I love many Billy Wilder movies. I love many Jack Lemmon movies. I also love many Shirley MacLaine movies. The three of them collaborated memorably on an all-time great back in 1960 so I went into this feature with no small amount of optimism. Friends did warn me though. Don't expect another The Apartment was the general advice. I like to think that I didn't go in with those kind of expectations. I certainly wasn't prepared for what I got though.
MacLaine plays Irma, a prostitute in Paris with a stellar reputation. Lemmon is Nestor, a young policeman who ends up losing his job after a very short time on the beat. With these two characters eventually falling for one another, it's not long until Nestor is in the tricky position of enjoying a good life afforded to him by his loving woman while also resenting what she does to earn her money. Without thinking of the full repercussions, Nestor comes up with an idea to approach Irma as a rich Englishman, one who will pay her so well for her company that she won't need to see any other clients. The major flaw, of course, is that Nestor then has to find a way to earn enough money to pay Irma for her time. As distance grows between them, Irma may well want to find out just how good a life she could have if she decides to head off into the sunset with her super-rich client.
Knowing that this was based on a French stage musical that originated in the mid-1950s helps to explain why some of the main names may have been attracted to this material, but it doesn't help to explain the many decisions made in adapting it from stage to screen. Not including any major song and dance numbers is one thing, but not doing enough to make the leads more sympathetic and amusing is something else altogether. Any major obstacles are of their own making, the whole thing is far too silly to even come close to being satisfyingly dramatic at any point, and, worst of all, the comedy often falls completely flat, soured by the central premise and the selfishness of the Lemmon's character. A couple of sequences in the third act work well, but they're too little too late in a film that greatly overstays its welcome with a runtime of 147 minutes.
Lemmon retains some likability, but that's more due to his own personality than anything written in the screenplay. MacLaine is good enough, but forced to remain oblivious to certain details that need to remain unknown to her for the unfolding plot to work. Lou Jacobi gets quite a few of the best lines, and the fact that he is the only other person to know about the ongoing scheme, and the problems caused by it, also allows him to comment on things with a level of insight and wit missing from the other characters. Other cast members worth mentioning are Bruce Yarnell ( a rival named Hippolyte), Herschel Bernardi (Inspector Lefevre), and Tura Satana (Suzette Wong, but mentioned here just for being Tura Satana). There's also a very small role for Bill Bixby, who will be easy to recognise for those keeping an eye out for him.
I might have liked this as a musical. That might have been enough to distract me from the many failings elsewhere, particularly when it comes to the lack of great dialogue and gags. It wasn't to be though. Maybe Wilder, who also wrote the screenplay with I. A. L. Diamond, knew that he wouldn't be the right person to helm this as a musical feature. Unfortunately, I don't think he was the right person to helm this at all. What it really lacks is a protective layer of whimsy and fantasy to cover up and smother the many jagged edges that make it impossible to warm to.
4/10
If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do
consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A
subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share
