Teacher's Pet Sale
In TEACHER’S PET, film legend Clark Gable stars as Jim Gannon, a school-of-hard-knocks newspaperman who despises journalism schools... until he sees who's doing the teaching. Attracted to lovely professor Erica Stone (Day), he masquerades as a novice in her class. Soon he's her prize pupil, all the while trying to make her his own prize.
Description
Clark Gable's bluff masculinity is a big part of the story and appeal of Teacher's Pet, to such a degree that his age (near 60) doesn't seem like such a problem as he romances perky Doris Day. Gable is an old-school newspaperman who scoffs at the idea of journalism being taught in night school; hard knocks and shoe leather are his preferred textbooks. Naturally, Doris teaches journalism in night school. Gable masquerades as an inexperienced student in order to prove her wrong, which brings forth some fairly labored complications, presented in pedestrian style by director George Seaton. The film is too long for its own good, but as an illustration of movie-star value, it's a convincer--Gable and Day are completely, effortlessly within their established personas. Gig Young adds pep as a brainy psychologist (whose expertise extends to hangover recipes--he and Gable have a good morning-after scene). Doris sings the incorrigibly catchy title song over the opening credits, but stick around for Mamie Van Doren's nightclub rendition of "The Girl Who Invented Rock 'n Roll," a real eye-roller. --Robert Horton
Teacher's Pet Customer Review
Directed by George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street), this coyly titled 1958 romantic comedy has more on its mind than mistaken identities and the May-December relationship at its core. Running a bit too long at 120 minutes, it's actually an intriguing look at the shifting journalism ethos of the late 1950's when hardcore, Front Page-style newspapermen were begrudgingly making way for reporters with college degrees. It should come as no surprise that Clark Gable represents the former as Jim Gannon, the no-nonsense editor of the fictitious New York Evening Chronicle, at odds with journalism teacher Erica Kane played with sophisticated élan by Doris Day, who was just embarking on her most fruitful period as an actress with her near-classic pairings with Rock Hudson soon to follow.
Written by Fay and Michael Kanin, the plot has the self-made Gannon bristling at the thought of lecturing at Kane's night school journalism class. When his boss forces him, Gannon reconsiders when he sees that Kane is a pretty blonde but is soon forced to take on the identity of wallpaper salesman Jim Gallagher when she humiliates him by reading out loud to her class the nasty letter he wrote her. The ruse continues as Gannon decides to prove that journalism classes are a sham and that nothing replaces the first-hand experience of working in a newsroom. Things get complicated when he becomes her star pupil and sees his competition for Kane's affections, the dapper Dr. Hugo Pine, a self-effacing overachiever who happens to be a much-published psychologist, an expert mambo dancer, a polyglot, and a smooth bongo player. You can pretty much figure out the rest.
As Gannon/Gallagher, the 57-year-old Gable was near the end of his career, and he looks tired and paunchy here. Fortunately, he provides enough of his recognizable swagger and snap to get away with the hard-boiled aspects of the role. At this point in her career, Day had already moved securely away from the lightweight musical comedies that were her forte and into leading lady parts with surprising aplomb. Underneath the manicured schoolteacher veneer, she brings a wholesome yet mature sexiness to Kane that makes the age gap between her and Gable less of an issue than one would expect. Playing his standard role of third wheel, Gig Young does an agile turn as the too-good-to-be-true Dr. Pine. Nick Adams (who would attempt to seduce Day the following year as a carefree college boy in Pillow Talk) has a small part as Barney, the copy boy desperate to become a reporter, while Marilyn Monroe-wannabe Mamie Van Doren has a memorable bit as Gannon's showgirl squeeze. That is indeed a young Marion Ross (later Mrs. Cunningham of Happy Days) as Kane's secretary Katy. There are no extras with the 2005 DVD.
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