Pillow Talk Synopsis: An interior decorator and a playboy songwriter share a telephone party line and size each other up.
In New York, interior decorator Jan Morrow (Doris Day) shares a party line with the charming but womanizing composer, Brad Allen (Rock Hudson). After Jan fails to lodge a complaint about Brad, who is monopolizing the line to flirt with his latest conquests, Brad discovers that his anonymous adversary is not only female but strikingly attractive. Amused and intrigued, he sets out to win her over… by posing as a down-to-earth Texas rancher named Rex.
This was my first time watching Pillow Talk. Obviously, I had heard of it, and I knew Down With Love (2003) had been influenced by this brand of romantic comedies, so I was excited to finally watch it! Pillow Talk is a very charming Hollywood rom-com that’s pretty easy to enjoy, even when it’s showing its age.
Despite an outlandish premise – though admittedly, I do love an outlandish premise – where Hudson’s Brad is essentially catfishing Day’s Jan, you still can’t help but like the guy. Rock Hudson is just that charismatic. And Doris Day is a delightful heroine with some pretty impeccable comedic timing. Even better? Hudson and Day are marvelous on screen together, and the film’s biggest strength is their banter. There are some genuinely funny moments in this film, many of which come from Tony Randall, who plays Brad’s best friend and Jan’s persistent suitor, Jonathan.
All that said, Pillow Talk does lean heavily on deception, and while that can feel uncomfortable for audiences today, I can’t really ding the film too much for it, considering how often this particular trope is used in the genre. But many of the jokes do feel dated, and I had to constantly remind myself that the gender politics in play are just reflective of the era.
While the premise is amusing, it’s also pretty thin and doesn’t really lend itself to a 105-minute film, so the movie eventually began to feel a bit repetitive. I think they could have easily shaved 15-20 minutes from the film, making it more compact and less filler-heavy.
Overall, I enjoyed Pillow Talk. It was a pleasant movie to watch on a very cold Friday afternoon. It’s stylish and breezy, and has some truly funny moments that still land in 2026. Rock Hudson and Doris Day have great chemistry, which carries much of the movie’s charm. It’s an enjoyable pick for fans of romantic comedies, especially classics, as long as you go in knowing it doesn’t fully escape the limitations of its era.
Watched: 01/30/2026
Notable Song: Pillow Talk by Doris Day
