A "Harvard Man" in 1959

Even the most lightweight-seeming cultural artifacts can acquire a sociological interest with the passage of time--and the 1959 Michael Gordon romantic comedy Pillow Talk is no exception.

In the course of that film's rather tangled goings-on protagonist Jan Morrow (Doris Day) ends up going on a date with "Harvard Man" Tony Walters (Nick Adams). As we come to realize from Walter's incessant references to himself as a "Harvard Man!" to be a Harvard Man was, at this time, to be above all a "gentleman," in the sense of a man of upper-class background. This was as against today's presumption that being a "Harvard Man" marks one as a person of superior intelligence and academic accomplishment.

Given the reality of who really ends up in elite schools, and why--and who does not end up there and why--it seems to me fair to say that being a Harvard Man is still a more reliable indicator of privileged background than of superior intellect, the meritocratic premise confused things rather than demonstrated genuine change on this score.