Tonight's Movie: Teacher's Pet (1958) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Newspaper movie meets "rom com" in TEACHER'S PET (1958), a terrific film just released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

I reviewed the movie here over a decade ago, in 2014, and if anything I was even more impressed on this viewing.

The two-hour script by Oscar-nominated Fay and Michael Kanin absolutely sparkles with a combination of great dialogue and excellent plotting.

The movie is played to the hilt by two of the greatest performers ever in the movies, Clark Gable and Doris Day, ably aided by Gig Young, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Add in a great newsroom set and an excellent cast of supporting players, especially Charles Lane, and this is a movie which fires on all cylinders.

Day plays a journalism professor who finds herself debating Gable on the value of education versus experience. Gable's newspaper editor has come up the "hard way," without even a high school diploma. They initially start out annoying one another but before long they're appreciating each other's insights...and each other.

Gable and Day simply couldn't be better and have wonderful chemistry. Her reaction the first time he kisses her is classic comedy. They're each incredibly confident, assured performers and when they meet it's movie magic. The script is very good, but it's what these two pros do with it that's key.

Young is wryly funny as the psychologist who is initially Gable's rival but soon finds himself playing matchmaker for his two friends -- most of the time while nursing the world's worst hangover.

As I noted in my 2014 review, while some bits about women in the workplace now seem "dated" -- I think of it more as simply reflective of the era, for good or ill -- the movie remains quite relevant to the modern viewer, discussing issues like newspapers struggling to remain a going business proposition. Back then papers competed with TV and radio; now it's with not only TV but the internet.

One of my favorite things about the movie continues to be Charles Lane, sitting to Gable's left at the big table in the center of the newsroom. His very being adds tons of what we might call "gravitas" to every scene.

There are other familiar faces scattered throughout, including Marion Ross, Mamie Van Doren, Nick Adams, and Frank Albertson. Bess Flowers can be spotted in (what else?) the nightclub scene.

For a few more thoughts I'd like to encourage readers to click over to my 2014 write-up. Suffice it to say this is a terrific film and I highly recommend it.

The movie was directed by George Seaton and filmed in widescreen black and white by Haskell Boggs. The film was scored by Roy Webb.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray is from a new HD master by Paramount Pictures from a 6K scan of the 35mm VistaVision original camera negative. Picture and sound quality are excellent.

Disc extras consist of the trailer; a gallery of eight additional trailers; and a new commentary track by Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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