lasttimeisaw
Billy Wilder's shark-jumping screwball romp set in le quartier rouge of Paris, couples for the second time the riveting pair from THE APARTMENT (1960), Lemmon plays a goofball cop Nestor Patou, only soon to be discharged from his duty by dint of his impetuous intervention of the local sex industry, and becomes a pimp of the numero uno streetwalker, our titular Irma la douce (MacLaine).Poules and their mecs, this is the basic bundle of the oldest profession, Nestor's foolhardiness and knight errantry conquers Irma right on the spot, not to mention that he also physically defeats her abusive (now ex-)pimp Hippolyte the Ox (Yarnell), a set piece reminiscent of the early silent comedy sketches, rough-hewn, clumsy but laboriously funny. So now Nestor is the red-hot new mec, even been elected as the chairman of the MPPA (Mec's Paris Protective Association), but like any man who has his manhood to protect, as much as he loves Irma, and vice versa, he cannot get over the fact that many a customer can share his darling love's company and body for sexual pleasure, and he in fact lives off her for all the income.A highly specious plan has been hatched with the aid of Moustache (Jacobi), the genial proprietor of the bar around the corner, whose past experiences enlivens the story with its running joke "and that's another story" until a pretty nonsensical but zany finish to leave audience in utter astonishment and amusement. What is the plan? Nester disguises himself as an ageing British gentleman Lord X, who will patronize Irma twice a week, each time offers her 500 francs (the money he would borrow from Moustache), so that, Irma doesn't need to see any other customers thanks to the munificent gestures from Lord X, when Irma gives the money to Nestor, he will return the money back to Moustache.Of course, the plan only sounds plausible on paper, the very first time, almost all the 500 has been squandered on champagnes for celebration. In order to earn extra money to pay back to Moustache, Nestor has to sneak out of their flat in the middle of night every day to work in the local food market, dealing with fish, pork, vegetables and fruits, which exhausts him and he must sneak back in the morning before Irma wakes up. That's where the story goes berserk like a folly propelled by absurd incidents and drollness, up to a point, rationality will be completely thrown out of the window.Marvellously, the viewer will not feel too much of being cheated or exasperated by the outright cop-out into a spuriousness-prone farce, mostly owing to two leading stars' comic aptitude, Lemmon engages in with unswerving gusto, from strictly choreographed slapstick to onerous physical labor, to invite audience to stand by him and pat him on the back no matter how ridiculous the story-line unwinds; MacLaine, on the other hand, oozes deadly sexiness in the common working-girl-with-a-golden-heart formula, it is strange that she receives an Oscar nomination while Lemmon misses, the competition in these two categories are usually not on the same level, especially after Hollywood's Golden Age, the quality of female roles has been drastically dwindled ever since. Moreover, Lou Jacobi should have walked away with at least an Oscar nomination for his firmly supportive but equally opportune scene-stealing act.Among Wilder's tremendous body of work, IRMA LA DOUCE doesn't have any single chance to claim best, but instead, it preserves itself in a niche as an odd experiment whose sole objective is to give audience a buzz, and it has accomplished its goal with admirable dash, no one can deny, that's something only can be manufactured with the help of a master-hand and intelligent-mind.
MissSimonetta
I love Billy Wilder, but boy is Irma la Douce a mess...The biggest issues are the length and the confused tone. This film should have been an hour and forty-five minutes tops; two and a half hours with few laughs or charm to offer the audience is just torture. And then there is the issue of the tone. The film does not know what it is: a sexual farce? A romantic comedy? A romantic dramedy? I don't know, and I don't believe the movie knows either! The first hour is full of good things: MacLaine and Lemmon have chemistry and while none of the comedy is particularly hilarious, it is witty and fun for what it is. But the moment we get to the second hour, Lemmon's characterization changes in a most improbable manner and the "funny" parts all fall flat. And did I mention the unnecessarily long run time? The one saving grace of the picture is MacLaine's performance as the titular prostitute, whose lust for life equals her sense of world weariness and soulful poignancy.It's worth one viewing, but it's hard to recommend it to anyone outside of the Wilder, Lemmon, or MacLaine fan base.
Martin Teller
Wilder reunites Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, perhaps an attempt to bring back the magic of THE APARTMENT. A failed attempt. The film is an unfunny, tedious drag. Most of Wilder's comedies run relatively long, but it's a lot more painful when the gags don't hit their mark. Compare this to SOME LIKE IT HOT: both center around an elaborate and rather unbelievable deception, but SLIH works because it's actually funny. Here, the lame slapstick and repetition of the same dumb jokes (if you didn't know the movie was going to end with "but that's another story" then you weren't paying attention the first dozen times it was said) wears thin and gives the viewer time to think about how flimsy the whole setup is. Lemmon's character is a clueless knucklehead, and MacLaine (although adorable as always) just looks bored. Interestingly, the film is adapted from a stage musical, but Wilder chose to cut all the songs. Perhaps they might have lent the project some much-needed charm, or perhaps they would have just made it feel even longer. And perhaps I'm taking it too seriously, but the quaint portrayal of prostitution is a bit objectionable (and besides, MacLaine would do the "hooker with a heart of gold" thing a lot better in SWEET CHARITY). Now don't get me wrong: there are some good moments. I'm already struggling to remember them, but there were definitely a few things that brought a smile to my face (some of the references are pretty clever). The overall experience, however, is a slog -- the worst I've seen from Wilder so far.
Kaveh rezaei noei
after "some like it hot" and "the apartment",i headed for this title just because i believed in Wilder and Lemmon and turned out i wasn't wrong! Lemmon acting is awesome as always. Shirley MacLaine is wonderful. Lemmon shows his talent again with playing in 2 different character. the movie made me laugh about most of the whole time.the movie has a long duration but because of being enjoyable,you can't feel the time.in my point of view this is a third best comedy of Wilder/Lemmon comedies , after some like it hot and the apartment.the bottom line is: if you seen other Wilder and Lemmon movies and you enjoyed,don't miss this! seriously!
