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Directed by Michael Gordon, Pillow Talk (1959) tells the story of Jan Morrow (Doris Day), a successful and self-sufficient interior decorator who, much to her annoyance, shares a party line on her home phone with a philandering Broadway composer named Brad Allen (Rock Hudson). Even though they have never actually met face to face, they soon develop a feud over the use of the party line: Brad is constantly using the phone to chat with one woman after the other, while Jan needs to use it for business. One of Jan's clients is millionaire Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall), who repeatedly throws himself at her to no avail. Unbeknownst to Jan, Jonathan is actually Brad's old college buddy and current Broadway benefactor. Rock Hudson and Doris Day as Brad Allen and Jan Morrow in Pillow Talk . One evening in a nightclub, Brad finally sees Jan and learns who she is. Attracted to her, he decides to fake a Southern accent and invent a new persona: Rex Stetson, a wealthy Texas rancher. He su...

This week on «Film Friday» I bring you a film that had its premiere exactly 74 years ago yesterday. This also happens to be one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock pictures. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1943) begins when Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) arrives at the town of Santa Rosa, California, supposedly to visit his older sister, Emma Newton (Patricia Collinge). At the train station, he is met by his brother-in-law Joseph (Henry Travers), his young nephew Roger (Charles Bates) and his two nieces, Charlie (Teresa Wright) and Ann (Edna May Wonacott). Charlie is thrilled by the arrival of her uncle, as she was named after him and two seem to share a telepathic connection. The next day, two men, Jack Graham (Macdonald Carey) and Fred Saunders (Wallace Ford), appear at the house to survey the family. Uncle Charlie suddenly becomes agitated and refuses to be interviewed or photographed.   Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten and Patricia Collinge in Shadow of a Doubt . Af...

In honor of Rock Hudson's 91st birthday, which was yesterday, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you one of the very first film I saw with him. Directed by Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows (1955) tells the story of Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), a wealthy widow living in a small New England town. With her two children, Kay (Gloria Talbott) and Ned (William Reynolds), away at college, Cary becomes increasingly aware of her loneliness. While everyone expects her to marry staid bachelor Harvey (Conrad Nagel), Cary instead finds herself attracted to Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson), a significantly younger gardener who rejects social artifices. When Ron invites her to a dinner party at the home of his friends, former suburbanites Alida (Virginia Grey) and Mick Anderson (Charles Drake), Cary realizes how much she admires his down-to-earth lifestyle and the two soon begin a passionate romance.   Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman as Cary Scott and Ron Kirby in All That Heaven Allows .   Although she ...

In honor of Burt Lancaster's 103th birthday, which was on Wednesday (coincidentally, my birthday was also on Wednesday), this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the film that introduced me to the wonderful «Mr. Muscles and Teeth,» which was also the film that introduced him to the world all those years ago. Since this is a film noir, it comes at a perfect time for Noirvember. Directed by Robert Siodmak, The Killers (1946) begins as two hitmen, Max (Wiliam Conrad) and Al (Charles McGraw), arrive in a small town to kill a man called «the Swede» (Burt Lancaster). His co-worker at a gas station, Nick Adams (Phil Brown), warns him of the danger, but the Swede makes no attempt to flee and the killers shoot him in his room. When it is discovered that the Swede had a small life insurance policy, insurance detective Jim Reardon (Edmond O'Brien) is assigned to investigate his murder. Tracking down and interviewing the Swede's associates, including his beneficiary, chambermaid Mary El...

To celebrate Robert Taylor's 105th birthday, which happens to be today, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the film that made him an international superstar. Directed by John M. Stahl, Magnificent Obsession (1935) tells the story of Helen Hudson (Irene Dunne), the widow of a distinguished doctor and philanthropist who died because the hospital's only pulmotor was being used to revive Robert «Bobby» Merrick (Robert Taylor), a spoiled millionaire playboy who was drunk at the time he nearly drowned. Bobby, a medical student, falls in love with Helen at first sight, but she angrily rejects his romantic advances, as she holds him responsible for her husband's death. One night, Bobby gets drunk again and is given refuge by a sculptor named Randolph (Ralph Morgan), one of the many beneficiaries of Dr. Hudson's money. Randolph reveals to Bobby that the late doctor had an inspiring philosophy: to help people in utter secrecy and never take anything from them in return.   LE...