Jack Lemmon

Some Like It Hot

Maybe "nobody's perfect," as one character in this masterpiece suggests. But some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. In Chicago, during the Prohibition era, two skirt-chasing musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), inadvertently witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. In order to escape the wrath of gangland chief Spats Colombo (George Raft), the boys, in drag, join an all-woman band headed for Florida. They vie for the attention of the lead singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), a much-disappointed songbird who warbles "I'm Through with Love" but remains vulnerable to yet another unreliable saxophone player. (When Curtis courts her without his dress, he adopts the voice of Cary Grant--a spot-on impersonation.) The script by director Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is beautifully measured; everything works, like a flawless clock. Aspiring screenwriters would be well advised to throw away the how-to books and simply study this film. The bulk of the slapstick is handled by an unhinged Lemmon and the razor-sharp Joe E. Brown, who plays a horny retiree smitten by Jerry's feminine charms. For all the gags, the film is also wonderfully romantic, as Wilder indulges in just the right amounts of moonlight and the lilting melody of "Park Avenue Fantasy." Some Like It Hot is so delightfully fizzy, it's hard to believe the shooting of the film was a headache, with an unhappy Monroe on her worst behavior. The results, however, are sublime. --Robert Horton

When Chicago musicians Joe and Jerry witness a gangland murder they realize that their only escape is to dress as women and join an all-girls band on the way to a tour of Florida.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: NR
Release Date: 22-MAY-2001
Media Type: DVD

The Odd Couple

Neil Simon's terribly funny play about roommates Oscar the slob and Felix the neurotic was first committed to film in this 1968 production, directed by Gene Saks (Barefoot in the Park). Perfectly timed, ingeniously rendered, not a hair out of place in the history-making performances of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon (or the great support cast), The Odd Couple is a movie that one just has to see every two or three years to stay happy. The poker-game sequence in which Oscar's cronies seem to be falling under the sway of fussy Felix's talent for making sandwiches is priceless. --Tom Keogh

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: G
Release Date: 20-DEC-2005
Media Type: DVD

The Great Race

At the turn of the 20th century a host of colorful characters set out on a 20000-mile auto race from New York to Paris and hilarity ensues. (1965)Running Time: 164 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085391109129 Manufacturer No: 11091

Director Blake Edwards, fresh from the success of the first two Pink Panther movies, indulged his love of classic slapstick comedy with this long free-for-all, which throws in everything but Laurel and Hardy's kitchen sink. The film reunites Some Like It Hot stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, ably aided by a spunky Natalie Wood. The subject is a New-York-to-Paris auto race in the early years of the 20th century, pitting the Great Leslie (Curtis), a goody-goody dressed all in white--even his teeth sparkle--against the malevolent Professor Fate (Lemmon), whose coal-black heart is reflected in his handlebar mustache. He looks like a bill collector from a silent- movie melodrama. Lemmon does double duty, also playing the pampered, drunken king of a small European country, whose laugh sounds like the wail of a cat in heat. The film may be too long for its own good, and you really have to love Jack Lemmon to put up with his over-the-top performance, but it's side-splitting in spots. It's one of those movies, if seen in childhood, that stays in your mind for years afterward. Some of the bigger routines, such as a pie fight of epic proportions, don't work as well as the simple chemistry between the perpetually exasperated Professor Fate and his much-abused assistant, Max (a terrific Peter Falk). Push the button, Max. --Robert Horton

The Out-of-Towners

Arthur Hiller (Love Story) directed the film adaptation of Neil Simon's curious comedy about a pair of non-New Yorkers (Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) having a hellish visit to the Big Apple on the eve of a job interview for Lemmon's character. Made in 1970, this hectic film almost seems ahead of its time when compared to more recent misery-piled-on-misery comedies such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The couple in this film endure everything that can go wrong on a trip, including being forced to spend the night in a mugger-happy Central Park. The strange element in Simon's script, though, is that Lemmon's character is so unpleasant. A middle-class, uptight guy who can't believe that New Yorkers in the service profession don't perform their jobs slavishly, he's kind of a one-note joke that quickly wears thin. Remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. --Tom Keogh

A man from Ohio and his wife visit New York for him to interview for a big promotion, and undergo a number of adventures.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: G
Release Date: 25-NOV-2003
Media Type: DVD

Mister Roberts

Henry Fonda re-created his Broadway hit for this 1955 film that was mostly directed by Fonda's frequent collaborator, John Ford (Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine)--an ailing Ford was replaced at some point by Mervyn LeRoy--and the results are exceptionally fine. A perfect cast, including James Cagney's irascible captain, William Powell's thoughtful physician, and Jack Lemmon's Oscar-winning Ensign Pulver, give Fonda the right boost to portray his ennui-burdened officer with dignity, self-effacing humor, and not a trace of self-pity. A wonderful film. --Tom Keogh

The Wackiest Ship in the Army

Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson get that sinking feeling when they pilot THE WACKIEST SHIP IN THE ARMY in this hilarious comedy-adventure. During World War II the Army recruits Navy officer Rip Crandall (Lemmon) to command a battered old schooner for a top-secret mission. Masquerading as a Japanese fishing boat this nautical nightmare must smuggle a spy through mine-infested waters of the South Pacific. Unfortunately for Crandall he has inherited a wild crew of butterfingered landlubbers including First Officer Tommy Hanson (Nelson). Can the dedicated lieutenant whip these comically inexperienced gobs into shape in time to carry out their perilous mission? Starring: Jack Lemmon (2-time Academy Award® Winner 1955 Mr. Roberts 1973 Save the Tiger 8-time Academy Award® Nominee) Ricky Nelson (Golden Globe® Nominee 1959 Most Promising Newcomer).System Requirements:Running Time 99 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 043396049772 Manufacturer No: 04977

Bell, Book and Candle

Staid, secure publisher James Stewart leads a quiet life until he meets his bewitching downstairs neighbor, Kim Novak. John Van Druten's lighthearted Broadway comedy becomes a lush if lightweight romantic vehicle for Stewart and Novak, who would reunite for Hitchcock's Vertigo the next year. Novak is at her best as a Greenwich witch halfway between the worlds of magic and mortals, looking after her dotty aunt (Elsa Lanchester) and mischievous warlock brother (Jack Lemmon) as they keep their skills in practice. Novak's specialty is making men fall for her, but it's a one-way street: when a witch falls in love, she loses her powers. Director Richard Quine gives the witches an almost beatnik sensibility, a real Greenwich Village subculture hanging out in underground clubs and smart curio shops. Elegantly photographed in rich, glowing colors by James Wong Howe, Bell, Book and Candle is a fantasy world in New York set to a funky bongo-laced jazz score by George Duning. Quine's gliding camera is somewhat marred by abrupt editing, but his handling of actors is superb, in particular Novak, whose mysterious beauty masks inner turmoil and romantic yearnings. Ernie Kovacs appears as a wry author whose specialty is the supernatural, and Hermione Gingold is suitably florid as a witch elder with a penchant for theatricality. For once in his life Stewart is actually upstaged by the slyly comic performances around him. --Sean Axmaker

Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men

They're Grumpy Old Men [Side A]. And since they're played by famed screen odd couple Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau they're also Funny Old Men. The wit hits the fan as the two play Minnesota ice-fishing pals whose crusty friendship grows hilariously icier as they vie for an attractive widow (Ann-Margret). Also in the cast are Daryl Hannah Kevin Pollak Ossie Davis and an outrageously randy Burgess Meredith. The two leads grab their fishing rods to reel in another comic whopper in the sequel Grumpier Old Men [Side B]. Most of the original cast returns and Sophia Loren plays the vivacious newcomer who wants to turn the beloved bait shop into a chichi ristorante. Of course in this part of the Land of 1000 Lakes that means war! Enjoy. And yes this is the movie with the "man-sized manicotti" outtakes!Running Time: 93 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 012569817487 Manufacturer No: 81748

How to Murder Your Wife

"Being married is the normal way to live... isn't it?" The note of doubt at the end of that statement is fully exploited in How to Murder Your Wife (1965), a barbed piece of war-between-the-sexes comedy. Cartoonist Jack Lemmon, an exponent of the Playboy philosophy, lives in the ultimate swinging bachelor townhouse ("Everything masculine and perfect," manservant Terry-Thomas says approvingly) until a drunken evening leads to marriage with an Italian bombshell (Virna Lisi). What to do? The whole movie seems to exist in order to arrive at Lemmon's clever courtroom oration in the final half-hour, which is tartly funny if datedly misogynistic: he unleashes a male fantasy of trashing the gray-flannel suit and late-model station wagon for Hefneresque freedom. The wheel-spinning of the early reels is curious coming from screenwriter George Axelrod, usually a reliable satirist. He had better hours than this, notably in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Lord Love a Duck. --Robert Horton

He had what every man wanted then she came along! Legendary funnyman Jack Lemmon stars in this hilarious farce of almost unremitting fun (The Hollywood Reporter) with the breathtakingly beautiful (L. A. Herald Examiner) Virna Lisi.Bachelorhood is bliss for cartoonist Stanley Ford (Lemmon) complete with an English butler (Terry-Thomas) delectable dames and extra-dry martinis. But when he attends a bachelor party and meets an Italian beauty (Lisi) who pops out of a cake his fate is sealed. The next morning he discovers he s married to her even though she can barely speak English and now the consummate bachelor will go to any lengths to untie the knot!System Requirements: Running Time 119 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 027616880178 Manufacturer No: 1003899

My Fellow Americans

Call this "The Odd Couple Goes to the White House." Jack Lemmon and James Garner play ex-presidents in this lousy comedy, each of them having served only one term as chief executive and each the other's lifelong enemy. The best jokes in the film are front-loaded into the first five minutes. We meet both men living life after the White House, one (Lemmon) making speeches for whoever will front his large fee, while the other (Garner) writes relevant books no one reads. Any time they show up at the same function, they insult each other like snarling schoolboys. It is pretty funny, but after a brief introduction My Fellow Americans goes downhill rapidly, becoming yet another stupid road movie traveled by characters who hate each other. (How many of these is Lemmon going to make?) The jokes get dumber and cruder, the actors embarrass themselves, and the whole enterprise becomes tedious. The DVD release contains production notes, theatrical trailer, bloopers, optional Spanish and French soundtracks, optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, and Dolby audio. --Tom Keogh