Teacher's Pet

Gannon, a newspaper city editor, thinks university journalism classes are pointless. To mock Erica Stone, who teaches one, he enrols as a student. She has no idea who he is, and for the first time he has to see his own trade from outside. George Seaton directed. Clark Gable plays Gannon, Doris Day plays Erica, Gig Young the psychologist who admires her. The film turns the argument between two generations of journalism into comedy: the job learned in the field against the method taught in a classroom. Gable was fifty-seven at the time and the age gap in the role was remarked on even then. Gig Young was nominated for the supporting actor Oscar, and the film's best scenes belong to his drunk, endlessly diagnosing character. It was shot in black and white and the newsroom scenes record how a paper of the period actually worked. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood romantic comedy and journalism films. Who it is not for: anyone the gender dynamics will trouble by today's measure.