Wer war die Dame?

I'd always wanted to check out this well-regarded if rarely-seen comedy – for the record, some years back I missed out on its sole Italian TV screening (that I know of). For Tony Curtis, it meant something of a follow-up to the classic SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) – where he's forced, with his co-star (in this case, Dean Martin), to pass himself off as something he isn't (an F.B.I. agent), leading to misunderstanding, various complications and imminent danger.

Similarly, a female is involved in the shenanigans (Curtis' on and off-screen wife Janet Leigh) though, here, the whole ruse starts off because of her: Chemistry Professor Curtis' fling with a female student is discovered by his jealous wife, so he turns for help to his best pal – TV writer Martin – who procures him with papers (and a gun) denoting his Bureau affiliations; Leigh is finally convinced of this and, soon after, is contacted by a real F.B.I. operative (James Whitmore) who uses her to keep track of just what Curtis and Martin are up to!

One of the highlights of the film is the extended yet splendid incident in a restaurant: Leigh accepts Curtis' excuse to go on the town with Martin, believing it to be another federal job – but, in her over-eagerness to help, effectively blows his cover…which then lands the F.B.I. itself in hot water! The biggest trouble, however, is that enemy agents take the two men to be the real deal and kidnap them (and Leigh) in order to extract vital information they believe Curtis is in possession of! The aftermath of this sequence is again hilarious as, dazed by the drug he's been given, Curtis thinks they've been taken to a Russian sub and persuades Martin to flood it…but it transpires that they're in the basement of the Empire State Building!

The script (adapted by Norman Krasna – who also produced – from his own play) balances witty dialogue with inspired zany situations, which are then delightfully put across by an excellent cast. Both male stars, in fact, were already adept at this type of thing (crooner Martin also sings the title tune), but Leigh surprisingly proves a fine comedienne in her own right: it's a pity that her marriage to Curtis was crumbling by this time which is doubly ironic given the film's plot, but they were professional enough not to let the real cracks show in their performances.

Although the premise first hearing about it and reading it didn't exactly grab me and didn't sound plausible for a minute, the star power did attract me enough to see 'Who Was That Lady' anyway. Also had heard the title song beforehand, sung by none other by Dean Martin, and was quite impressed. Tony Curtis, Dean Martin and Janet Leigh's careers were all hit and miss but they were always likeable enough and always did their best regardless of what was thrown at them.

Which is the case here with 'Who Was That Lady'. Can definitely see why the reviews here are mixed, with some really liking it and others being indifferent. Everybody is not at their finest and did have better material, but it doesn't waste them either. As for me myself, my opinion is somewhere in between, finding enough to enjoy but not really loving it and wishing that it could have been more. With it not starting off all that promisingly but it got better.

The story is very thin at times and is often very implausible and a little more complicated than it needed to be (even for a concocted story between characters intended to be that way). It could have gotten going quicker.

In terms of the writing, 'Who Was That Lady' did in my view at times try too hard for laughs, meaning some of the material is strained. While everything with the Russians is quite fun to watch and suspenseful, the film feels like a different film towards the end. Going from frothy romantic comedy to thriller.

However, the glossy production values are skillfully done. The music has energy and charm and the title song is vintage Martin, which will be a delight if a fan of him (have personally always loved his voice). The direction becomes more at ease when the film gets going and the dialogue has plenty of wit and is very amusing in many parts. The restaurant scene is a joy and very memorable.

Curtis is likeable and has strong comic timing, while over-eager at times. Leigh is charm personified and brings a lot of vitality to a role that's fairly thankless and plot device-like. Martin works very well with Curtis and amuses. The chemistry between Curtis and real-life wife at the time Leigh are sweet without being too sugary, one would not have guessed that they were apparently having marital problems at that point. James Whitmore is enjoyably subtle and Larry Storch steals his scenes even if his character seemed as if it was lifted from another film.

Summing up, quite enjoyable though am a little mixed on what my thoughts are. 6/10

When Janet Leigh interrupts assistant chemistry professor husband Tony Curtis at work she finds him in the arms of a female student ,and promptly sets about leaving him and petitioning for divorce .He turns in desperation to his friend -a TV scriptwriter played by Dean Martin.Together they concoct a story that he is an FBI agent whose romantic activity was all in the line of duty .Somewhat implausibly she believes the far fetched tale and the marriage is once again set fair.Or it would be but for unexpected complications--the real FBI are not amused by the deception;Martin siezes upon the deception as a cover for his serial womanising and some foreign spies believe Curtis and Martin may have secrets they can use.It builds to a frantic climax deep in the bowels of the Empire State Building, The movie has pace and this is what sustains interest for the script is pretty feeble -thin to the point of anorexia.The movie zips along briskly enough to paper over the cracks in the script and while rarely laugh out loud this is a genial and engaging comedy very much of its period in its attitudes to women who are here confined to domesticity and looking good.

Strong performances all round with James Whitmore especially good as an ulcer ridden FBI man and John mcIntyre as his superior.

This is a fairly well made comedy; engaging and fairly lightweight, it would be quite forgettable were it not for Janet Leigh's somewhat animated performance. It is not that the other leads did anything bad, they just didn't do anything exceptional here. Janet Leigh was at the time married to Tony Curtis and this would be the last of five films they made together. In a case of art imitating life (or vice versa) her marriage was almost certainly in trouble by this stage; she was divorced from Tony Curtis about two years later.

I'm just watching this film again on UK TV, broadcast on 'Sony Movies Classic'. The transfer from celluloid to video is mostly OK, but my enjoyment is marred by the sound quality; they appear to have used some kind of auto-sound level control in the transfer somewhere, which has the effect of amplifying every tiny sound even when it is meant to be quiet. Another good film wrecked for posterity then...? Not quite, but almost.

Chemistry professor David Wilson (Tony Curtis) gets caught by his wife Ann (Janet Leigh) kissing one of his students. She vows to divorce him. He is distressed and recruits his TV writer friend Michael Haney (Dean Martin) to come up with a story to tell his wife. Michael tells an outrageous tale and Ann surprisingly buys it all.

Times have changed. A cheating husband is no longer so cute. In order to update this, the kiss needs to be shown as all student driven. Only then would anybody root for the couple to reunite. As a comedy of its day, one could see where the fake identity comedy gets its laughs. It works with what it has. Janet Leigh is nowhere near the blonde dimwit that she needs to be. Curtis and Martin are playing it with a wink and a smile. It is a comedy from another time.