Gideon58's Reviews

New York New York was a lavishly mounted 1977 musical which was the first foray into the genre for director Martin Scorsese, fresh off his triumph in Taxi Driver. Scorsese was rumored to be dating Liza Minnelli at the time, which supposedly was the genesis of this movie and Liza's disastrous Broadway show The Act.

This film is loosely based on the real life relationship of singer Cleo Laine and musician John Dankworth and bares more than a passing resemblance to Minnelli's mother's classic A Star is Born. This throwback to the MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's starred Minnelli as Francine Evans, a band singer in the 40's who has a whirlwind romance with a second rate saxophone player named Jimmy Doyle (Robert DeNiro), an explosive and unpredictable musician whose ego was bigger than his talent but did have a way with the ladies and sweeps Francine off her feet into a whirlwind romance and eventual marriage (the scene where Jimmy proposes to Francine is so funny). Francine then becomes a huge star, leaving Jimmy in the dust and it's more than his ego can bare.

The plot line is not the only thing in this movie reminiscent of A Star is Born. Minnelli is made up to look exactly like her mother in the 1954 classic. Watch her in the scene where she sings "But the World Goes Round" and check out her costume when she's singing the title tune...it's eerily similar to something Garland wore in the '54 film.

There is also a huge production number called "Happy Endings", which was cut during initial release, that bares more than a passing resemblance to Garland's "Born in a Trunk" number in
A Star is Born It should be noted that "Happy Endings" was restored to the film during a later re-release and it is spectacular; however, despite all these similarities to the '54 classic, Scorsese does put his own stamp on this, presenting the character of Jimmy Doyle as a violent, sometimes abusive, insensitive heel who thinks women are 2nd class citizens and is never able to accept the fact that Francine became the major star he didn't.

Actually, musical numbers aside, Minnelli offers one of her strongest performances as Francine and DeNiro, as always, is riveting as Jimmy Doyle. Music is everywhere here, like another character in the story. The score is a combination of big band hits of the 40's and new John Kander-Fred Ebb songs, including the title tune, which a certain blue-eyed crooner later turned into a number one record.

The film also boasts extraordinary, Oscar-worthy production design by Boris Leven and costumes by Theodora Van Runkle. It's not for everyone and probably not for the average Scorsese fan, but for fans of the stars and the genre, it's a curio worth a look...and try to find a director's cut if available.

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Mystic River is an awesome film; I can't believe it didn't make the millennium list.

Joel and Ethan Cohen brought home the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2007 with No Country for Old Men, a dark and chilling suspense thriller which takes the classic cat and mouse chase genre to an entirely new level.

The film stars Josh Brolin, in his finest performance to date, as a schnook who happens upon the remains of a brutal crime scene, where he finds several dead bodies, a huge shipment of heroine, and a case containing two million dollars and the consequences of his fatalistic decision to take off with the money, prompting his being hunted by a cold-blooded assassin named Anton Chagur (Jarvier Bardem), who will stop at nothing to get his money back. Throw in a laid back Texan sheriff (played to perfection by Tommy Lee Jones)assigned to the case and you have all the ingredients of a first class thriller.

This gritty and uncompromising drama pulls no punches and offers no easy solutions to a myriad of questions it raises, most notably, "Did this guy really think he could get away with stealing two million dollars?"

The film is dark and atmospheric, creating such a height of suspense that there is virtually no music score and you really don't miss it. The suspense created by the story propels the film itself. Jarvier Bardem won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his bone-chilling performance as Chagur, the deadly and apparently conscience-free killer chasing Brolin. Bardem creates one of the most terrifying cinematic villains ever, whose brutality is only surpassed by his unpredictability.

The Cohens have crafted an intricate story that does peter out toward the end, but for the majority of its running time, will have you literally holding your breath. Not quite up the standards of their classic
Fargo, the film is still practically a classic that improves upon repeat viewings and reinforces Joel and Ethan Cohen as filmmakers to be reckoned with.

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After his charismatic, Oscar-nominated turn in Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy's follow-up film,Norbit, was a disappointment to say the least. Eddie does work hard here, playing three separate roles in this broad romantic comedy that ineffectively tries to balance slapstick with genuine characters.

Murphy plays Norbit, a small-town nerd trapped in a marriage to an overweight, overbearing shrew named Rasputia (also Murphy)whose unexpected reunion with his childhood sweetheart (Thandie Newton)who has moved back to town, thrusts him in the middle of a convoluted love triangle. Murphy is also unrecognizable as Mr.Wong,the owner of the orphanage where Norbit grew up.

There are scattered laughs here and there, but the film does have problems like a really lame screenplay that could have used some tightening (the film is about 20 minutes too long) and the fact that the character of Rasputia has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and a good comic villain(ness)needs some element of sympathy and Rasputia has none.

On the plus side, Murphy is adorable as Norbit, the sweetest character Murphy has done since Sherman Klump and Newton is a lovely leading lady. There are also a pair of scene stealing supporting turns from Eddie Griffin and Kat Williams as a pair of pimps turned rib shack owners and Cuba Gooding Jr. is seen to good advantage in his best role since winning an Oscar for JERRY MAGUIRE, but the story is so silly and the character of Rasputia is so repulsive that it's difficult to commit to the story, but Eddie definitely gets an "A" for effort.

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Normal was a taboo-shattering TV movie made by HBO that shocked some, offended others, and moved me deeply.

This movie, directed and written by Jane Anderson, based on her play, focuses on Irma and Roy Applewood, a small town couple who have been married for over 25 years, have two children and are considered pillars of their community. Roy passes out at a church function one day and Irma thinks there's something physically wrong with him, but it is revealed that Roy has developed a physical illness related to the stress he has put on himself by keeping a secret about himself buried for all these years. Roy finally admits to Irma that he has always felt that he is a woman trapped in a man's body and that he wants to have a sex change operation.

Now the twist in this story is that Roy does not want to end his relationship with Irma and even though her entire world has been turned upside down, Irma can't walk away from Roy either and watching these two people deal with this painful revelation is the crux of this story.

Roy initially moves out but he realizes he still loves Irma and still wants to be a father to his daughter so he returns home, begins hormone treatments, and starts experimenting with women's clothing in a gradual manner. Of course, this affects all parts of his life drastically...there is a heartbreaking scene where he shows up at his blue collar job wearing earrings and gets beat up because of it.

This movie is deeply moving as we watch Roy's inner torment as he tries to be true to himself without destroying his family and watching Irma trying to accept what Roy is going through even though it has completely ripped her world and her whole belief system to shreds. Not to mention Roy and Irma's kids, who have completely different reactions to what is going on.

Tom Wilkenson and Jessica Lange deliver two powerhouse performances as Roy and Irma that should have won them both Emmy awards. Hayden Pannetiere lights up the screen as their daughter and Joseph Sikora is solid as their son. Clancy Brown also registers as Roy's boss, who upon learning of Roy's secret, seizes the opportunity to act on some long buried feelings he has always had for Irma.

This movie is about tolerance and requires an open mind and patience, as it asks as many questions as it answers. A special film experience for the adult film-goer.

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Not Another Teen Movie is an on-target lampoon of the teen-angst movies of the 80's made by the likes of John Hughes and Chris Columbus that practically took over the movie business during this period.

This hilarious comedy, whose primary plot resembles the Freddie Prinze Jr. movie SHE'S ALL THAT, takes place at John Hughes High School (where else?) and follows the rocky, on-again, off-again romance between hunky jock Jake (Chris Evans)and the brainy bookworm/artist Janey (Chyler Leigh). Janie's perverted, drunken, lazy bum of a dad, perfectly played by Randy Quaid, resembles Molly Ringwald's dad in PRETTY IN PINK and Jake's sister, Catherine, is an on target dig at Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in CRUEL INTENTIONS.

If you watch closely, you will also observe affectionate winks at THE BREAKFAST CLUB, ST. ELMO'S FIRE, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU,SIXTEEN CANDLES, BRING IT ON, and LEGALLY BLONDE among others. There is one gag after another and they don't all work, but they come at such a lightning pace, the duds can be overlooked. Needless to say, if you haven't seen the movies being lampooned, most of the film will be meaningless to you, but if you know the movies, there is no way you cannot be entertained by this on-target spoof.

Performances are energetic and over the top with special nods to Quaid, Jaime Pressley as a bitchy cheerleader, and Eric Christian Austin as Jake's competition for Janey. There's even an amusing cameo appearance by the queen of 80's teen angst, Molly Ringwald. For solid "you don't have to think about them" laughs, you can't beat this one.

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Notes on a Scandal is the exquisite film adaptation of the novel by Zoe Heller which is a searing and gut-wrenching examination of the fine line between friendship and obsession and how the inability to walk that line can cost so much.

Dame Judi Dench plays Barbara, the central character and our host for the story, a veteran teacher at a proper British prep school who develops an attraction to Sheba (Cate Blanchett), a Bohemian free-spirited newcomer to the faculty who is married with two children. Barbara's attraction to Sheba begins to cross the line into obsession when she learns of Sheba's affair with a student and decides to use this information to her advantage.

To reveal any more here would just be wrong, but this is the springboard for a showcase for two of our greatest living actresses guided by the skillful direction of Richard Eyre. Dench, in particular, is nothing short of extraordinary as Barbara, a character who is part Jean Brodie and part Blanche DuBois...all crisp and starched British authority on the outside and still smoldering with the sexual longings of a twenty-year old on the inside. Dench creates a full-bodied character here, aided by director Eyre. Some of Dench's most powerful moments in the film have nothing to do with dialogue...watch her as she prepares for her first dinner party at Sheba's home or as she watches Sheba dealing with other teachers at the school or as she mourns the death of her cat,Portia.

Don't get me wrong, Dench makes her dialogue work too, whether it is her beautifully-written narration or her confrontations with Sheba when she first learns of the affair or when she learns that Sheba has not stopped the affair after agreeing to do so.

Blanchett makes every moment she has on screen work as well, with particular kudos going to her scenes of rejecting Barbara's first subtle sexual advance, her trying to end the affair with the student and her final explosive confrontation with Barbara.

With the assistance of crisp direction and a solid screenplay adaptation by Patrick Marber, Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett create one of the most dynamic acting teams I've seen in decades and are the primary selling point of this one-of-a-kind motion picture experience.

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Nothing in Common was a smart and sentimental comedy drama that offered a pre-Oscar'ed Tom Hanks one of his best earlier roles. Hanks plays David Basner, an advertising executive whose lightning-quick advancement at his company becomes hampered when he has to start taking care of his father (Jackie Gleason, in his final film role)who has become completely helpless after his wife (Eva Maria Saint) has left him.

This comedy takes some pointed and effective jabs at the advertising industry and still manages to be a warm family story as well. Hanks beautifully walks a fine line between comedy and drama in one of his better and nearly forgotten performances. Gleason is abrasive as the dad, but Saint is lovely as the mom. Sela Ward, Bess Armstrong, and Barry Corbin are also effective in supporting roles and the ending has been known to produce a few tears. An intelligent and heartwarming look at the choices that we sometimes have to make regarding career and family.

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Nurse Betty is a delicious black comedy that is an affectionate send-up of the film noir genre that takes some effective swipes at the television industry as well.

Renee Zellweger stars as Betty, a sweet-natured waitress and housewife who is a devoted follower of a soap opera called "A Reason to Love." One evening, while watching her tape of today's episode, Betty witnesses the brutal murder of her slimy, drug-dealer husband (Aaron Eckhart)by a pair of ruthless hit men (Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock). This incident causes a microchip in Betty's mind to blow and she packs her bags and decides to drive to Los Angeles to find Dr. David Ravelle, her favorite character on the soap, with the hit men hot on her trail, who have to take out the only witness to their crime.

This comedy makes all the right moves, thanks to a very clever screenplay and wonderful performances from a perfect cast. Zellweger is absolutely enchanting as Betty, an endearing performance that earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. Freeman is charming as a surprisingly sensitive hit man and Rock, as always, steals every scene he is in as Freeman's explosive young partner. Greg Kinnear offers a charismatic turn as George McCord, the actor who plays Dr.David Ravelle and finds himself enamored with Betty. Allison Janney, Kathleen Wilhoite, and Crispin Glover offer effective support as well in this delightful comedy that is warm, witty, smart, and heartbreaking. Don't miss this sleeper.

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She came out of the box running, winning an Oscar for her film debut and has been struggling for respect as an actress ever since, having been unable to capitalize on Funny Girl. She came close with The Way We Were, but continued to allude the respect her talent merited. Barbra Streisand finally found a plum role, hired a talented director, surrounded herself with a superb supporting cast, and handed in the best performance of her career in Nuts, an intense and riveting drama definitely not for all tastes but a bold viewing choice for fans of the performer and not-quite-sold film goers who are willing to have an open mind and give her a chance.

Streisand wisely put a portion of her ego in check and had the sense to hire the gifted Martin Ritt (Hud; Norma Rae)to guide her in this intense drama about a prostitute named Claudia Draper, whose explosive temper and outrageous personality are misinterpreted as mental illness and finds herself committed and deemed incapable of standing trial when she is arrested for murdering one of her johns (Leslie Nielsen).

What I love about this film is that it presents the audience with evidence to support both sides and then allows the film-goer to make their own decision as to whether or not Claudia is crazy. As the details of Claudia's life unfold before us, evidence definitely supports mental defect, but Claudia says she is perfectly sane and wants her day in court because she killed the john in self-defense.

Though Streisand has allowed Ritt to direct, Streisand the producer's presence is definitely felt, especially during Claudia's final monologue in court, shot in loving close-up. Streisand is backed up by a first rate cast including Richard Dreyfuss as her defense attorney, Maureen Stapleton as her mother, and Karl Malden as her stepfather, but this is Streisand's show all the way, a searing and extraordinary performance that permeates the screen and scratches at your heart. For Streisand fans, a must. 7.5/10

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After directing heavy dramas like Traffic (which won him an Oscar) and Erin Brockovich, Steven Soderbergh decided to lighten up a little with this delightful remake of the 1960 rat pack classic, Ocean's Eleven.


George Clooney steps into Frank Sinatra's shoes as Danny Ocean, the ex-con who gets together with a large crew of cronies to rob three Las Vegas Casinos owned by a Las Vegas bigwig (Andy Garcia) who is now dating Danny's ex-wife (Julia Roberts). The screenplay is a little on the complex side and sometimes it's a little hard to keep track of what Danny and his crew are doing, but the film is so great to look at and the cast appears to be having so much fun, you really just let little plotting devices slide and just go with it. Clooney has never appeared so smooth and slick on screen and is backed by a great cast including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Elliott Gould, and in a casting stroke of genius as a veteran con man, comic legend Carl Reiner.

A slick and stylish crime caper that looks great and is wonderful mindless fun for a Saturday night movie rental. Followed by a pair of inferior sequels. 7/10

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Oklahoma! is the beautifully mounted, 1955 film version of the history-making 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical which was basically the first Broadway offering to use music and dance to advance the story.

Based on the book "Green Grow the Lilacs" this musical, set right before the title territory was to become a state, focuses on a romantic triangle between a charming cowboy named Curly, a pretty farm girl named Laurey, and a ranch hand on Laurey's farm named Jud Fry. Gordon MacRae is charming as Curly, Shirley Jones (in her film debut) makes a lovely Laurey and Rod Steiger is memorably creepy as Jud.

The film also features Gene Nelson as Curly's pal Will Parker, Charlotte Greenwood as Laurey's Aunt Eller, Eddie Albert as a Persian (?) traveling salesman named Ali Hakim and the incomparable Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie, Laurey's best friend and Will's girl. The film features most of Agnes DeMille's original choreography intact, including the amazing 20-minute dream ballet, featuring lead dancers James Mitchell and Bambi Lynn.

The score has not been tampered with too much...only two songs from the show were not used in the movie though they can be heard as background music. Fred Zinneman's direction is one of his greatest achievements, helping to make this musical a classic not to be missed. 8/10

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The final musical directed by the legendary Vicnente Minnelli, On a Clear Day You can See Forever, is the expensive and lumbering 1970 film version of the 1965 Broadway musical, revamped to fit the talents of Barbra Streisand.

In her third feature film, Barbra plays Daisy Gamble, a college student who we learn has ESP and the ability to make plants grow VERY quickly, who seeks the help of a college professor, Dr. Marc Chabot (Yves Montand) in helping her to quit smoking via hypnosis. While under hypnosis, Chabot discovers Daisy had a previous life as a 17th century temptress named Melinda Tentrees, who he falls in love with, but has to deal with the dull and annoying Daisy to get to the ever fascinating Melinda.

This inventive Broadway musical has been dramatically re-tooled into a Barbra vehicle and despite Minnelli's still evident eye for color and cinema landscape, this long lumbering film fails to sustain interest until the end, despite some lovely scenery and breathtaking period costuming by the legendary Cecil Beaton.

Streisand and Montand have no chemistry whatsoever and Bob Newhart, Simon Oakland, Larry Blyden, Elaine Giftos, and Jack Nicholson (!?!)are wasted in pointless supporting roles. The severely tampered with Burton Lane-EY Harbug score includes "Hurry, It's Lovely Up Here", "What did I have that I Don't Have?", "Melinda", and "Come Back to Me." A song called "Go to Sleep", written especially for the film, features Streisand doing a duet with herself. For hard-core Streisand addicts only. 5.5/10

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On Golden Pond was the beautifully realized 1981 drama that made history by having three Hollywood icons sharing the screen for the first time- Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda.

In this luminous and beautifully photographed drama. Fonda and Hepburn play Norman and Ethel Thayer, an elderly couple who come out to their cabin by the lake for the summer as part of their celebration of Norman's 80th birthday.

Enter into the picture the Thayers' estranged daughter Chelsea, played by Jane Fonda, who arrives with fiancée and future stepson in tow and this is where the drama begins as we not only watch Norman deal with the impending reality of his birthday and his fear of dying but watching Chelsea trying to make a real connection with her father and a young boy (Doug McKeon) try to bring out the young man in Norman as Chelsea asks her parents to keep him for the summer. The real meat of this film is watching the relationship between Norman and the boy and how it just makes Norman more terrified about his fear of dying. There is an absolutely heartbreaking scene where Norman goes out to pick berries, stays out past dark and can't find his way back to the cabin that anyone over the age of 50 might feel hits a little too close to home.

There's not a false move here thanks to a solid Oscar-winning screenplay by Ernest Thompson based on his own play and sensitive direction by Mark Rydell. Henry Fonda finally won the Oscar that alluded him his whole career for his work here and Hepburn won her fourth Oscar as well A timeless celebration of life and love that is always worth watching and if you've never seen it, sit back and behold a couple of acting legends commanding the screen with an authority that is so rare these days.

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Much has been written over the years regarding the 'one-note" performances of Marsha Mason. Four of these "one-note" performances earned Mason Oscar nominations and IMO this is the best of those four. Only When I Laugh is Neil Simon's big screen re-working of his own play THE GINGERBREAD LADY.

Marsha Mason plays Georgia Hines, an actress recently released from rehab, trying to get her career going again, trying to re-establish a relationship with her daughter (Kristy McNichol) and trying to stay sober and not really doing a great job with any of them. Mason hits all the right notes here and makes Georgia a flawed and realistic human being. Some of Mason's best moments involve no dialogue at all...there is a wonderful scene about 2/3 of the way through the film where an on-the-edge Georgia is walking the streets of Manhattan around dusk and it seem like every other storefront she passes is a bar. She then stops at an interior pay phone to call her doctor from rehab; however, he is not present and Georgia doesn't want to talk to the doctor who does answer the phone. This scene is extremely well-played by Mason and I think it's the scene that probably nailed the Oscar nomination for her.

Kristy McNichol charms, as always, as Polly, Georgia's self-sufficient daughter who still yearns to be Mommie's little girl sometimes. James Coco and Joan Hackett also deliver Oscar nominated performances as Georgia's best friends, Jimmy, an unemployed actor and Toby, a vain, society beauty trying to cope with the fact that her best years have passed her by. Hackett is particularly impressive as the fading beauty whose fragile ego doesn't keep her from kicking Georgia in the ass when she needs it.

Though Simon definitely has stronger screenplays under his belt, Only When I Laugh is worth seeing if for no other reason, the strong performances by the four leads, three of which earned Oscar nominations.

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On the Town is the splashy 1949 film adaptation of the Leonard Bernstein Broadway musical, which has now been tailored to fit the MGM stable of stars.


Co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, this film made history as the first musical to actually do some filming on location in Manhattan. The story is simple: three sailors (Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin) have a 24-hour leave in New York and are looking for romance. Betty Garrett plays a female cabbie who has the hots for Sinatra and Munshin falls for an anthropology student played by Ann Miller. Kelly sees a poster in the subway for this month's "Miss Turnstiles" (Vera-Ellen) and decides to spend the whole day looking for her. This thin plot allows room for some memorable musical numbers including the classic, "New York, New York", Miller's memorable "Find Me a Primitive Man" and a fun duet with Sinatra and Garrett called "Come up to My Place". Actually "My Place" and "New York" are the only songs from the original Broadway show, but why carp? It's a musical classic that is a delight from start to finish.

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In Our Sons, Oscar winner Julie Andrews made her TV movie debut as a wealthy socialite who is asked by her gay son (Hugh Grant) to travel to the town of Fayetteville to find the mother (Ann-Margret) of his lover (Zeljko Ivanek), who is dying of AIDS and wants to see his mother before he dies. This movie shows all four characters going through a myriad of emotions as not only does Andrews have to deal with the fact that her own son is gay and that his lover is dying, she is forced into bonding with this stranger, who not only knew nothing about her son being gay, but now that she knows, wants nothing to do with him and seems curiously unmoved by the fact that her son is dying. Also complicating matters is a clash of social classes as Andrews finds Ann-Margret's character to be uneducated white trash who resents this wealthy woman's intrusion into her life, which ignites some very powerful emotions between the two women. Equally moving are the scenes between the two lovers.

This movie is well-directed and acted and brings up quite a few unpleasant questions regarding homosexuality and AIDS. An adult motion picture drama that tackles some unpleasant subject matter but is well worth watching for the adult and open minded.

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In Panic Room, Oscar winner Jodie Foster manages to channel her undeniably strong on screen charisma into what is basically a damsel in distress drama. Foster plays a divorced mom of a teenager, who has just moved into a new house, who becomes terrorized by a trio of thieves looking for some booty left by the previous owner of the house in the panic room, a large steel-enclosed room that once it is entered and the door is closed, it is completely impenetrable, which becomes a problem when Foster and her daughter choose to hide from the intruders in said panic room.

Also factoring in the drama is the fact that the daughter is diabetic and requires periodic shots of insulin. The film has a real claustrophobic feel to it since the action pretty much stays inside the house and a good deal of the action plays out in that one room, but the cat and mouse game between Foster and the thieves works, primarily due to Foster, who brings so much more to the role than written and Forrest Whitaker, solid as always, as one of the thieves who does appear to have some semblance of a conscience.

It's not terribly original, but it is watchable, thanks to the performances of Foster and Whitaker

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Payback is wildly entertaining nod to the film noir drama that puts a great star smack dab in the middle of a great story and he totally runs with it. This dark and delicious film stars Mel Gibson as Porter, a former Mafioso who was left for dead by a former running partner and robbed of his half of a heist ($70,000.00)and Porter's single-minded quest to get his money back, not concerned with what he has to do or who he has to kill to get it. The funny thing about the story is that all the people who stand in his way can't believe Porter is going to all this trouble for only $70,000.00...which is chump change where mob money is concerned, but this doesn't concern Porter, who just wants it back, no more, no less. Gibson appears to be thoroughly enjoying himself here, in one of his most off-beat and engaging characterizations.

Effective support is provided by Maria Bello, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Gregg Henry, David Paymer, William Devane, John Glover, and a brief but memorable turn from Lucy Lieu. The cinematography is dark and dreary(it almost looks like it's in B&W, but's it not)but it fits the style of the film perfectly.

The story is simple and straightforward and will keep you engrossed until the final credits roll...an under-appreciated sleeper that got by a lot of people. 7/10

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By 1958, Doris Day's career was on the downslide and something drastic needed to be done to revive her career. 1959'S Pillow Talk redefined Doris' image and created an entirely new genre of the "will she or won't she" sex comedy as well as introducing one of the greatest romantic screen couplings in history...Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

Day plays Jan Morrow, an interior decorator who shares her phone line with Brad Allen (Hudson) a song-writing playboy who ties up Doris' phone by singing love songs (actually the same song) over the phone to the parade of women in his life. Day's attempts to get a private phone line fail and she and Hudson begrudgingly come up with a system to share the phone which Hudson doesn't stick to.

Tony Randall plays Jonathan Forbes, a rich playboy who is a client of Doris' and Rock's best friend, who is crazy about Doris but she doesn't feel the same way. One night, Brad discovers Jan at a nightclub and knowing she already hates him, pretends to be a wealthy Texan in order to romance her and this is where the fun begins.

Yes, the story is dated because party lines are a thing of the past but it is the linchpin upon which this story delightfully plays out. Director Michael Gordon cleverly uses split-screen images to put Doris and Rock together on screen in seemingly compromising positions, very adult for 1959 and watching Brad pretending to be cowboy Rex Stetson, trying to romance Jan while Brad tries to advise Jan over the phone about what a cad Rex is, is a lot of fun.

Day lights up the screen here, in a luminous performance that earned her her first and only Oscar nomination. Hudson, previously only seen in dramatic films up to this point, turns out to be gifted a farceur and interviews in his later years, always credited Doris for teaching him how to do comedy. Randall is comic perfection as Jonathan as is Thelma Ritter, who was also nominated for an Oscar for her work as Jan's housekeeper. The film's extremely clever screenplay did earn an Oscar.

A delight from start to finish that introduced a new movie couple that would give Fred and Ginger and Spencer and Kate a run for their money. The film was brilliantly re-imagined some thirty years later as Down with Love.

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