of this story for three reasons: 1) the comedy is higher with more pratfalls and slapstick, 2) the supporting roles played by Don Knotts (the shoe salesman), Edgar Buchanan (the judge), and Thelma Ritter (the mother-in-law), and 3) I could watch James Garner in any movie he makes.

Some interesting trivia: The 1963 film was originally titled "Something's Got to Give" and was to star Marilyn Monroe in the lead role. Monroe died before completion and so the movie was reshot entirely and released a year later than originally planned. Also just a year before, Day and Grant starred together in That Touch of Mink. I wonder if in between takes she asked his advice about doing the remake?

Classic Movie Quote of the Day

"You can either be an honest old maid or a happy liar."

-- Audrey Meadows in Touch of Mink

to Doris Day, convincing her to play games
to get Cary Grant