IRMA LA DOUCE [1963 / 2019] [EUREKA! Entertainment] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] A Story of Passion, Bloodshed, Desire and Death . . . Everything in fact that makes life worth living!
One of director Billy Wilder's biggest box office hits following his landmark comedies ‘Some Like It Hot’ and ‘The Apartment,’ and the spectacular ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and adapted from the 1956 musical for the French theatre and reunites Billy Wilder with ‘The Apartment’ stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, providing the latter with one of her most fondly remembered (and Oscar® nominated) early roles.
Shirley MacLaine is Irma, a popular Parisian prostitute whose new pimp is an unlikely procurer: Nestor Patou [JackLemmon] is a former honest cop who was just fired and framed by his boss after Nestor Patou inadvertently had him arrested in a raid. However, Nestor Patou's love for Irma La Douce is making his newfound vocation impossible, so Nestor Patou poses as a phoney British Lord X who insists on being Irma's one and only "client." But when "Lord X" appears to have become the victim of foul play... further comedic complications ensue!
‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ offers many of the same sardonic observations on human nature as Billy Wilder's earlier comedies – in addition to the same riotous humour – touching romance, but on an even broader, more colourful canvas. Collaborating again with his regular screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder delivers one of his most purely entertaining crowd-pleasers of the 1960’s. Narrated by Louis Jourdan.
PRESS: "scintillating performances by Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine." Variety: "a fine example of Billy Wilder’s mid-career eccentricity and cosmopolitan curiosity."
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1964 Academy Awards®: Win: Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment for André Previn. Nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role for Shirley MacLaine. Nominated: Best Cinematography in Color for Joseph LaShelle. 1964 Golden Globes: Win: Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Shirley MacLaine. Nominated: Best Motion Picture in a Comedy or Musical. Nominated: Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for Jack Lemmon. 1964 David di Donatello Awards: Win: Best Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniera) for Shirley MacLaine. 1964 Golden Screen, Germany: Win: Golden Screen for ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ motion picture. 1964 Laurel Awards: Win: Golden Laurel Award for Top Male Comedy Performance for Jack Lemmon. Win: Golden Laurel Award for Top Female Comedy Performance for Shirley MacLaine. Nominated: Golden Laurel Award for Top Comedy. 1964 Writers Guild of America: Nominated: WGA Award (Screen) for Best Written American Comedy Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ was conceived as a Marilyn Monroe vehicle in 1962. The project would have reunited her with director Billy Wilder and actor Jack Lemmon, both of whom had worked with her on ‘Some Like It Hot’ in 1959. After Marilyn Monroe's death, the film was recast with Shirley MacLaine, who had worked with Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon in ‘The Apartment’ [1960]. Shirley MacLaine was paid $350,000 plus a percentage.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi, Bruce Yarnell, Herschel Bernardi, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney, Paul Dubov, Howard McNear, Cliff Osmond, Diki Lerner, Herb Jones, Ruth Earl, Jane Earl, Tura Satana, Lou Krugman, James Brown, Bill Bixby, John Alvin, Susan Woods, Harriette Young, Sheryl Deauville, Billy Beck, Jack Sahakian, David Ahdar (uncredited), Fred Aldrich (uncredited), Al Bain (uncredited), Edgar Barrier (uncredited), Ivan Bell (uncredited), Herman Belmonte (uncredited), Eumenio Blanco (uncredited), James Caan (uncredited), Noble 'Kid' Chissell (uncredited), Louise Colombet (uncredited), Don Diamond (uncredited), Duke Fishman (uncredited), Paul Frees [Trailer Narrator voice] (uncredited), Ben Frommer (uncredited), Bobby Gilbert (uncredited), Joseph Glick (uncredited), Mickey Golden (uncredited), Jack Gordon (uncredited), Joe Gray (uncredited), Maria Haro (uncredited), Jack Henderson (uncredited), Chester Jones (uncredited), Louis Jourdan [Narrator voice] (uncredited), Ethan Laidlaw (uncredited), Richard LaMarr (uncredited), William Meader (uncredited), Ralph Moratz (uncredited), Mike Morelli (uncredited), Daniel Nunez (uncredited), Doye O'Dell (uncredited), Joe Palma (uncredited), Emma Palmese (uncredited), Richard Peel (uncredited), Joe Ploski (uncredited), Bill Raisch (uncredited), Waclaw Rekwart (uncredited), June Smaney (uncredited), Mabel Smaney (uncredited), Stephen Soldi (uncredited), Theresa Testa (uncredited), Bob Whitney (uncredited), Harry Wilson (uncredited) and John Zimeas (uncredited)
Director: Billy Wilder
Producers: Alexandre Trauner (uncredited), Billy Wilder, Doane Harrison, Edward L. Alperson, and I.A.L. Diamond
Screenplay: Alexandre Breffort (play), Billy Wilder (writer) and I.A.L. Diamond (writer)
Composer: André Previn
Costumes: Orry-Kelly
Cinematography: Joseph LaShelle, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 142 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: United Artists / EUREKA! Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ [1963] and like ‘The Apartment’ were early introductions to Billy Wilder’s distinct brand of comedy, and not surprisingly, and that is why I was hooked. ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ was one in a string of hits for Billy Wilder, Jack Lemon and Shirley MacLaine, who between them, along with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond, collaborated on such black-and-white classic film such as ‘Some Like it Hot’ which foreshadowed the aptly more colourful and risqué ‘IRMA LA DOUCE.’
On top of all that, they say lightning never strikes twice. Despite reuniting the director Billy Wilder, screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond and leading actors Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine of the 1960 comedy classic film ‘The Apartment,’ whereas the 1963 film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE sort of fails to reproduce the magic of that earlier film.
In a quarter of Paris known for its colourful criminal underworld, the most sought after streetwalker is Irma La Douce (“Your Mother’s Sweet”), who is a Paris prostitute at the top of her game with a successful gimmick, involving an alcoholic pet dog in snaring customers. Shirley MacLaine plays the Irma La Douce character with such superb sense of ownership and authenticity, whose innocent exterior is a front for a ruthless businesswoman who knows how to fleece her male clients for all they're worth, as revealed in an opening montage that shows Irma reeling off a variety of sob stories to earn sizeable tips.
The story starts out when a straight-as-arrow new naïve policeman, Nestor Patou [Jack Lemmon] is assigned to the meat and fresh produce market fondly known as “the stomach of Paris,” which also covers a thriving red light district on Rue Casanova. However, unbeknownst to Nestor Patou, there already exists a mutually beneficial alliance between prostitutes, customers, pimps and cops, in a live-and-let-live approach to life and business, as eloquently described by the film’s narrator character – a know-it-all bartender and proprietor of everyone’s favourite a popular hangout tavern for prostitutes and their pimps is the watering hole Chez Moustache and its devious owner Moustache [Lou Jacobi].
Nestor Patou stumbles and crashes into this world when he raids the prostitutes main place of business in Hotel Casanova and arrests everyone on the premises, including his new commander who so happened to be sampling the benefits of aforementioned alliance at that particular time. Needless to say, Nestor Patou is soon out of a job and washes up in the bar where after a fight and ends up as Irma La Douce’s pimp and protector. By the way, watch out for a young James Caan in a walk-on role as an American G.I. who follows one of the prostitutes into the Hotel Casonova.
Things look very rosy until Nestor Patou falls in love with Irma La Douce and, overcome with jealousy, undertake to become her one and only customer in the guise of mysterious British aristocrat, “Lord X.” As you can imagine this sets the ball rolling with the ensuing complications and pure laugh out loud comedy as he tries to hold it all together with much success.
The pace of this film, the masterful comedy and colourful character realisations make it, along with other hits in Billy Wilder’s collection of other films of this genre, a riotous triumph of pure entertainment at its best. The film stands out as perfect vehicles for rom com story-telling with both an eye for the ludicrous as well as a certain heart-warming sweetness so often lost in more modern equivalents.
There's one moment that hints at the great musical this could have been, when the district's local bar Chez Moustache erupts into dance, and Jack Lemmon soft shoe shuffling and Shirley MacLaine swinging from the chandelier in ecstasy, and it almost feels like Billy Wilder has some kind of agenda we cannot quite work out. We are left to wonder what Vincente Minnelli might have done with this part of the film.
Initially, the film displays a remarkably progressive attitude for a 1963 Hollywood production, portraying prostitution as an acceptable career choice sans judgement. Nestor Patou comes off as a regressive figure, his jealousy and wish to have exclusive ownership of Irma while offering her nothing tangible in return making him far from likeable. The final straw comes when Nestor Patou strikes out at Irma La Douche in a fit of rage, and even Jack Lemmon's charisma can't make him that appealing at this stage and what was Billy Wild’s thinking?
‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ began life as a French stage musical, which later became a hit both in the West End and on Broadway. The decision to transfer it to the screen minus its song and dance numbers is a real head-scratcher. Let's face it, the number of musicals that work because of their storylines could probably be counted on one hand, and with no musical sequences to liven it up, ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ is sadly little more than a second-rate bedroom farce. But despite this I still enjoyed the film, despite the help of Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.
One thing that stands in favour and charm for the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ is its luscious production design, that was recreated on a Hollywood backlot, and the Parisian quarter in which the story plays out is a spectacle for the eyes, bordered by gorgeous matte paintings.
‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ is the classic Billy Wilder film, Jack Lemmon who drives nearly all the comedy, although there is also a good subtle comedy character actor performance from Lou Jacobi as Monsieur Moustache, the cafe owner across the way from the bordellos. ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ is an undisputed classic, and it is a wonderful piece of theatre comedy. It was a wise move by Billy Wilder not to make it a comedy musical but a film, despite its long length, it has longevity. By the way, wait until the very end of the film, where we get a typical tongue in cheek Billy Wilder ending that maybe very confusing, but when Monsieur Moustache, the cafe owner plays with his moustache, looks at the cameras and says, “That’s another story,” it is up to you to decide whether you get the joke.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – EUREKA! Entertainment presents us the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ with a beautiful Technicolor 1080p image and is of course enhanced with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The actual film itself looks totally delicious with that pleasing film softness and vibrant colours beautifully showcased on this Blu-ray release and especially Irma La Douce’s wonderful luscious green outfit that really stands out. Details in the busy backgrounds are easy to discern, lush black levels anchor the image, and no digital anomalies are present. There was no noticeable damage from dust spots or drying marks and it's a visual treat all over. All things considered, it’s hard to imagine this Billy Wilder classic looking any better than it does here. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – EUREKA! Entertainment brings us the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ brings us one standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience and has lost none of its clarity or perhaps that clarity has been enhanced in the restoration process, although the start of the film with the composed music was not very smooth and sounded very scratchy. Andre Previn's lively composed film score throughout the film has a really satisfactory dynamic range, although the film score and soundtrack rarely take advantage of the more modern systems we are used to but then that's to be expected, but at least you can hear every clear words spoken by the actors. So all in all, this is a really good audio experience.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Stunning 1080p presentation from a brand new 4K restoration
Audio Commentary by Critic and Film Historian Kat Ellinger: Critic and Film Historian Kat Ellinger is a huge fan of director Billy Wilder and her mission for this commentary is to acknowledge Billy Wilder's transgressive nature and how he pushed and pushed when it came to the restrictive Hays Code, with Hollywood's somewhat ridiculous “guidelines” for avoiding moral turpitude in films. Two of Kat Ellinger’s personal favourite comments were that women in love scenes had to have one foot on the floor and it was forbidden for actors to kiss while horizontal! In 1963 the U.S.A. cinema had some catching up to do when it came to presenting more risqué material. Kat Ellinger links, of all people, independent sexploitation auteur Russ Meyer with Billy Wilder in terms of their risk-taking. The actress Tura Satana plays a prostitute in ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and was her film debut and stakes a claim, to independent immortality. Both Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine get their fair share of appreciation. Prostitution is examined with the two ways of presenting it on film is through the fallen woman or the celebrant. Kat Ellinger also talks about Billy Wilder as a gigolo in his early days in Europe, which has been featured before in other Blu-ray releases. Billy Wilder's appreciation of fellow director Ernst Lubitsch is examined as is Hal Wallis's letter of outrage regarding the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and he could not believe that Billy Wilder could have been so depraved to have made it! Eventually Kat Ellinger, who is so vacuous and just rambles on about of nothing interest. So at this point I was maybe with the next audio commentary it will hopefully be vastly more interesting and intelligently more informative. All in all, it is not at all a pleasure to spend a vacuous ignorant boring time with the pathetic annoying Kat Ellinger, who has the most ghastly annoying grinding shrill voice and I cannot understand how EUREKA! Entertainment allowed her to do this pointless audio commentary.
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride: Here Joseph McBride introduces himself and of course is here to talk about the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ that was directed by Billy Wilder, who Joseph McBride informs us that he is ultimate favourite director and finds the film witty, acerbic, and also informs us that Billy Wilder was a former newspaper man in Vienna and Berlin, and also feels that Billy Wilder would always in all his films expose all aspect of human nature, also love, realism and he also had a sentimental outlook, as well as a romantic attitude, but much more in his later films. Joseph McBride feels ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ captures Hollywood and American society attitude at the time, and Billy Wilder said of the film “We’re doing it with taste, and feeling, it will strike a happy medium, between Tennessee Williams and Walt Disney,” and also feels Billy Wilder captures the colourful aspect of prostitution in Paris in the period it was set in, and also feels it is a very racy film, and because of the Hayes Code, had to suggest sexual acts between a man and a woman what was going on, without actually showing it and also feels that at the time of the film’s release, it was extremely frank and honest. Joseph McBride admits to have had a strict old fashioned Catholic upbringing and had tried many times to see the complete ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ film, as certain scenes really offended him to the point of leaving the theatre multiple times and the last time he walked out of the film was at the end when Irma La Douce gives birth in the church and felt that it was very sacra religious and scandalous towards the Catholic church, because of his strict Catholic upbringing, but eventually as he got older, he started to really appreciate Billy Wilder, his films and especially the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and started to get more liberated from his moral upbringing and see life as it really is in a more adult way. Joseph McBride certainly knows his Billy Wilder and is trying to get over the idea that the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ is about our base humanity but is also very sweet at the same time. When Billy Wilder was directing the 1994 film ‘The Front Page,’ Joseph McBride spent a whole day on the set and actually got to interview Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth and I.A.L. Diamond. Joseph McBride was born in in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Joseph McBride mentions the G.K. Chesterton definition of parallax/paradox quote was "the truth standing on its head to get your attention." Joseph McBride makes a good point about how much writers and directors want to impart to an audience and mentions Ernst Lubitsch and “the Lubitsch touch” an oft-quoted mastery of detail, because Billy Wider has worked with this director. Joseph McBride takes a pause over his favourite scene where Jack Lemmon undresses slowly and shyly and puts the dog outside the flat on the landing and has to sleep on the door mat. Joseph McBride notes that there was no sex in 1963, understandable, but he also mentions there's no kissing. Irma La Douce and Nestor Patou share a tender kiss at one hour, one minute and twelve seconds into the film. Joseph McBride talks about Billy Wilder at the height of his game in producing very provocative films and really pushing the boundaries of censorship, especially with films like ‘Double Indemnity,’ ‘The Lost Weekend,’ ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and ‘Ace In A Hole’ which unfortunately was a big box office flop, despite its scandalous scenario. Billy Wilder loved Hollywood and because he was born in Europe, felt he could bridge that wide cultural chasm and make his films totally unique, and bring the Americans into the sophisticated 20th Century with much more realistic aspect of life and the world, especially when it came to sexual discrimination and political corruption, and especially prostitution. Joseph McBride talks about the Hungarian-born Production Designer Alexandre Trauner for the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and feels he is the greatest Production Designer and was invited by Billy Wilder to America to work on the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and feels the set designs are totally spectacular, and Alexandre Trauner has also worked on other Billy Wilder films like ‘The Apartment’ [1960], ‘One, Two, Three’ [1961], ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’ [1970], ‘Fedora’ [1978] and has also worked on John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Joseph Losey's ‘Don Giovanni’ [1979] and Luc Besson's ‘Subway’ [1985]. Alexandre Trauner was always very versatile in his work ethics, and Joseph McBride feels if you really study the set designs of ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ you will see they are really beautiful and very realistic, and also has a forced perspective, especially if you look at the background, and he also did it for the film ‘The Apartment’ where Jack Lemmon worked in the massive office with the massive amounts of desks. Joseph McBride talks about Billy Wilder’s later films, where he shakes up the establishment with his latent romanticism, but at the same time was like a bull in a china shop of American puritanism, especially in the 1940’s and 1950’s in really shaking things up and breaking the rules, especially when it came to censorship, in tackling subjects like madness, alcoholism, sexual crimes, even killings and having sex outside their marriage, and when it came to a film like ‘Some Like It Hot’ it was of course very racy, provocative, especially with men cross dressing with women’s clothes and Marilyn Monroe wearing a certain costume that looed nearly nude. Joseph McBride gives great praise about Cinematographer Joseph LaShelle who made the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ look so beautiful and also worked on a number other brilliant films like ‘Laura’ [1944], ‘My Cousin Rachel’ [1952], ‘Les Misérables’ [1952], ‘The Naked and the Dead’ [1958], ‘The Long, Hot Summer’ [1958], ‘How the West Was Won’ [1962], ‘Barefoot in the Park’ [1967] but also worked on other brilliant Billy Wilder films like ‘The Apartment’ [1960], ‘Kiss Me, Stupid’ [1964] and ‘The Fortune Cookie’ [1966]. Joseph McBride brings up the subject of Billy Wilder was not happy with the finished film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and felt it should have been a play, and would of liked Bridget Bardot to play Irma La Douce because being French and a very pronounced French accent, but Billy Wilder was especially fond of big stars in his films, despite some flaws in his films. On top of all that Joseph McBride really liked the actors Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine as the main actors in ‘IRMA LA DOUCE.’ Joseph McBride points out several female actors that have appeared in Billy Wilder films, like in ‘Some Like It Hot’ and ‘The Apartment.’ At this point, Joseph McBride starts talking about the Billy Wilder films that got scathing and negative reviews of particular films, and especially of the film ‘Kiss Me Stupid’ because it again featured prostitution, whereas I personally thought the film was totally brilliant and especially the brilliant Dean Martin and Kim Novak, but it also showed the negative side of small mid-town rural America at the time the film was made and also flaunting their dirty laundry in public. At this point Joseph McBride goes off in a tangent, in just talking about Billy Wilder and especially when he was able to personally interview Billy Wilder and talking in-depth about his not so successful films and how Billy Wilder was very angry with all the negative critics towards his films, and at that point started to get very disillusioned with Hollywood and not being able to direct anymore films in America, but despite that, kept on writing outlines for more screenplays for future films that Billy Wilder wanted to direct. As we get near to the end of this audio commentary with Joseph McBride, starts talking about other aspects of Billy Wilder and nothing at all about ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and sort of started rambling about nothing of any interest to me, but despite this, the audio commentary in general was still very interesting and was definitely a hundred times more intelligent than the ghastly audio commentary by the atrocious and ghastly Kat Ellinger’s vacuous audio commentary.
Special Feature: Interview with Film Scholar Neil Sinyard [2019] [1080p] [2.35:1 / 1.78:1] [26:53] Here we get to meet Film Scholar Neil Sinyard and gives us an in-depth detail running synopsis about the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and also comments on Billy Wilder saying in other interviews that he initially felt the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ “it didn't work” for some unknown reason, felt it was a very strange comment and in Cameron Crowe [American director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author, and actor] and his book entitled “Conversations with Wilder” where Hollywood's legendary and famously elusive director Billy Wilder agrees for the first time to talk extensively about his life and work and again commented that he felt the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ “it didn't work,” because Billy Wilder felt the film was too broad and didn’t like the idea of foreign characters, mainly American actors appearing in Paris and speaking with an American accent and things like that in general and again it really puzzled Neil Sinyard with those comments in the book and again Neil Sinyard feels the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ in not quite up there with other Billy Wilder films and again to say ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ does not work is quite extraordinary, especially as the film made £25.000.000 on its first release and was one with two other films at the top of the money making films released behind ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘The Longest Day,’ and ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ was a massive box office success, and was Billy Wilder’s last big box office success, but despite this, went onto to make seven other films, that were sadly not box office success, and again Neil Sinyard still comments on why Billy Wilder gave such negative comments about the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE,’ because when Neil Sinyard with an audience watching that film, they thoroughly enjoyed it, because it was about true life. Neil Sinyard brings up that naïve innocence in regards to the ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ film is something that attracts the experienced but an aspect that will be inevitably eroded by contact with the said experienced. Neil Sinyard points out that ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ was based on the 1956 French musical by Alexandre Breffort and the music was composed by Marguerite Monnot, so far drastic measures Billy Wilder cut out all the songs to move film score by the brilliant André Previn and felt it was really beautiful. Neil Sinyard also informs us about André Previn, who worked on four Billy Wilder films like ‘One, Two, Three,’ ‘Kiss me Stupid,’ ‘The Fortune Cookie’ and of course ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and André Previn really enjoyed working with Billy Wilder. Neil Sinyard gest onto the subject of casting for the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and the first choice for the character Moustache was Charles Laughton, but sadly had to decline because of his massive cancer and had not long to live, but luckily the next actor they chose for Moustache was Lou Jacobi. For the roll of Irma la Douce, again Bridget Bardot and Marilyn Monroe were considered, and even Elizabeth Taylor was muted to play Irma la Douce, but the film ‘Cleopatra’ got in the way, but eventually Billy Wilder to have his two main favourite actors Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine to reprise their roles again, but of course with two totally different characters. But what Billy Wilder likes in his films are characters with a theme of disguise and they appeared a lot of Billy Wilder films and they included ‘Midnight,’ ‘The Major and The Minor,’ ‘Fedora,’ ‘Five Graves To Cairo,’ ‘Some Like It Hot’ and of course ‘IRMA LA DOUCE.’ When it came to French critics and their reviews of ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ and how they were struck by the setting of Paris and were totally mesmerized by the colourful and realistic sets and it is quite a shock to find out that director Jean Luc Godard was entranced by the film because of its tenderness and the striking Technicolor image. When Billy Wilder hired Jack Lemmon, they were both had a really close friendship and Billy Wilcer also thought Jack Lemmon was his lucky charm, because of the number of films that Jack Lemmon appeared in those particular Billy Wilder films, but unfortunately Jack Lemmon appeared in five other Billy Wilder films which were not very big box office success. We find out that in Shirley MacLaine’s autobiography, that she did a lot of research into prostitution for her character Irma la Douce, and interviewed a lot of French prostitutes and again in the autobiography goes into great detail and about the reality of their job, and in certain scenes in ‘IRMA LA DOUCE,’ does what the French prostitutes did in real life on the streets of Paris and Neil Sinyard feels Shirley MacLaine was very convincing in here character as Irma la Douce, but the comedic side of the film belongs to Jack Lemmon, especially 80% of the film, and Shirley MacLaine has hardly an comic scenes in the film and that is why Neil Sinyard thinks the film works perfectly and that also why audiences found empathy with the film and its characters, and at that point the interview with Neil Sinyard abruptly. Basically, Neil Sinyard, clearly is a fellow devotee of the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE,’ and notes that eighty per cent of the comedy is delivered by Jack Lemmon but when Shirley MacLaine has a chance to shine she does so with some brilliant delivery. So all in all, this interview with Neil Sinyard is really enjoyable and very informative and is well worth viewing.
Theatrical Trailer [1933] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:52] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘IRMA LA DOUCE.’ The majority of this trailer is basically presented as a 2D cell animation with some very imaginative versions of the actors in question. It essentially explains the plot and the milieu very much like the Louis Jordan voice over at the start of the actual feature. All in all it is very colourful theatrical trailer that really entices you to view the actual film. It is narrated by Paul Frees.
PLUS: A very interesting Collector’s 40 page booklet featuring a new 2018 essay by Richard Combs entitled BILLY WILDER and IRMA LA DOUCE. VIEWING NOTES. BLU-RAY CREDITS. On top of all that we get a wide selection of rare black-and-white archival imagery. Plus lots of colourful cinema posters.
Finally, ‘IRMA LA DOUCE’ was of course directed by Billy Wilder, and to most critics, they felt the film was unfunny, minor, one-tracked, silly, a very dated romantic-comedy, and centres around Gallic naughtiness that has little redeeming social value, lots of sentimentality, and a caustic humour that’s done in by its soft-hearted cynicism. It’s based on the popular 1956 French stage musical by Alexandre Breffort (the songs are removed, but later Broadway returned them for its hit show with a British cast) and co-written by Billy Wilder and his regular collaborator I.A.L. Diamond. Andre Previn won the Oscar for Best Music Score. The film became Billy Wilder’s biggest grossing film of the 1960s, and the film itself was the fourth biggest grossing film of 1963. The exterior shots were filmed in Paris but all the interior shots were filmed on the Sam Goldwyn lot in Hollywood, where Alexander Trauner designed an authentic Parisian red-light district. The barbs against “bourgeois hypocrisy” had no punch, all the brashness is reduced to typical clichés, and though the saucy French soufflé has a few tasty moments it mostly sinks into being tasteless fare served up as an American tourist version of what a Paris tart is supposed to be like, despite this, I still liked the film, especially having the collaboration between Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
