Pillow Talk

1959 Directed by Michael Gordon

...It's What Goes On When The Lights Go Off!

A man and woman share a telephone line and despise each other, but then he has fun by romancing her with his voice disguised.

Rock Hudson Doris Day Tony Randall Thelma Ritter Nick Adams Julia Meade Allen Jenkins Marcel Dalio Lee Patrick Mary McCarty Alex Gerry Hayden Rorke Valerie Allen Jacqueline Beer Arlen Stuart Perry Blackwell Robert B. Williams Muriel Landers William Schallert Karen Norris Lois Rayman Don Beddoe Leoda Richards Harry Tyler William H. O'Brien Franklyn Farnum

Alternative Titles

Confidencias de medianoche, Pizsamajáték, Confidências à Meia-Noite, Bettgefluester - Pillow Talk, Интимный разговор, Conversa de travesseiro

romance comedy

102 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by BRAT ★★★½ 1

not flawless by any means but at the end of the day it needed to be made — otherwise the 100% flawless perfect gorgeous inimitable divine effervescent superlative transcendent Down With Love (2003) wouldn’t exist. and neither would i
Review by Kristen Yoonsoo Kim ★★★★ 2

me: the gender politics are problematic! they use low-key rapey comedic gags!
also me: rock hudson can break me in half 😩
tbh despite some very outdated elements, this is so charming, u can’t make me *not* fall for a movie in which rock hudson (pretending to be a texan in new york) tells doris day, “you done did a terrible thing to me...you made me glad i ain’t in texas.” reminds me of another texan boy in new york!! 🤠❤️
35mm. Metrograph.
Review by Mallory Andrews ★★★★

When Rock Hudson can't fit into that tiny car, is it a metaphor for his big dick?
Review by vincent price was 6′4″ ★★★½ 1

It's always fun to see what films do with their newfound freedom as the censorship code got more and more lax, and late 1950s films are so fascinating in the ways they explored sex and other previously censored themes. (Unfortunately, it also allowed way more obvious homophobia to creep in, as seen in this film.)
Pillow Talk is silly, but it's just so much pure FUN that I didn't even care. Rock Hudson and Doris Day are two of the most charismatic Classic Hollywood actors, and I had a great time watching them on screen for 100 minutes.
3.6/5
Review by theriverjordan ★★★★ 2

Director Michael Gordon saw other films use CinemaScope for epic battles and action scenes and said.... what if... we instead used it to show Rock Hudson and Doris Day playing footsie in the bath?
The knee-jerk reaction to Hudson turning down a Doris Day vehicle three times for being ‘too risqué’ is to chuckle at the stifled norms of the era. But the sheer amount of innuendos in “Pillow Talk” is so off the charts, it feels positively pre-code.
Between the overstuffed 50s sofas, chintzy decor, and hairspray-soaked coiffure; “Pillow Talk” sizzles with sex.
The film feels like 37-year-old Doris Day finally having her grand coming out gala; celebrated for being a woman of wit and physical confidence rather than an…
Review by ~findlay🔮🔪 ★★★ 1

i always forget theres a subplot to Pillow Talk where a doctor and a nurse are convinced Rock Hudson is a woman?????????
Review by Fabian ★★★½ 2

One of the highest-grossing films of 1959 (adjusted for inflation, it grossed more than $300M that year – domestically!) and recipient of five Oscar nominations (including both female acting categories and screenplay), Pillow Talk was a sensation when it was released, and for very good reason.
The mainstream-oriented romantic comedy genre, especially from classic Hollywood, leaves very little room for major diversions in proven formulas, which is why a lot of romantic comedies from Hollywood's Golden Age share numerous similarities and mostly can be distinguished from each other by their two leading cast members (if at all – just look at Doris Day and Rock Hudson, who starred in a total of three romantic comedies together). Consequently, if these romantic…
Review by megan ☕️ ★★★

The meta levels of Rock Hudson, who was gay in real life, playing a straight character who pretends to be gay.
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★

Like many others tonight on LB, celebrating Doris Day’s life and passing, I watched one of her most iconic, Pillow Talk.
I hadn’t seen it before, in fact, I’ve only recently watched Calamity Jane, which was a complete romp, and ‘think’ I might have seen parts of The Glass Bottom Boat on TV when I was a kid. What I remember Doris Day from, when I was growing up, was her prime time TV show that ran 6 seasons from the late ‘60’s to the early ‘70’s. The Doris Day show was really the prototype of The Mary Tyler Moore show. Everyone loved Doris Martin the same way they loved Mary Richards … from afar.
Before the sex comedy had…
Review by Sara ★★★★

I knew I'd enjoy this once the intro music started playing. It's a cheesy love-hate romance comedy that works and deserves its title as one of the best classic comedies from the 1950s.
Rock Hudson and Doris Day are an iconic duo that really work well together. Day's comedic timing mixed with Hudson's charm really lights up this blandly set Cinemascope feature (but Day's apartment is to die for). The manner in which they discussed sex, pushed the censors and was way ahead of its time.
This is definitely a feel-good movie that I'll revisit on dull, rainy days.

2017 Queer Films Challenge.
Week 46: A film starring closeted film actor Rock Hudson.
Review by katy ★彡 ★★★ 3

why is it all white men in 50s / 60s colour films look like tan leather sofas
Review by Wesley Stenzel ★★★★

Went into this expecting a pretty standard but enjoyable old-school rom-com, so I was surprised by how wild it is: it has numerous splitscreen sequences, constant inner monologue narration from multiple characters, ridiculously colorful costumes and sets, and one of the kookiest scores I’ve ever heard. All these disparate elements are anchored by a wonderful screenplay, full of clever structure and cleverer dialogue. It’s so consistently funny and fast-paced that it’s shocking when the abrupt ending arrives.

Recent reviews

Review by Leikela4 ★★★½

I mean... "different times" or whatever but Pillow Talk is pretty r*pey and I can't really look past that. Extra stars for the amazing Tony Randall and Thelma Ritter though.
Review by chasemayo

“i never knew a woman that size that had so much water in her” - tony randall talking about ME!!!!!!!!
Review by TadKosciuszko ★★★

Parts of it were quite funny but a lot of it kind of dragged and I think the end wasn’t a very convincing tie together of their love story.
Review by mervezeynep ★★★★

filmi izlerken pamuk gibi oldum..🥺 müthis keyifliydi
Review by soupfan ★★★★

Sir these are my emotional support formulaic romantic comedies
Review by Sky D ★★★½

This movie is really cute and a nice chunk of time. I don't have much to say really except I love the late 50s and for what this film is its great.
3.5/5
Review by Jackie ★★★

How tf did this film inspire a Zayn song???
Review by EZZUS ★★★½

Amusing
Review by eisel ★★★½

I really like the aesthetics of this film, but the leading man is still kind of crusty
Review by 5filmsblog ★★★★★

So great. Probably my second favorite Doris Day and Rock Hudson collaboration after Send Me No Flowers.
Review by HoliWood ★★★★½

It's not even Sunday - my OH film day - and I somehow fell down a Doris Day rabbit hole, which I don't mind at all. My mum used to love her films, so I grew up watching some of them with her.
Doris and Rock Hudson had such incredible on-screen chemistry, and the fact that they were great friends in life, and the way she was always supportive of him when he was hiding his sexuality from all of America spoke to the real love between these two beautiful Hollywood super stars.
I love this film. It's so fun, funny, and both leads' comedic timing is second to none. Doris Day's clothes and her figure, my God, a natural…
Review by Carlo Carlo ★★★ 2

Just another classic lighthearted comedy about deceiving the woman you love until she forgives you for no apparent reason!