Doris Does The Rumba

For the 1959 romantic comedy “Pillow Talk,” Producer Ross Hunter wanted to sex Doris Day up a bit and peel away some of her wholesome squeaky clean image:

You are sexy, Doris, and it's about time you dealt with it ... if you allow me to get Jean Louis to do your clothes, I mean a really sensational wardrobe that will show off that wild fanny of yours, and get some wonderful makeup on you, and chic you up and get a great hairdo that lifts you, why, every secretary and every housewife will say, 'Look at that—look what Doris has done to herself. Maybe I can do the same thing'

$500,000 worth of jewels from Laykin et Cie didn’t hurt Day’s new look, either. Costume designer Jean Louis is probably best known for creating the form fitting black sheath that Rita Hayworth wore in “Gilda.”

In the first shot of today’s post, Jan Morrow (Day) is leaving a little soirée being given by the rich Mrs. Walters (Lee Patrick). Her son, Tony (Nick Adams), a horny young student at Harvard, is more than happy to offer Jan a ride home. He pulls the car over to the side of the road before reaching their destination and begins to paw her all over her.

Jan: “Tony, control yourself! Remember, you're a Harvard man!”

Tony: “Not tonight, baby; I'm on vacation!”

The only way Jan can escape his unwanted advances is to agree to get one drink with him. But that’s not enough. Tony also wants one dance. While the wide shot of the couple is fairly tame, the camera zooms in to Doris’ tush, showing the world that she can rumba with the best of them.



Drunk as a skunk by this point, Tony passes out and it’s Brad (Rock Hudson) to the rescue.



He picks up Tony as if he weighs nothing and carts him out of The Copa.



Never heard of Nick Adams? He played one of the gang members in James Dean’s “Rebel Without A Cause.” He’s the one on the far right with the funky hat.



Dean, Adams, and Natalie Wood reading their scripts for “Rebel”:



Adams also has the distinction of being James Dean’s voice in one scene of “Giant.” Having been killed in a car crash before the film had been completely edited, Dean could not re-do his muffled dialogue from the scene where his character drunkenly rambles on. Nick Adams looped some of the unintelligible lines and voila...all better now. If you listen carefully, you can pick out the section where it shifts from Dean’s own voice to Adams’.



Is that enough six degrees of separation movie trivia for you?

See more “Pillow Talk” photos at my main website.