Billy Wilder has been largely credited with plucking Jack Lemmon out of his consistent position as a supporting actor and turning him into a leading man. Their first film together was the iconic Some Like It Hot, in which Lemmon co-starred with Tony Curtis. Following this classic were collaborations in The Apartment, Irma La Douce, The Forune Cookie, Avanti!, The Front Page and Buddy Buddy.
Some Like It Hot
...
In the role of Jerry, Jack Lemmon established his penchant for portraying a nerve-racked, hopelessly moralistic everyman. Set at the height of prohibition in 1929, a series of unfortunate events befalls him and his friend, Joe (Tony Curtis), both of whom play instruments in band at a local speakeasy in Chicago. In the midst of the club getting shut down by police officials, Joe and Jerry retreat, all the while strategizing how best to make ends meet now that they're both out of a job.
After Joe forces Jerry to hock his coat to gamble on a "sure bet" horse that fails miserably, the two go to every music agency in search of a job. One of Joe's many spurned lovers, Nellie (Barbara Drew), tells him that they may be in luck as a job in a traveling band headed to Florida is in need of a saxophone and a bass player. Of course, what she doesn't tell them is that it's an all girls band.
Desperate to get out of town after witnessing a mob murder, Jerry and Joe dress as women to get in the all girls band--leading them to the band's lead singer, a blonde bombshell by the name of Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), and a trip to Florida where countless languishing millionaires await. Jerry, whose female alter ego is Daphne, finds himself thrown into a relationship with Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), causing him to constantly question his motives and ethicality as Joe coerces Jerry into using Osgood for money and resources.
The Apartment
As C.C. Baxter, Lemmon perfected the role of the nebbish good guy who always does the right thing--even when doing so often blows up in his face. As a cog in the giant wheel that is Consolidated Insurance, C.C. manages to stand out by allowing some of the higher up executives in the company to use his apartment for trysts with their mistresses. At the mercy of his bosses'--Joe Dobisch (Ray Walston), Al Kirkeby (David Lewis), Mr. Vanderhoff (Willard Waterman) and Mr. Eichelberger (David White)--diverse "sleeping" schedule, everyone in C.C.'s apartment building assumes that he's the lothario bringing home a different woman every night.
In spite of C.C.'s constant vow to say no to his bosses, they wield an equally as constant assurance that his good deeds won't go unrewarded once they tell the head company boss, Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), all about how impressed they are with C.C.'s work at Consolidated. The only thing that really gets him through the day is the sight of elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) as she takes him to and from the nineteeth floor where he works.
What C.C. doesn't know, however, is that Mr. Sheldrake has been having an affair with Fran--hence his motive behind asking C.C. if he can add himself to the already burgeoning "apartment" club. When C.C. ultimately does learn that Fran is the one Sheldrake has been taking to his apartment, it breaks his usually plucky spirit.
It isn't until Fran overdoses on sleeping pills in C.C.'s apartment (not knowing that it's his residence) that C.C. is allowed the opportunity to get closer to her by nursing her back to health.
Irma La Douce
In his second vehicle with Shirley MacLaine, the subject matter is even darker than that of The Apartment. As Nestor Patou, Lemmon embodies the hopelessness of an honest cop working in a district of Paris known for prostitution. When Nestor is fired after being framed for bribery, he finds himself drawn to the district where the prostitutes are known for frequenting. It is there that he falls for Irma La Douce (MacLaine), one of the more sought after prostitutes.
Determined to have her only for himself, Nestor takes on the role of her pimp. But when Irma continues to gallavant freely with other clients, Nestor comes up with a scheme that will keep her from being with anyone but him. Donning the disguise of a British lord by the name of Lord X, Nestor spends all of his money to prevent Irma from having the time to be with anyone else.
Naturally, Nestor's plan backfires and he ends up being framed--yet again--for the murder of Lord X. In consistent fashion, Lemmon embodies the wrongly accused martyr even though he is the most ethical person among the company he keeps.
The Fortune Cookie
In what is perhaps one of Billy Wilders deepest explorations of human nature apart from Double Indemnity and Ace in the Hole, The Fortune Cookie finds Lemmon as cameraman Harry Hinkle, an average Joe down on his luckespecially after star football player Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich) barrels into him on the sideline of the football field during a Cleveland Browns game. Suffering from an instant concussion, Harry awakens in the hospital to the meddling suggestions of his brother-in-law, William Whiplash Willie Gingrich (Walter Matthau, in his first onscreen pairing with Lemmon). With the knowledge that Harry suffered a spinal injury as a child, Willie knows that the X-ray will show spinal traumawhich the doctor will then assume was caused by his run-in with Boom Boom. Hence, a legitimate insurance claim against CBS, the TV network Harry works for.
As is the norm, Lemmons characters sole motivation for going along with something immoral is a woman. Willie dangles the prospect of his ex-wife, Sandy (Judi West), taking pity upon him when she learns of his injury and then possibly nursing him back to health and falling in love with him again as a result. Desperate for the chance to be with Sandy again, Harry agrees to go along with the scheme. What he doesn't know is how racked with guilt Boom Boom is over the entire thingparticularly after he picks up Sandy from the airport on behalf of Harry and learns that her sole motivation for coming back is the prospect of getting some of Harry's insurance money for her singing act.
Avanti!
In Avanti!, Lemmon stars as Wendell Armbruster Jr., a character similarly as clueless as C.C. Baxter. Wendells father, a wealthy businessman who has been in Ischia for the month of August, ends up getting in a fatal car crash with his mistress. When Wendell learns of his fathers death, he heads to Ischia to settle his fathers final affairs. In typical Lemmon character form, Wendell was completely unaware of his fathers affair, while Pamela Piggott (Juliet Mills) knew of her mothers tryst for quite some time. The two are thrown together as a result of their parents deatha fact further intensified when the bodies are stolen from the morgue and held for ransom by the family whose vineyard was ruined by the car accident.
Wendell, of course, is extremely uptight about the entire situationalready completely unable to take life as it comes. With Pamela by his side, however, Wendell cant help but loosen up a bit, ultimately falling in love with her just as his father did with her mother.
The Front Page
Something of a remake of 1931s His Girl Friday, The Front Page finds Hildebrand Hildy Johnson (Lemmon) about to retire from the business of being a newspaperman in favor of getting married to Peggy Grant (Susan Sarandon). His editor, Walter Burns (Walter Matthau), has other ideas for him, especially when a story arises involving the execution of a left-wing convict by the name of Earl Williams (Austin Pendleton) heats up after he escapes from prison.
Mollie Malloy (Carol Burnett), Earls girlfriend, is the one to inform Hildy of Earls secret hiding place in the press room of the Criminal Court Building. When Hildy shares the information with Walter, his plans for marriage are automatically postponed in favor of breaking the story. As per usual, Lemmons character is something of a pushovereasily swayed when it comes to doing a favor for a friend, even if it means intense self-sacrifice.
Buddy Buddy
In the final pairing of Matthau and Lemmon under Wilders directorship, the plot once again places Matthau as the stronger, more domineering character. As Trabucco (Matthau), a zany hitman, attempts to rub out someone planning to testify against the mob, his attempts are thwarted by Victor Clooney (Lemmon), a man staying in the room adjacent to Trabuccos at the same hotel. When Trabucco spots Victor trying to commit suicide by jumping off the balcony, his primary endeavor is deviated. Trabucco manages to talk Victor down by offering to take him to see his wife, Celia (Paula Prentiss), to the Institute for Sexual Fulfillment where she is conducting research for a report on 60 Minutes. Much to Victorsand Trabuccosdismay, Celia admits that she has developed feelings for Hugo Zuckerbrot (Klaus Kinski), one of the doctors she has been interviewing for her research.
What it all boils down to with a Wilder/Lemmon collaboration is that, in spite of the common perception that nice guys finish last, it is possible for them to come out on top in the end. And so, in many respects, Wilder promoted the notion that moral behavior will triumph in the endeven if he often displayed this theme through the immoral actions of others.
https://suite101.com/a/collaborations-jack-lemmon-and-billy-wilder
No comments:
Post a Comment