Bed whispers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Bed whispers
Original title Pillow talk
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1959
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Michael Gordon
script Russell Rouse
Maurice Richlin
Stanley Shapiro
Clarence Greene
production Ross Hunter
Martin Melcher / Universal
music Frank De Vol
camera Arthur E. Arling
cut Milton Carruth
occupation

Bettgeflüster (Original Title: Pillow Talk ) is an American comedy film directed by Michael Gordon from 1959 with Doris Day and Rock Hudson in the lead roles. It is the first of a series of three comedies starring the trio Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Tony Randall . This was followed by the joint films A pajamas for two and Send me no flowers .

action

The interior designer January Morrow and composer Brad Allen have to share a phone line. In New York in the 1950s, this means that although those affected live in different houses and never get to know each other, they can still listen to each other and even interrupt one another when someone is on the phone with a third party. And Brad is always on the line to flirt with his changing girlfriends. Jan's housekeeper, Alma, is a devoted supporter of these free audio games; She especially likes the love song You are my inspiration, ... ( You are my inspiration , ...), into which Brad always inserts the appropriate woman's name, so that it looks like an impromptu declaration of love. Jan, however, is annoyed and interrupts the love whispers more and more often because she can hardly make or receive calls herself. Brad makes fun of it and thinks Jan is a jealous old maid.

He is all the more amazed when it turns out that Jan is the attractive blonde who floats past him one evening on the dance floor of a nightclub in a very backless dress. Because he fears rejection as Brad Allen, he introduces himself to Jan as Rex Stetson, a highly honorable and somewhat simple-minded businessman from Texas.

Jan is very taken with the handsome Rex with the impeccable demeanor and starts dating him. Her good friend and (unsuccessful) long-term admirer, the millionaire heir Jonathan Forbes, doesn't like that at all. He hires a private detective to find out more about the Texas competitor. At the same time, Brad uses the double telephone connection to "overhear" Jan's phone calls with Rex and then to make malicious comments about Rex's demure restraint: since he couldn't even bring himself to kiss after several weeks, he probably belongs to the group Men who were more interested in recipes and beautiful fabrics than women. Jan, who has become impatient herself, now leaves no stone unturned on the next date to seduce Rex - which is exactly what Brad wanted her to do.

Brad's great plan is initially thwarted by Jonathan Forbes: he immediately recognized who Rex Stetson is in the photos of his detective: his best friend Brad Allen, whose hits and Broadway shows he has been funding for a long time - and Jonathan very consciously always far from Jan Morrow. Now Jonathan confronts the fake Rex and forces him to leave town immediately and finish composing his new music show in Jonathan's country house. To be on the safe side, Jonathan packs up Brad's work supplies himself and waits on the street for Brad to leave. As Rex, however, he has now given Jan the first kiss, so that Jan is more than willing to accompany him on a spontaneous romantic excursion.

The bomb then bursts in the country house: Brad / Rex interrupts the affectionate whirlwind to get more logs for the fireplace. When he comes back into the house, Jan sits in front of the piano and tries with one finger on the melody of a sheet of music she found by accident - and Brad hums automatically: "You are my inspiration, Jan Morrow ..." The duet ends shrill and abrupt; both are appalled by the exposure. Jan rushes furiously into the next room and returns with his coat and suitcase. Meanwhile, Jonathan has arrived after finding out Brad's last prank. He's bringing Jan back to New York. Brad stays behind; speechless, perplexed, and still with the bundle of firewood in his arms.

In the days that followed, Jonathan delights extensively in Brad's misery. The womanizer has fallen seriously in love - with the only woman who definitely doesn't like him. He ponders how he could get in contact with Jan again: she has neither a child nor a dog. Maybe you could ingratiate yourself with her housekeeper? Jonathan dismisses it gleefully: Brad couldn't do anything with the resolute Alma. However, Brad manages to catch Alma on the street before she gets on the bus. He takes her to a pub for a drink and successfully appeals to her compassionate heart. She gives him the tip (while she drinks him under the table) to hire Jan as an interior designer to renovate his apartment. This works because Jan's boss also helps. On the phone, he loudly refuses Brad's order, on the grounds that he doesn't have time himself and that he doesn't want Jan to look after Brad's apartment. As planned, Jan hears this and immediately takes over the job to prove to herself and the world that she is professional enough to overlook private differences.

However, her professional objectivity was lost when she found out that Brad's apartment had technical refinements of a very frivolous character: the apartment door can be conveniently locked from a single control panel, the lights dimmed, the record player switched on - and an inviting double bed unfolded . The visibly embarrassed Brad tries to explain to Jan that he wants to change and that he hoped that she would support him with advice for his apartment. But Jan doesn't want to know anything about it: she is used to working alone and only presenting the finished result to her customers. And after she throws Brad out, she strikes a vengeful all-round blow. It transforms the apartment into a hideously colorful, kitsch-filled den of vice that leaves no doubt about the depraved customs of its inhabitant.

Brad is furious too. Angry, he drags Jan, who has wisely avoided showing him her work herself, back to the place of her evil deed and gives her to understand that he imagines a loving bride for whom he wants to give up his entire previous life in a completely different way Has. The completely perplexed Jan has great difficulty understanding himself as the loving bride - but throws himself on the offensive control panel just in time to prevent the disappointed Brad from leaving the apartment. He turns to Jan, and in the shining eyes of both of them you can read that they finally got along correctly.

criticism

For the lexicon of international films , Bettgeflüster was “a comedy that is as charming as it is amusing, which cleverly plays with the frivolous potential of the subject, but without becoming suggestive”. This is mainly due to the "funny script" and the "playful mood of the actors". Prisma saw an "enjoyable, teasing comedy - and a typical example of Day's slightly frivolous but clean entertainment". The "brisk dialogues and good-humored actors" were highlighted.

Awards

Bettgeflüster received the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1960 . Doris Day was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress and Thelma Ritter for Best Supporting Actress. Furthermore, the film was nominated in the category Best Production Design (Color Film) and won the Laurel Award for Best Comedy.

In 2009 the film was entered into the National Film Registry .

Remake

In 2002, ProSieben produced a remake of the material under the title No man for a number and directed by Jakob Schäuffelen . The two main roles were played by Anne Brendler and Heio von Stetten .

Others

The theatrical release of pillow talk in Germany was on 18 December 1959 on German television was the movie the first time on July 8, 1971 at 20.15 pm at the First seen.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for bed whispers . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2006 (PDF; test number: 20 816 V / DVD).
  2. ↑ bed whispers. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ bed whispers. In: prisma.de . Retrieved December 14, 2017 .