Excellent, a Must See

A lot of fun.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

(Flash Review)Basic premise is a journalism professor asks a high power newspaper editor to speak at her class. He writes a very rude reply in addition to saying no as it would be a waste of his time. The editor's boss later commands him to go to the class. Now embarrassed by his letter that the teacher read to the whole class, he claims to be a student to hide his shame. He finds the teacher very attractive and begins to hit on her with charm and writing intelligence. He continues to attend class posing as a student. As this progresses, will he come clean about his true identity and if he does, how will the teacher react? Several amusing moments throughout, good acting, smart dialog and nice crisp black and white film stock turn this into a fun little film. Also has some unique perspectives as the 50's began to change into the 60's.

The film stars Clark Gable, Doris Day and one of my all-time favorites, Gig Young. Mamie Van Doren also appears in a very small role.I've seen Teacher's Pet four times since I bought it six weeks ago. Gig Young gives the films' funniest performance and got a well-deserved Oscarnomination for it. We see Clark Gable in one of his late roles and Day is as charming and conservative as ever. This movie, unlike so many other classic romantic/comedies, has a message. And a very important one at that. Each time you watch Teacher's Pet you find something more to laugh at and you really begin to understand and appreciate the wonderful performances.

So yesterday afternoon i'm at home waiting for the telephone repair man to come and fix the dam phone, and i'm thinking there is no point starting a film if i'm to be interrupted half way thru. I flick thru the listings on British satellite and see something called Teacher's Pet, doesn't ring a bell {no phone pun intended}, i click on the info link and it tells me it stars Clark Gable & Doris Day, and the plot summary is a battle of the sexes romantic comedy set around Day's journalist teacher Erica Stone, against Gable's gruff rough and tough newspaper editor James Gannon, also starring Gig Young & Mamie Van Doren, and that Gig Young was nominated for best supporting actor.Still didn't ring any bells {ok the joke is wearing thin now}, so i figure i'll put it on safe in the knowledge that if i get interrupted it wont make a bit of difference since the film can't be any good on account of me not having heard of it before!. Well for the first time ever i was grateful for a service engineer for actually being late because it enabled me to watch this delightful comedy in its entirety. Gable & Day play off each other a treat as Gable goes undercover in Day's journalist class purely to under-mime her, he believes that you can't teach journalism, the only way to become a good journalist is with hard graft on job experience. The tension is evident from the off, but naturally things start to take a turn into the light hearted department as the pair get deeper into the picture.Some truly great comic moments to be found here with Gable showing a particularly rewarding arc in facial expressions, whilst Day is as bright as a button and as beautiful as she ever was. Yet as good as Gable & Day are together {big age difference a minor irritant}, it's Gig Young who walks away with the picture as Gable's potential love rival, his Dr. Hugo Pine is a man who is great at everything, dancing, bongo playing, writing many best selling books, and handsome to boot. Young has a lot of fun playing the character, and probably lays out the funniest portrayal of a man with a hangover ever, it's a wonderful effervescent performance.Teacher's Pet, a hugely enjoyable surprise of a movie 8/10, oh and the phone got fixed as well!.

The script is well done. The premise amusing: A hard-boiled editor faces off with a journalism teacher.The gender politics haven't aged well: Today, the Doris Day character would surely be an editor herself. In those days, though, being a nurse or teacher were what bright women did. And Day is a professor here (albeit in a night school.) She and Clark Gable, playing the newsman, don't exactly have chemistry. But they're not supposed to like or trust each other at first. They are both major movie stars in a system that was dying out.Speaking of dying, this was near the end of Gable's career -- only a few films before more famously ill-fated "The Misfits." And two of the major supporting players were to die at their own hands: Gig Young plays a brilliant psychologist Gable sees as a rival for Day's affections. (The scenes in which he's drunk are where it began, for me, to lose its charms a bit. They're slightly mean.)Nick Adams, too, died of unnatural causes. He plays a promising up-and-comer at the paper.Day is stuck with a very unbecoming hairstyle. It sort of bridges the gap between her days singing with big bands and her greatest (popular, if not critical) glory days in the movies with Rock Hudson. She gives a sturdy, likable performance.Mamie Van Doren is a nightclub singer of Gable's acquaintance. She too has a terrible haircut. (Please note: I generally don't notice actresses' hair but these two are notably unflattering.) The nightclub scenes recall "The Awdul Truth." And if, as she sings, she invented rock and roll, the song she sings in the club certainly shows no sign of that.The movie is long for a comedy. It could have been shorter and could have been better. Still, it's pure pleasure most of the way through.