Customer Reviews

Irma La Douce [VHS]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Billy Wilder's 1963 adaptation of the successful stage musical IRMA LA DOUCE still makes for an entertaining movie experience. Shirley MacLaine is simply perfect for the title role with Jack Lemmon absolutely hilarious as her comical suitor.

Irma la Douce (Shirley MacLaine) plies her trade on the Rue Casanova of Paris with her fellow lovelies (with such names as Lolita, Amazon Annie, Mimi the MauMau and Suzette Wong). Into Irma's life comes the noble and honest policeman Nestor (Jack Lemmon) who is soon kicked off the job because he refuses to take bribes and compromise his own conscience. Nestor goes to live with Irma as her `business manager' but wants her to give up her profession, so he `invents' the filthy-rich Lord X to become her sole client, and takes a night-job to help the shortfall. All manner of hilarious complications ensue as Nestor's double life soon begins to spin out of control!

Based on the successful stage musical (music by Marguerite Monnot, lyrics by Alexandre Breffort), IRMA LA DOUCE was re-tooled by Wilder as a straight comedy piece. It works quite well either way, though I must confess that as an admirer of the stage play, it would have been smashing for Shirley MacLaine to perform that gorgeous score. The movie does retain the jaunty "Dis-donc, Dis-donc" and Andre Previn's score makes good use out of Monnot's music, particularly "Our Language of Love".

The strong cast also includes Lou Jacobi as the owner of the Bistro Moustache, Bruce Yarnell as Irma's previous manager Hippolyte and Billy Wilder stalwart Joan Shawlee as Amazon Annie.

The evocative costumes were designed by Orry-Kelly and the unbilled narrator at the beginning of the film is none other than Louis Jourdan. Shirley MacLaine was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance here and the movie itself was one of the year's top-grossers.

The DVD presents the movie in a nicely-letterboxed 16:9 print. Colours are full and rich and the soundtrack is stridant in 2-channel stereo. The only extra is the original trailer.

Well, we already knew the teaming of Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and director Billy Wilder was magic. Just have a look at "The Apartment" for proof of that. And here they are, together again,putting their wonderful spell on the viewer in the delightfully funny "Irma La Douce".

"Don't believe that Paris, is the city that never sleeps", says the opening narration. At 5:00 in the morning, the only sights and sounds on the streets of Paris are the sanitiation workers. But...not too far from the big city, is another district, and it's bustling with workers in the meat and fish market, and produce vendors preparing their goods. You will also find find a street lined with cafes and hotels, and the women that work them. They claim their stations, dressed in colorful and slinky garb, with fitting names like "Amazon Annie", Kikki the Cossack" and "Lolita" , waiting for that one big catch..the one that will set them up for life. They are "pro"fessionals! And there is none more professional than "Irma La Douce"(Aka Irma, the sweet). Dressed in her trademark green stockings, and always toting her little dog(also dressed in green, and a bit of a boozehound), she's the most sought after pro in the neighborhood. She's the best!

Everybody wins in this business. The girls turn their money over to their "managers", the managers bribe the cops, and the cafe owner serves up the drinks and words of wisdom. Everything runs like clockwork. That is until the day, an honest cop is assigned the beat. His first order of business is to make a raid on the girls(costing him his job). He falls big time for Irma though, and must figure out a way to keep her off the streets. And so Voila! ...dressed as a rich Englishman, he becomes Irma's only client, and wears himself out in the process. Watching him keep up the pace, working to pay Irma the big bucks, while trying to keep his identity a secret is as fun now, as it was over 40 years ago.

Jack Lemmon is at his comedic best. He'll have you grinning all the way through. Shirley MacLaine's performance of the sweetest and sexist pro ever will have you saying "ooo la la" . You'll fall in love with Irma immediatley. The screenplay (Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond) is one of the cleverest and wittiest written. The film is nealry 2 and 1/2 hours, and not only does it go by quickly, you will wish there was more.

A wonderful supporting cast includes Lou Jacobi, who plays "Moustache", the philosophizing bartender, who has been everything from a Lawyer to a Doctor in his past("But that's another story..."), Herschel Bernardi, Hope Holiday and Joan Shawlee. The costumes by Orry-Kelly are marvelous, and a score by Andre Previn, completes this great crew.

A classic comedy and a class act..a must have for fans of Wilder, Lemmon and MacLaine.

Merci Beaucoup....enjoy...Laurie

also recommended:
A Couch in New York

Some Like It Hot

Diamonds

It's astounding. This is one of the funniest comedies ever made and few people have even heard of it.

Everyone's seen "Some Like it Hot" (I HOPE!) but even die-hard Billy Wilder fans have missed out on this one.

Like "The Apartment" it's co-written by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine and is directed by the man himself.

There's one big difference, though. "The Apartment" has been justly acclaimed as a masterpiece of cinema, but despite what critics have written about it, it is NOT a 'romantic comedy.' It's a drama. A poignant love story with a happy ending.

This one's a screwball comedy. A first class farce.

But, that's another story . . .

Many might want to compare this film to Wilder's earlier Oscar winning film, "The Apartment" which also starred Lemmon and Maclaine. This time the two are in the red-light district in Paris. Maclaine plays Irma, aka Irma La Douce (meaning Irma the sweet) and Lemmon as an honest cop Nester Patou. As soon as Nester (Lemmon) sets his eyes on Irma he's taken away by her,but, he doesn't realize she's a "working girl". After being fired off the force for a hotel raid and arresting the chief of police Nester depressed walks into a bar owned by Lou Jacobi who play Moustache. Noticing that Irma's pimp is acting rough with her Nester decides to defend her by getting beat up by her pimp lol. Finally Nester gets the best of him, and finds that now he is Irma's new pimp. Nester finds that he has also fallen in love with her and doesn't want her to be with other men. He then gets a great idea that will enable her to only be with him. As one might expect since the two worked with each other 3 years earlier there is good timing between Lemmon and Maclaine. And Billy Wilder is in fine form. There are some great moment here, especially in the begining when we see Irma conning men into giving her a big tip. And the scenes with Jacobi and Lemmon are very funny as well. The film is based on Alexandre Breffort's play and was written for screen by I.A.L Diamond and Wilder himself. The movie was nominated for 3 Oscars; Best Actress, Cinematograpgy, and Music score. Wonderful film with lots of laughs!

p.s Jacobi's last line "Well, that another story! might make some think Wilder was going for the same type of ending he had for another film of his "Some Like It Hot" in whinch Joe Brown says "Nobody's perfect"!

Ce n 'est pas un film , c'est de la poesie en images , la douceur de la vie , la peine et les joies de l' amour ... tout est la .

Is there another movie this great? My 90 year old grandfather and I are in total agreement about this hilariously wonderful film! Jack Lemmon and Shirley Mcclaine at their young and sweet best. It tops my all time favorite list.

This is a great movie. I saw it many years ago for the first time, and have seen it many times since, but never fail to enjoy it. I think Jack Lemmon was terrific, and I fell in love with Shirley McLaine (Irma), just as he did, and have been in love with her ever since (just don't tell my wife that I said that!). I know that anyone who sees this movie is going to enjoy it...again and again, just as I did. Now...I'm going to buy a copy of the movie for my own. Isn't this online shopping unbelievable! And, I wasn't paid to say that, or to write this review.

A great story and script make this a wonderful movie to see. Jack Lemmon falls in love with Irma, a streetwalker played by Shirley MacLaine. To keep her off the streets, he begins to work four to five jobs at night to pose as a wealthy English lord. Of course things don't quite work out as he would like. Very funny movie by Billy Wilder, the same director as "Some Like It Hot".

A must see.

Darin

It wasn't compatible with my dvd machine only for computer version. Be careful. The instructions when I bought it weren't very clear and I got confused. Must fix that.

I laughed out loud at this screwball comedy. Believable - hell no. Funny - hell yes. That's what comedies are supposed to be - laugh out loud hilarious!

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are just wonderful, as well as the other major actors. Even the little dog played his part well.

If you want to watch a genuine comedy - one that is witty, romantic and heartwarming, this is your movie.

Cheery - oh, Chappie!