The film is filled with delightful moments. For example, Van Doren does a striptease and sweet, virginal Day emulates her in an apple-pie fashion that sets Gable's temperature rising. Young's farcical performance as the lovelorn suitor is so good that he was nominated for an Oscar for this role. The newspaper office is filled with real-life reporters, many of whom have never before been seen on film, and all of whom ham it up. The major problem with the film is Gable's overdone performance. Like Paul Newman, who never has learned the delicate art of comedy, Gable mistook mugging for acting and was almost a parody of himself. And yet, 21 years before, he had handled the same light comedy chores in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, winning an Oscar. Admittedly, Gable was better than Newman at the light stuff, but he seems to be trying too hard here and the insouciance is lost. The movie also screamed to be in color. Joe Lubin, who had written tunes before for Day movies such as PILLOW TALK, wrote two more for this, "Teacher's Pet" and "The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll." Marion Ross and Jack Albertson show their comedy timing, and a good performance is brought in by young Nick Adams. It's really a one-joke premise, but the Oscar-nominated script by Fay and Michael Kanin and the amiable acting by most of the cast make this one enjoyable. Young nabbed a Supporting Actor nomination as well.
more Teacher's Pet products
