Doris Day @ 100: "Pillow Talk"

By Christopher James

Doris Day had the biggest hit of career with "Pillow Talk," which was her first movie with Rock Hudson

Doris Day’s sole Oscar nomination came for Pillow Talk. If this isn’t the best performance of her career, it’s at least the most iconic version of her persona. For those looking to get a sense of her star character, this is the best place to start. Pillow Talk was the highest grossing movie of Day’s career, and the start of her most bankable period. According to the Numbers, Pillow Talk was the fifth highest grossing film of 1959 with $18 million box office (roughly $182 million adjusted for inflation). In addition to acting, Day also sings three songs in the film, most notably the titular song that plays over the delightful opening credits.

It’s impossible to resist the pairing of Rock Hudson and Doris Day in Pillow Talk. While Down with Love most infamously used this film for reference, so many modern romantic comedies and sitcoms mine from Pillow Talk, which effectively wrings laughs from miscommunications, mistaken identities and odd couple dynamics...

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Doris Day @ 100: "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

To celebrate Doris Day's Centennial we're watching a few of the superstar's movies...

by Cláudio Alves

No matter how popular she was in her heyday, it's hard to look at Doris Day's lasting legacy and not think she's a tad underrated. Perhaps not as a comedienne or a songstress, but surely as an actress. Especially as a dramatic actress. While Day consolidated her stardom with many musicals and romantic comedies, her range went beyond such genres. She could as easily make her audience swoon and laugh as she could break their hearts and rile up adrenaline through pure suspense. So as we celebrate the star's centennial, let's appreciate the full breadth of her talents and shine a light on her brief stint as one of Alfred Hitchcock's (not so) icy blondes…

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The One Inch Barrier: 'Nights of Cabiria' and 'The Seventh Seal'

by Nathaniel R

While we're sad about the current state of Oscar we still have 93 other years of Oscar history to obsess over. So I'm happy to share that I was invited back for a final appearance on "The One-Inch Barrier". Juan Carlos Ojano's podcast has looked at every Oscar race for Best International Feature Film while moving backward in time. Well almost every. There's still a few episodes to go. For this episode Juan Carlos and I talked about the nominated films of 1957 including The Gates of Paris (France), the noir The Devil Strikes at Night (Germany), the musical melodrama Mother India (India), the WW II survival drama Nine Lives (Norway), and the winning film Federico Fellini's enchanting Nights of Cabiria (Italy).

Ingmar Bergman's influential early classic The Seventh Seal was also submitted for the Oscars that year but the Academy unwisely passed. I have words about that. Hope you enjoy...

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: All That Heaven Allows (1955)

by Nathaniel R

Cary: I suppose these old beams are rotted.
Ron: No they're oak. They're good for another 100 years

Do any of you remember that short burst of retro Douglas Sirk-enthusiasm in 2002? Todd Haynes, Pedro Almodóvar and François Ozon (all of whom cite Sirk as an influence) all had new very stylized films out, and the lost art of melodrama was suddenly in the air and being discussed. Sirk was briefly exalted (especially in Haynes' Far From Heaven, a direct homage to All That Heaven Allows our topic today). Those were good times. It should happen every few years, trotting Sirk back out again, to marvel at his gifts.

Realism has not always been the most prized end-game of art, but for most of our lives the consensus, from critics audiences and awards bodies has wildly favoured it. Give us something real and gritty! Melodrama, then, is a hard ask for many moviegoers though we've never understood why...

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Sidney Poitier (1927-2022)

by Nathaniel R

The Oscar winning actor Sidney Poitier has died at the age of 94 in the Bahamas, leaving a remarkable legacy behind. Do you remember when you first became aware of Sidney Poitier? It can be difficult to pinpoint for stars of his magnitude. The most legendary actors become so much a part of the cultural fabric that it feels as if they have always existed. As if they have always been part of the very conception of "Hollywood" as our dream machine, as if the cinema couldn't have existed without them. But this is not strictly true. Hollywood had no room for any sidney poitiers before Sidney Poitier. His undeniable charisma and dramatic talent were potent enough to force Tinseltown's gates open, and reconceptualize who could be a movie star. And, it must be said, his good timing helped too...

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