Pillow Talk, 1959

Director: Michael Gordon (Move Over, Darling)

Stars: Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter

Interior decorator Jan (Day) is having trouble getting any of her calls because of her womanizing party-line partner Brad (Hudson). When she complains to the phone company, they send a woman inspector to Brad to investigate. (Jan's reaction: "They sent a woman! Can you believe that? That's like sending a marshmallow to put out a bonfire.") Brad calls up Jan and they try to settle it by dividing the hours when each will get the phone, but it's not really working.

One of Jan's clients, Jonathon (Randall), also a friend of Brad's, is trying to convince Jan to marry him and tells Brad about her. He also tells about her party-line problems, and Brad catches on to who his friend's love interest really is. Unexpectedly, he meets her at a restaurant, and, awed by her beauty, he comes up with a plan so he can date her and play with her mind. He is "Rex Stetson" from Texas. And, similar to You've Got Mail, Brad pretends to gives her advice about this "Rex". It's quite funny, actually. I didn't think this comedy of mistaken identity was too ridiculous, as we know some are!

Note: This was 1959, and they were doing as much as they could to hint at sex and sexual things, without actually going for it, which, from this century, is almost cute! There are a lot of split screens in this one, where they show both Brad and Jan on the phone chatting. In bed, or the tub!

Lover Come Back, 1961

Director: Delbert Mann (really? Delbert??)

Stars: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall

It is too ridiculous. Maybe because it was directed by a guy named Delbert.

Okay, I am just being mean. It was like any other comedy of mistaken identity. Bachelor playboy Jerry (a very handsome Hudson) has very unethical ideas about advertising. And Carol (Day), also in the ad business, finds out about his ways of stealing clients and so decides to get the "vip" account before he does- the right way. The problem is: "vip" is not an actual product; only a figment of Jerry's imagination. When Jerry meets his rival Carol, he is smitten, and, to protect himself and impress her, he pretends to be the scientist who is developing the "secret product". Since Carol has never met Jerry, this works for a while. She, the classic "good girl" will do whatever it takes to get the "vip" account from this "good" doctor. The ending is dumb, sorry. I just didn't enjoy it and the love story was extremely unbelievable.

Tony Randall was funny!

The Mirror Crack'd, 1980

Director: Guy Hamilton

Stars: Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Tony Curtis

Agatha Christie is the best-selling writer of books of all time. (Shakespeare is the best-selling writer of any kind, not books in particular. I got this info from Wikipedia.) And that is one spectacular claim!

In this one, Christie's character Miss Marple (Lansbury) solves the murders taking place at a large manor house outside her little village of St. Mary Mead. Actress Marina (Taylor) is in town filming a movie, when suddenly one of her fans is poisoned at a party. It soon comes out that Marina was the intended victim. Or maybe the killer would just have us think so....

I guess I sort of did these out of order. I should have reviewed this one first and then Murder She Wrote. Lansbury's character in Murder She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher, was based on Miss Marple, and the name even comes from one of Christie's Miss Marple novels "Murder, She Said".

"The Mirror Crack'd" was really enjoyable as a murder mystery. It kept me guessing right up until the end! (And I thought I had this mystery thing down!) I would personally rather watch Angela as Jessica than as Miss Marple, but it was still brilliant.