Irma la Douce (1963) - Wilder's overlong prostitution comedy

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Colorful levity and hijinks are promised on this poster for Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce

In Paris' sinful Rue Casanova, a new copper roams, indignant and active in upsetting the obvious prostitution going on there, but only until he falls head over heels for the charming Irma.

 

Irma la Douce is written by I.A.L. Diamond (One, Two, Three (1961)) and Austrian-Hungarian/American master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Billy Wilder (Bad Seed (1934)), whose 19th feature it was. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1956 French stage musical. The title is French and translates to 'Irma the sweet'.

This poorly aged Wilder adaptation beckons you to accept prostitution a an easy and comfortable life, one that is also natural and without any negative sides to it. That proposition is a hard one to swallow, and fatiguing as well. The same can be said of Jack Lemmon's (Some Like It Hot (1959)) policeman character's unexplained 180 turn in the story from a by-the-book stickler to a completely embracing participant in the monkey business goings on of the Rue Casanova. His plan involves him keeping Shirley MacLaine's (Around the World in 80 Days (1956)) Irma from her sidewalk 'career' by dressing up as an English professor with very deep pockets.

Jokes are repeated ad infinitum. Irma la Douce is overlong. Handsome sets and costumes weigh up; and Lemmon's caricature of an Englishman is funny. But Irma la Douce overall is taxing.

 

Related posts:

Billy Wilder:  The Front Page (1974) - Wilder's hilarious Chicago newspaper comedy

Double Indemnity (1944) - Wilder's noir classic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 31.5 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.3 times its cost)

[Irma la Douce premiered 5 June (New York) and runs 147 minutes. The film was envisioned as a repairing of Lemmon with Wilder and Marilyn Monroe as Irma, but the latter's overdose death in 1962 meant the hiring of MacLaine. It seems that Wilder, Lemmon and MacLaine negotiated the same pay deal of 350k $ plus 7.5 % of the profits, a very lucrative deal as it turned out, which reportedly also meant that United Artists only profited 440k $ from the film's stellar theatrical run. Shooting took place from October 1962 - February 1963 in California and Paris, France. The film was a huge hit in North America, where it was the year's 5th highest-grossing with rentals of 12 mil. $/25.2 mil. $ (80 % of the total gross). It also struck huge in Netherlands with 3.6 mil. admissions, becoming the biggest hit in the country for many years. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score - Adaptation/Treatment (André Previn (Dead Ringer (1963))). It lost Best Actress (MacLaine) to Patricia Neal in Hud and Cinematography - Color (Joseph LaShelle (A Child Is Waiting (1963))) to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, won a David di Donatello award and 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Wilder returned with Kiss Me, Stupid (1964). Lemmon returned in Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963); MacLaine in What a Way to Go! (1964). Irma la Douce is fresh at 75 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Irma la Douce? 

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - US theater's second-greatest salesman play fueled by magnetic performers

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A businessman doing a high wire act against a dramatic blue sky is the motif on this eye-catching poster for James Foley's Glengarry Glen Ross

A real estate office gets threatened by imminent lay-offs, and the small staff are pushed to deliver results - or find another place of work.

Glengarry Glen Ross is written by David Mamet (Hannibal (2001)), based on his own same-titled 1983 play, and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker James Foley (Reckless (1984)).

It is a really excellent film with an eminent ensemble: Jack Lemmon (It Happened to Jane (1959)) and Al Pacino (Two for the Money (2005)) deserve high-lighting, but really the whole lot are sublime. It is a sassy and compelling adaptation, which only brings the best with it from the stage version.

Glengarry Glen Ross works on many levels; it ends a bit suddenly, and the title, which refers to two different real estate developments that the office try to sell, is a bit opaque.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 12.5 mil. $

Box office: 10.7 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (returned 0.85 times its cost domestically)

[Glengarry Glen Ross premiered 30 August (Edinburgh International Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. Mamet was paid 1 mil. $ for the rights to, as well as adapting his play. The stars took reduced salaries to get the film made: Pacino 1.5 mil. $, Lemmon 1 mil. $, Alec Baldwin 250k $. Shooting took place for 39 days from August - October 1991 in New York. The stars reportedly showed up also on days they did not have scenes, to watch their colleagues' performances. The producers sued each other during production. The film opened #8 to a 2.1 mil. $ first weekend in 416 theaters in North America, where it diminished from there and grossed 10.7 mil. $. Regrettably the international numbers are not reported. If the film ended up with a realistic 15 mil. $ gross, it would rank as big flop. It was nominated for 1 Oscar; Best Supporting Actor (Pacino), lost to Gene Hackman in Unforgiven. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won 2 National Board of Review awards and 2 prizes at the Venice Film Festival, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Foley returned with Two Bits (1995). Pacino returned in Scent of a Woman (1992); Lemmon in The Wild West (1993, miniseries) and theatrically in Short Cuts (1993). Glengarry Glen Ross is certified fresh at 95 minutes with a 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Glengarry Glen Ross?

The Front Page (1974) - Wilder's hilarious Chicago newspaper comedy

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This funny poster for Billy Wilder's The Front Page highlights its nostalgic period setting and the comic delights of its two stars' interplay

Hildy Johnson is the star reporter on the Chicago Examiner in 1929, who wants to exit the business to go marry his girl in Philadelphia. But his fiery editor refuses to let him go, especially since the two suddenly have an escaped convict facing the death penalty on their hands!

The Front Page is an adaptation of the same-titled 1928 Broadway play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur by I.A.L. Diamond (Let's Make It Legal (1951)) and Austrian-Hungarian master co-writer-director Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity (1944)), whose 24th feature it was. It follows previous big-screen adaptations of the same play, The Front Page (1931) and My Girl Friday (1940).
The dialog in this thoroughly wonderful film is so sharp, witty and keen that every second of it is relished for this quality in itself, something Wilder's direction and respectful dealing with the play vouches for.
Walter Matthau (Mirage (1965)) and Jack Lemmon (Save the Tiger (1973)) suit each other as good as they ever did as a comedic dream duo here. The Front Page runs on a story that takes crazy turns, - which always remain credible within its universe, - filled with witty inventions and outrageous characters; among them is a Viennese doctor and Vincent Gardenia (The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975)) who is hilarious as an incompetent sheriff. Not many may agree with me, but in my book, Wilder's The Front Page is a comedy masterpiece.

Related post:

Billy Wilder: Double Indemnity (1944) - Wilder's noir classic

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 4 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 15 mil. $
= Big hit (3.75 times its cost)
[The Front Page premiered 18 December (USA) and runs 105 minutes. Wilder was averse to remakes and stated to his biographer that he wasn't 'particularly proud' of The Front Page. The idea to make the film appealed to him because of his early days as a newspaperman. Shooting took place in California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, from April - June 1974. Diamond and Wilder insisted on the dialog being spoken clearly and exactly as written, without overlapping, to Lemmon's detriment. Wilder's economical shooting and editing 'in-camera' meant that a rough cut was assembled just four days after shooting had ended. The film made 7.4 mil. $ (49.3 % of the total gross) in North America. It was reportedly Wilder's first profitable film since Irma la Douce (1963), (there are four films between the two), although he regretted doing it. It was nominated for 3 Golden Globes and won 2 David di Donatello awards (Italy's Oscar). Roger Ebert interviewed Wilder in 1974 about the film, which can be read here. Wilder returned with Fedora (1978). Lemmon returned in The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), and Matthau in The Sunshine Boys (1975). The Front Page is fresh at 73 % with a 5.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Front Page?

The China Syndrome (1979) - First-rate handle on a nuclear plant accident thriller

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The classy original poster for James Bridges' The China Syndrome

QUICK REVIEW:

Jane Fonda (Klute (1971)) was Oscar-nominated for playing the career-woman who report 'soft news' for an LA TV-channel, when she and her idealistic camera-man, (a long-haired Michael Douglas (Falling Down (1993)), who also produced the film), by accident witness a near-catastrophe at a nuclear plant outside of town. - That sets a row of events in motion.
The China Syndrome is a catastrophe thriller that is SPOILER missing a catastrophe. Still it undeniably falls into the generic category: It is made on a tightly written, Oscar-nominated original script by Mike Gray (Wavelength (1983)), T.S. Cook (Attack on Fear (1984)) and co-writer/director James Bridges (The Appaloosa (1966)), a tightly carried out low-action suspense picture, and its freshness and nail-biting quality is still 100 % there today.
The power struggles and the lightning-speed media world, which the film also exhibit and implicitly criticize, are just as recognizable and despicable today as they were then. Jack Lemmon (Grumpy Old Men (1993)) was also Oscar-nominated for his intense performance here. 
- The China Syndrome is solid suspense!
The film was based on several nuclear plant accidents, and it came out at a time where the issue was a big concern around the world. Moreover, just 12 days after the release of the film, the big Three Mile Island Accident on a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania made it even more eerily contemporary. That was the worst accident in US nuclear plant history, and you can read more about it here.

I know what you're thinking: Could the syndrome be that Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas' hair is growing them together into one being? This poster for James Bridges' The China Syndrome certainly makes you think so

Watch the original trailer for the movie here

Cost: 5.9 mil. $
Box office: 51.7 mil. $ (US only)
= Huge hit
[The film most likely also enjoyed large success outside the US, where the nuclear debate was running just as high at the time in the '70s, - ideal for a film such as The China Syndrome. It had 424,927 admissions in Sweden, indicating this to be the case.]

What do you think of The China Syndrome?