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Teacher's Pet Review:
Teacher's Pet is a surprisingly enjoyable comedy that manages to avoid the many pitfalls into which it could very easily become entrapped. While its premise would seem to indicate it would be a run-of-the-mill, by-the-numbers, high-concept comedy, Fay and Michael Kanin's screenplay somehow hits all the expected plot points without coming across as mechanical. Chalk a lot of this up to the flavorful dialogue, finely observed characters, and an ability to skirt with, but avoid falling into, clichés. George Seaton has directed with a light hand, keeping things moving at a nice clip and setting each scene up so that it scores and then moves on. He has also created a New York that is real without being gritty; the newsroom looks like a newsroom and these middle-class characters don't live in spacious penthouses overlooking the river. Leads Clark Gable and Doris Day are in top form, navigating the up-and-down moves of the romance with skill, and generating a surprising amount of chemistry in the process. Even better is Gig Young, in a wonderfully nuanced performance that is enormously appealing. Mamie van Doren is also delightful as Gable's zaftig performer/girlfriend. While Teacher's Pet is perhaps too slight to qualify as a genuine classic, it's still a film that pleases on all levels. Craig Butler, All Movie Guide