The Magic of Doris Day... Too Marvelous for Words
  • Home
  • Magic Blog
  • Remembering Doris
    • Sentimental Journey Personal Tributes to the Magic of Doris Day
    • Doris Day was more complicated, and more forward-thinking, than she ever got credit for
    • Lifelong friend, business partner remembers Hollywood legend Doris Day
    • Doris Day, America's box-office sweetheart of the '50s and '60s, is dead at 97
    • Legendary actress and singer Doris Day has died
    • How Doris Day’s Movie Roles Challenged Stereotypes
    • Doris Day 'Died Peacefully' Surrounded by Her 'Loved Ones,' Says Manager
    • Secret love’s no secret anymore
    • The Matchless Presence of Doris Day
    • Doris Day's death mourned in Carmel, where icon lived
    • Remembering Doris Day
    • Dream a little dream of Doris Day
    • Inside Doris Day's Final Birthday Party at Her Home Near Carmel-by-the-Sea: 'It Was Idyllic'
    • Hollywood Pays Tribute to Doris Day
    • Doris Day, Cincinnati's girl next door, dead at 97
    • RIP Doris Day
    • R.I.P. Doris Day Decades
    • TCM Remembers Doris Day
    • Doris Day mourned by celebrities following her death: 'She was the world’s sweetheart'
    • Pine Cone Tribute
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
    • Hollywood Remembers Doris Day: Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Goldie Hawn Sing Icon’s PraisesPage
    • Paul McCartney Remembers Doris Day: ‘She Was a True Star’
    • Doris Day Appreciation: Why Did Oscar Elude A Shining Star Of So Many Talents?Link Page
    • Paul Batura: Doris Day’s life was more than ‘Que Sera, Sera’ -- Because our ultimate future is ours to see
    • A Hip Sex Goddess Disguised as the Girl Next Doore
    • In Memoriam
  • Happy Birthday Doris!
    • 2020 Doris Tribute
    • Doris Day's 97th Birthday Celebration
    • Doris Day's 96th Birthday
    • Doris Day 95th Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 92nd Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 91st Birthday in Carmel
    • 90th Birthday Celebration
  • Tributes to an American Icon
    • A Tribute
    • Beneath wholesome image, Doris Day was an actor of depth
    • Doris Day Changed Us Forever
    • Why Doris Day reigns as one of the great jazz singers
    • Lucky Me
    • 60th Anniversary of “It Happened to Jane”
    • A Letter to an American Icon
    • What Singers Can Learn from Doris Day
    • Meeting My Idol
    • Doris Paved the Way for Women through Her Roles
    • Uptown Pluck
    • Reel Revival Doris Day
    • Not the Girl Next Door: Doris Day Reconsidered
    • Blonde and Blameless: Why I Love Doris Day Movies
    • A Tribute to Alma Sophia Welz Kappelhoff Day
    • Celebrity Memories
    • No More Que Será Será: Give Day Her Due
    • Doris Day Photo Gallery
  • Doris and Pets (It's Her Passion)
  • Magic Store
  • Music - Early Years
    • The Peak Years for Doris Music and Hits
    • 1957 and Beyond
    • The Studio Albums
    • Top 100 Hit Single Records
    • Doris Day Jukebox
    • Some Rare Recordings >
      • Rare Recordings, Part Two
    • Doris and Les "Those Were the Good Old Days"
    • Sheet Music Covers
  • Movies
    • Doris Day Co-Stars
    • Romance on the High Seas
    • My Dream Is Yours
    • It's a Great Feeling
    • Young Man with a Horn
    • Tea for Two
    • The West Point Story
    • Storm Warning
    • Lullaby of Broadway
    • On Moonlight Bay
    • I'll See You in My Dreams
    • Starlift
    • The Winning Team
    • April in Paris
    • By the Light of the Silvery Moon
    • Calamity Jane
    • Lucky Me
    • Young at Heart
    • Love Me or Leave Me
    • The Man Who Knew Too Much
    • Julie
    • The Pajama Game
    • Teacher's Pet
    • The Tunnel of Love
    • It Happened to Jane
    • Pillow Talk
    • Please Don't Eat the Daisies
    • Midnight Lace
    • Lover Come Back
    • That Touch of Mink
    • Billy Rose's Jumbo
    • The Thrill of It All
    • Move Over Darling
    • Send Me No Flowers
    • Do Not Disturb
    • The Glass Bottom Boat
    • The Ballad of Josie
    • Caprice
    • Where Were You When the Lights Went Out
    • With Six You Get Eggroll
    • Top 20 Girls Next Door in Movies
    • Press Books
    • Movie Memorabilia
  • Radio
  • Television
    • Doris Day Show Season 1
    • Doris Day Show Season 2
    • Doris Day Show Season 3
    • Doris Day Show Season 4
    • Doris Day Show Season 5
    • Doris Day Show Photo Gallery
    • Doris Day Specials
    • Doris Day's Best Friends
  • Interviews, Appearances on TV and Radio
    • 40's & 50's
    • 60's
    • 70's
    • 80's
    • 90's
    • 2000's & 10's
    • Radio Calls on Doris' Birthday
  • Latest News
    • 4-Legger News
  • Awards
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
  • Doris Day Fashion
    • Doris Day in Pillow Talk: Couture Allure
  • Doris in Carmel
    • DayDreamers
  • Doris through the Years
    • Cover Girl (Magazine Covers)
  • Quotes by and about Doris
  • Doris Talks to Her Fans (Fan Club Tapes)
    • Fans Talk To Doris
  • Who Knows What Might Have Been
    • Who Knows What Might Have Been, PART 2
  • Creative Video Collection
  • Doris Day Collector
  • And a few rounds of applause...
  • Contact Us
Picture
"Shooting Pillow Talk was like going to a party. It was a day's work of fun; it wasn't work at all." - Rock Hudson

"She is gorgeous. She is stunning. She is something special and the audience doesn't know about it yet." - Ross Hunter

"I was a businesswoman. I don't think I was a virgin. I went off to the country with him and I probably would have succumbed, except that I found out he was a phony and ran away. The audience - you thought I was a virgin. You thought when I went off with him, oh, she'll think of some way to wiggle out." - Doris Day from Rock Hudson: His Story


"Pillow Talk is a sleekly sophisticated production that deals chiefly with s-e-x. The principals seem to spend considerable time in bed or talking about what goes on bed, but the beds they occupy are always occupied singly. There's more talk than action natch." - Variety




Picture
Picture
Directed by  

Produced by



Written by




Starring








Music by



Cinematography

Editing

Distributed by   

Release date(s)   

Running time

Country

Language

Box-Office Gross (USA)
Michael Gordon

Ross Hunter
Edward Muhl
Martin Melcher

Stanley Shapiro
Maurice Richlin                    
Russell Rouse
Clarence Greene

Rock Hudson
Doris Day
Tony Randall
Thelma Ritter
Nick Adams
Julia Meade
Allen Jenkins


Frank DeVol
Joseph Gershenson
Maurice De Packh

Arthur E. Arling

Milton Carruth

Universal Pictures

October 6, 1959

102 Minutes

USA

English

$18,750,000.00





This one took Doris right to the top and kept her there. Co-Starring Rock Hudson and Tony Randall, everything worked, and Doris got her first Oscar nomination.  A smart comedy even by today’s standards, the only thing missing was some better songs. The title tune was popular.

The fabulously successful Pillow Talk was essentially the model for romantic comedies of the late 50's and early 60's, and Day and Hudson became the most popular romantic duo on the big screen. Today, they are still recognized that way.

The story involves Playboy composer Brad Allen (Rock Hudson) and interior-decorator Jan Morrow (Doris  Day) who are obliged to share a telephone party line. Naturally, their calls overlap at the least opportune times, and just as naturally, this leads to Hudson and Day despising each other without ever having met in person.

In a cute but convenient coincidence, Doris' boy friend is Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall), who also happens to be Hudson's best pal. Once Hudson gets a glimpse of Day, it's lust/love at first sight. To avoid revealing that he's her telephone rival, Hudson poses as Rex, a wealthy Texan who turns the charm on Day. It works until she agrees to go away with him for a long weekend. While Rock is out getting firewood, Doris straightens his coat, and out drops a song sheet. As she plays the notes on a piano, she instantly recognizes the tune that she has heard hundreds of times crooned over the phone by Brad to his stable of girlfriends. When he returns, she confronts him, he apologizes, trying to telling her he has fallen in love with her, she starts packing...wants nothing more to do with him. At that convenient moment, Jonathan (Tony) shows up just in time to take Doris as far away from Hudson as possible.  

Problem: both have fallen in love. Rock wants her back; she hates him and will not see him. In a funny scene between Rock and Doris' maid (played by Thelma Ritter), she tells him the way to get her back: "she's a decorator. You have an apartment to be decorated."  Doris accepts the job only if given carte blanche.


She gets even by  decorating Hudson's apartment in an unbelievably  hideous manner. But Hudson loves her all the same; he "kidnaps" her, carrying her through the streets in her nightgown in full view of everyone, including a laughing cop who refuses to intervene. When they arrive at the newly-decorated apartment, he tells her she can have it...that he was planning to propose to her once she had finished. As can be guessed, they make amends and end up together. 

Pillow Talk is still one of the best of the frothy Doris Day-Rock Hudson vehicles; it made a fortune at the box office and garnered five Oscar nominations, and was one of the Big Ten Films for 1959. It took both Rock and Doris to the top of all the movie star polls of that year, and they became one of the most remembered screen romantic couples.



Movie Quotes

Jan: Officer, arrest this man - he's taking me up to his apartment!
Police Officer: Well, I can't say that I blame him, miss.


Alma: Six foot six inches of opportunity doesn't come by every day. When you see it, grab it.

Alma: If there's anything worse than a woman living alone, it's a woman saying she likes it.


Jonathan Forbes: Brad, she is the sweetest, she is the loveliest, she is the most talented woman I have ever met.
Brad Allen: That's what you said when you married that stripper.
Jonathan Forbes: She wasn't a stripper. She was an exotic dancer... with trained doves.


Brad Allen: You're a woman who lives alone. Doesn't like it.
Jan: I happen to like living alone.
Brad Allen: Look, I don't know what's bothering you, but don't take your bedroom problems out on me.
Jan:  I have no bedroom problems. There's nothing in my bedroom that bothers me.
Brad Allen: Oh, that's too bad.

Alma: It only takes one sip of wine to tell if it's a good bottle.

Jan: This is a good bottle.
Alma: Well what are you waiting for? Drink up!



Songs

"Pillow Talk" - Performed by Doris Day over screen titles (single hit release)

"Roly Poly" - Performed by Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Perry Blackwell

"Inspiration" - Performed by Rock Hudson

"I Need No Atmosphere" - Performed by Perry Blackwell

"You Lied" - Performed by Perry Blackwell

"Possess Me" - Performed by Doris Day




Trivia

From IMDB:

"Rock Hudson turned down the film three times, believing the script to be 'too risqué'".

"Ross Hunter wrote that after he made this film, no theater managers wanted to book it. Popular movie themes at the time were war films, westerns, or spectacles. Hunter was told by the big movie chains that sophisticated comedies like "Pillow Talk" went out with William Powell. They also believed Doris Day and Rock Hudson were things of the past and had been overtaken by newer stars. Hunter persuaded Sol Schwartz, who owned the Palace Theatre in New York, to book the film for a two-week run, and it was a smash hit. The public had been starved for romantic comedy, and theatre owners who had previously turned down Ross Hunter now had to deal with him on HIS terms."

"Michael Gordon had hoped to make a sequel to this film in 1980. It was to star Kristy McNichol as Jan and Brad Allen's daughter and Gregory Harrison as her boyfriend. Unfortunately, Gordon was unable to lure Doris Day out of retirement to make the film."



"Jonathan drives Jan back to New York in a black car with a hard-top, but when they arrive at the diner it is black with a white vinyl roof."

"When Jan and Jonathon are talking in front of the interior design store about the car he is offering her, the same extras are seen multiple times. A woman with a blue coat and gray hat walks by four times, and a woman with a red coat walks by at least three times."

This movie is also referenced in the following:

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Poster at cinema on Arthur and Doreen's date.

The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher
 (1979)
movie mentioned.

Newhart: Pillow Fight
 (1985) (TV Episode)
title reference

Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist (1987) (TV Movie)

Dallas: Pillow Talk
 (1988) (TV Episode)
title reference

When Harry Met Sally...
 (1989)

Sunny Side Up
 (1994)

Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
 (1999) (Video)
mentioned once

Tattoo, a Love Story
 (2002)
Virgil has a late fee at the video store for this movie

A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
mentioned in documentary

Down with Love (2003)

A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope
 (2004) (Video)
mentioned once

Una familia de diez: Gaby y Plutarco enojados
 (2007) (TV Episode)
Mentioned by name by El Abuelo

Mad Men: Long Weekend (2007) (TV Episode)
Joan says she feels like she is stuck somewhere between Doris Day in Pillow Talk and Midnight Lace.

Jeopardy!: Episode #26.130
 (2010) (TV Episode)
Subject of an $800 clue in the category "Pop Culture"

Maltin on Movies: Due Date
 (2010) (TV Episode)
Movie referenced in this episode.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries: Still Waters (2013) (TV Episode)
Title seen on front of theater



From TCM:

"In the diner scene near the end, the restaurant patrons were supposed to deck the Tony Randall character, who would fake the blow and slide down 'unconscious' in the booth seat. However, during filming the actor overestimated his hook and knocked Randall out for real. The shot wound up being so good that the actual take shown in the film was the one of this accidental punch."





Movie Promotions from around the World

Movie Images

 

Movie/Song Clips

This entire website is copyrighted by www.dorisdaymagic.com. Certain rights reserved. All music fully licensed through Spotify, Radionomy, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/446019652829932
Email us at webmaster@dorisdaymagic.com
Find us on Instagram at www.instagram.com/dorisdaymagic100

Support the Doris Day Animal Foundation when you search the Web or shop online with Goodsearch.
Goodsearch: You Search...We Give!

DDAF Donate
  • Home
  • Magic Blog
  • Remembering Doris
    • Sentimental Journey Personal Tributes to the Magic of Doris Day
    • Doris Day was more complicated, and more forward-thinking, than she ever got credit for
    • Lifelong friend, business partner remembers Hollywood legend Doris Day
    • Doris Day, America's box-office sweetheart of the '50s and '60s, is dead at 97
    • Legendary actress and singer Doris Day has died
    • How Doris Day’s Movie Roles Challenged Stereotypes
    • Doris Day 'Died Peacefully' Surrounded by Her 'Loved Ones,' Says Manager
    • Secret love’s no secret anymore
    • The Matchless Presence of Doris Day
    • Doris Day's death mourned in Carmel, where icon lived
    • Remembering Doris Day
    • Dream a little dream of Doris Day
    • Inside Doris Day's Final Birthday Party at Her Home Near Carmel-by-the-Sea: 'It Was Idyllic'
    • Hollywood Pays Tribute to Doris Day
    • Doris Day, Cincinnati's girl next door, dead at 97
    • RIP Doris Day
    • R.I.P. Doris Day Decades
    • TCM Remembers Doris Day
    • Doris Day mourned by celebrities following her death: 'She was the world’s sweetheart'
    • Pine Cone Tribute
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
    • Hollywood Remembers Doris Day: Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Goldie Hawn Sing Icon’s PraisesPage
    • Paul McCartney Remembers Doris Day: ‘She Was a True Star’
    • Doris Day Appreciation: Why Did Oscar Elude A Shining Star Of So Many Talents?Link Page
    • Paul Batura: Doris Day’s life was more than ‘Que Sera, Sera’ -- Because our ultimate future is ours to see
    • A Hip Sex Goddess Disguised as the Girl Next Doore
    • In Memoriam
  • Happy Birthday Doris!
    • 2020 Doris Tribute
    • Doris Day's 97th Birthday Celebration
    • Doris Day's 96th Birthday
    • Doris Day 95th Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 92nd Birthday in Carmel
    • Doris Day 91st Birthday in Carmel
    • 90th Birthday Celebration
  • Tributes to an American Icon
    • A Tribute
    • Beneath wholesome image, Doris Day was an actor of depth
    • Doris Day Changed Us Forever
    • Why Doris Day reigns as one of the great jazz singers
    • Lucky Me
    • 60th Anniversary of “It Happened to Jane”
    • A Letter to an American Icon
    • What Singers Can Learn from Doris Day
    • Meeting My Idol
    • Doris Paved the Way for Women through Her Roles
    • Uptown Pluck
    • Reel Revival Doris Day
    • Not the Girl Next Door: Doris Day Reconsidered
    • Blonde and Blameless: Why I Love Doris Day Movies
    • A Tribute to Alma Sophia Welz Kappelhoff Day
    • Celebrity Memories
    • No More Que Será Será: Give Day Her Due
    • Doris Day Photo Gallery
  • Doris and Pets (It's Her Passion)
  • Magic Store
  • Music - Early Years
    • The Peak Years for Doris Music and Hits
    • 1957 and Beyond
    • The Studio Albums
    • Top 100 Hit Single Records
    • Doris Day Jukebox
    • Some Rare Recordings >
      • Rare Recordings, Part Two
    • Doris and Les "Those Were the Good Old Days"
    • Sheet Music Covers
  • Movies
    • Doris Day Co-Stars
    • Romance on the High Seas
    • My Dream Is Yours
    • It's a Great Feeling
    • Young Man with a Horn
    • Tea for Two
    • The West Point Story
    • Storm Warning
    • Lullaby of Broadway
    • On Moonlight Bay
    • I'll See You in My Dreams
    • Starlift
    • The Winning Team
    • April in Paris
    • By the Light of the Silvery Moon
    • Calamity Jane
    • Lucky Me
    • Young at Heart
    • Love Me or Leave Me
    • The Man Who Knew Too Much
    • Julie
    • The Pajama Game
    • Teacher's Pet
    • The Tunnel of Love
    • It Happened to Jane
    • Pillow Talk
    • Please Don't Eat the Daisies
    • Midnight Lace
    • Lover Come Back
    • That Touch of Mink
    • Billy Rose's Jumbo
    • The Thrill of It All
    • Move Over Darling
    • Send Me No Flowers
    • Do Not Disturb
    • The Glass Bottom Boat
    • The Ballad of Josie
    • Caprice
    • Where Were You When the Lights Went Out
    • With Six You Get Eggroll
    • Top 20 Girls Next Door in Movies
    • Press Books
    • Movie Memorabilia
  • Radio
  • Television
    • Doris Day Show Season 1
    • Doris Day Show Season 2
    • Doris Day Show Season 3
    • Doris Day Show Season 4
    • Doris Day Show Season 5
    • Doris Day Show Photo Gallery
    • Doris Day Specials
    • Doris Day's Best Friends
  • Interviews, Appearances on TV and Radio
    • 40's & 50's
    • 60's
    • 70's
    • 80's
    • 90's
    • 2000's & 10's
    • Radio Calls on Doris' Birthday
  • Latest News
    • 4-Legger News
  • Awards
    • Doris Day rejected Lifetime Achievement Award about six times
  • Doris Day Fashion
    • Doris Day in Pillow Talk: Couture Allure
  • Doris in Carmel
    • DayDreamers
  • Doris through the Years
    • Cover Girl (Magazine Covers)
  • Quotes by and about Doris
  • Doris Talks to Her Fans (Fan Club Tapes)
    • Fans Talk To Doris
  • Who Knows What Might Have Been
    • Who Knows What Might Have Been, PART 2
  • Creative Video Collection
  • Doris Day Collector
  • And a few rounds of applause...
  • Contact Us