tieman64 Clarke Gable and Doris Day lock horns in "Teacher's Pet" (1958), a romantic comedy by director George Seaton. Day plays Erica Stone, a professor who believes that journalism can be taught in schools, and that journalists should be intellectual types who investigate their subjects from a bevy of perspectives. Disagreeing with Stone is James Gannon (Clarke Gable), a renowned journalist who believes in street smarts, unpretentious writing and a willingness to pander to both market forces and the whims of the common man. The film quickly develops into a "battle-of-the-sexs" comedy, the mustachioed Clarke and the svelte Day bumping bodies and ideologies."Teacher's Pet" loses steam during its final act, and eventually starts repeating itself. For its first hour, though, this is nevertheless a cute comedy, competently directed by Seaton. It ends with Gannon and Stone begrudgingly accepting each other's point of view. Early scenes feature the infamous Mamie Van Doren as Pegggy DeFore, a nightclub singer.7/10 – Worth one viewing. See "In A Lonely Place", "His Girl Friday", "Sweet Smell of Success", and "Deadline" (1952)

Ed Uyeshima 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 s 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 (Mrs. Cunningham of "Happy Days") as Kane's secretary Katy. There are no extras with the 2005 DVD.

Spikeopath So yesterday afternoon i'm at home waiting for the telephone repair man to come and fix the dam phone, and i'm thinking there is no point starting a film if i'm to be interrupted half way thru. I flick thru the listings on British satellite and see something called Teacher's Pet, doesn't ring a bell {no phone pun intended}, i click on the info link and it tells me it stars Clark Gable & Doris Day, and the plot summary is a battle of the sexes romantic comedy set around Day's journalist teacher Erica Stone, against Gable's gruff rough and tough newspaper editor James Gannon, also starring Gig Young & Mamie Van Doren, and that Gig Young was nominated for best supporting actor.Still didn't ring any bells {ok the joke is wearing thin now}, so i figure i'll put it on safe in the knowledge that if i get interrupted it wont make a bit of difference since the film can't be any good on account of me not having heard of it before!. Well for the first time ever i was grateful for a service engineer for actually being late because it enabled me to watch this delightful comedy in its entirety. Gable & Day play off each other a treat as Gable goes undercover in Day's journalist class purely to under-mime her, he believes that you can't teach journalism, the only way to become a good journalist is with hard graft on job experience. The tension is evident from the off, but naturally things start to take a turn into the light hearted department as the pair get deeper into the picture.Some truly great comic moments to be found here with Gable showing a particularly rewarding arc in facial expressions, whilst Day is as bright as a button and as beautiful as she ever was. Yet as good as Gable & Day are together {big age difference a minor irritant}, it's Gig Young who walks away with the picture as Gable's potential love rival, his Dr. Hugo Pine is a man who is great at everything, dancing, bongo playing, writing many best selling books, and handsome to boot. Young has a lot of fun playing the character, and probably lays out the funniest portrayal of a man with a hangover ever, it's a wonderful effervescent performance.Teacher's Pet, a hugely enjoyable surprise of a movie 8/10, oh and the phone got fixed as well!.

junkregister This has the look and feel of a 1938 film. The anachronistic acting style is embarrassing. Since we know from The Misfits that Gable was a smart actor, the dialogs itself is witty, the fault must lie in the heavy-handed direction. It is surprising that George Seaton started in the mid 1940's. Look at Gable's gestures in the early scene in the class room. Awful. Doris Day, on the other hand, gave a very respectable performance. The relevance of the thematic conflict between the uneducated tradesman vs the educated professional lapsed in relevance in the post war GI bill era. In 1938 this movie would have been hip. By 1958 it is unintentionally funny.