Vintage original 8x10 in. US single-weight glossy photograph from the classic 1950's romantic comedy, PILLOW TALK, released in 1959 by Universal Pictures and directed by Michael Gordon. Based upon a story by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, an interior decorator (Doris Day) and a playboy songwriter (Rock Hudson) share a telephone party line and size each other up. The cast includes Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter, Nick Adams, Julia Meade, Allen Jenkins, Marcel Dalio, and Lee Patrick.

The image features an interior scene at a table in an elegant restaurant as Brad Allen (Rock Hudson) uses hi charms on Marie (Julia Meade). Affixed to the verso (which has subsequently fallen off but is intact and unaffected) is the original paper snipe which describes the image as "A scene from "Pillow Talk," a gay sophisticated comedy in CinemaScope and color." It is in very fine condition without any pinholes, tears, creases, stains, writing, or other flaws.

 

Hudson turned down the film three times, believing the script to be "too risqué." Despite being contractually bound by Universal to do the film, Hudson consistently declined it, fearing it was too dirty and would harm his masculine image. Doris Day finally talked him into starring in it, and it subsequently became one of his biggest hits. Ross Hunter wrote that after he made this film, no theatre managers wanted to book it. Popular movie themes at the time were war films, westerns, and spectacles. Hunter was told by the big movie chains that sophisticated comedies like this movie went out with William Powell. They also believed that Doris Day and Rock Hudson were things of the past and had been overtaken by newer stars. Hunter persuaded Sol Schwartz, who owned the Palace Theatre in New York, to book the film for a two-week run, and it was a smash hit. The public had been starved for romantic comedy, and theatre owners who had previously turned down Hunter now had to deal with him on HIS terms. 

 

Marilyn Monroe wanted to play Jan Morrow. This movie would be the first of three to showcase the trio of Doris Day, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall. It was followed by Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers(1964), with all three actors portraying different roles in each.