"Pillow Talk" is an Iconic Movie Stuck in Time

Title: Pillow Talk Director: Michael Gordon Starring: Rock Hudson, Doris Day Studio: Universal Pictures Genre(s): Comedy Rated: Not Rated

While watching "Pillow Talk" I was wondering if this is the movie that inspired Seth MacFarlane to create the character Quagmire for his hit series "Family Guy." If you aren't familiar with the show, Quagmire is the sex pervert in the series, doing everything he can to woo women, and his house is built like a personal love hotel that can adapt to any situation as needed. This includes hidden beds, secret bars, and other contraptions I don't feel comfortable printing on a side that I sense is primarily read by family members.

While the character was written as a joke and someone to mock, as the realities of how deep sexual assault goes in Hollywood, the character became less cute and more disgusting. I sort of felt a similar feeling when watching Brad Allen (Rock Hudson) play a ladies man who is a smooth talker with the ladies. He too will not only bend his schedule (as well as facts) to take advantage of said women, but his bachelor pad is so prepared to bed the women in his life that with the flip of a switch, a vinyl will start playing and the front door will lock. Yes, this is clearly a movie from 1959.

Of course, there are other aspects of the film that have not aged well. The main conflict arises because Brad shares a party line with other attendees in the apartment building. There is a very real possibility that most of you reading this have no idea what a party line is, and the best way to describe it is if seven people had to share one cell phone...and then your annoying little brother wouldn't get off the stupid thing and let you talk to your friends. Well, Brad is that annoying little brother, and Jan (Doris Day) is the lady who is annoyed that he is taking up so much time on the phone.

Because of this situation, they hate each other. But they don't know what each other looks like, and when Brad finds out she is to be starring in a show he is writing songs for, he takes the opportunity to screw with her a bit. He puts on a fake Southern accent and introduces himself to her as Rex, a successful rancher from Texas. Since this is a screwball comedy, this means that not only does Brad have to go to hilarious lengths to not have his secret discovered, but he finds that when he isn't arguing with Jan he finds her to be quite an attractive and lovely person to be around.

The problem is when you look at a movie like this through more modern lenses, this is a situation that starts as a form of stalking and then turns into a form of emotional manipulation. Even a scene where Brad enters a pregnancy clinic in an attempt to avoid his secret being exposed will likely be frowned upon by some modern audiences for being out of date. As one of the first productions Hudson and Day starred in together, it is easy to see why "Pillow Talk" resulted in more collaborations between the two of them. Frankly, they have a lot of chemistry (ironic in hindsight). I also admit that some of the gags are funny. 

The problem is the scenario can not exist in today's world where the two would even meet, and the humor it revolves around we are not as naive about. Like the Quagmire character from "Family Guy," I don't condemn the existence, just lament that we may have gotten to the point where it is more practical to move on (especially when the laughs that are delivered aren't exactly what I would consider to be timeless in ways other than political correctness). "Pillow Talk" is not a bad film, per se, but it is more of a time capsule than a timeless movie.