Email to a friend Printer friendly Font: * * * * OK, the three romantic comedies in this set are pure fluff, but Doris Day and Rock Hudson did this genre better than anybody in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They used to call them "sex comedies," but there's nothing remotely naughty here, save some mildly suggestive dialogue. Dating from an altogether more prudish era of American TV and movies, these flicks still provide much pleasure as Day and Hudson spar in the name of love.
Pillow Talk (1959) was their first and biggest success, pitting the pair as single professionals who bicker over a party line (yes kids, in the old days some people really did "share" a phone line with their neighbours). Interior designer Jan Morrow (Day) is furious that songwriter Brad Allen (Hudson) spends hours on the phone, mostly stringing along a bevy of girlfriends. Through a mutual acquaintance (Tony Randall), Brad gets a sneak peek at his annoying neighbour and falls for her.
But to get a date he passes himself off as Texas gentleman Rex Stetson. Complications inevitably ensue, and there are some decent laughs before all gets resolved. Watch out for famed character actress Thelma Ritter, who is hilarious as Day's hard-drinking housekeeper.
Day and Hudson (with Randall along for the ride) repeated the magic, though less successfully in the two other films included here -- Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). Of course, our view of the "perfect screen couple" is coloured somewhat today given that we know Hudson was gay, something he never admitted for fear it would wreck his career as a romantic leading man and sometimes a screen tough guy. While Hollywood insiders knew the truth about Hudson, the world was shocked in 1985 when the 59-year-old dying actor admitted he had AIDs -- the first major celebrity to acknowledge he had the disease.
He blamed it on a blood transfusion. -- Andy Cooper FAMILY FAVORITE TREASURES Universal Rating 4 (out of five) Forget the old Hollywood actor's mantra that you can't win if your co-stars are animals and small children -- Mike Myers, James Cromwell and Charles Grodin would beg to disagree. This entertaining set features animals, small children and grown-up actors in three comedies.
Best of the set is 1995's Babe, which was nominated for seven Oscars and deservedly won for Best Special Effects. James Cromwell plays Farmer Hoggett, who wins a piglet called Babe at a country fair and plans to fatten him up for Christmas dinner. However, the little porker has a special talent -- he can round up sheep like Farmer Hoggett's dogs, so instead of ending up on the dinner plate he's entered in sheepdog trials.
Beautifully put together, Babe brings the farmyard animals to life -- and just might put you off eating bacon ever again. In Beethoven (1991), George Newton (Charles Grodin) also gets a surprise when he adopts a lovable St. Bernard puppy.
The little tyke soon grows into a 185-pound home-wrecker. Lots of laughs, especially for those who've ever owned a big dog. Speaking of home-wreckers, Mike Myers does a pretty good job in Dr.
Seuss' The Cat In The Hat, in which he IS the cat, bringing amusement and trouble into the lives of a young brother and sister (Spencer Breslin and Dakota Fanning). Kelly Preston and Alec Baldwin co-star. Great picture and sound for all three movies, but pity about the absence of extras.
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