Phffft!

One summer night as a high-school-age teen with nothing to do, I watched this movie on TV. I had never seen Judy Holliday before and I suppose part of my enjoyment of the film was discovering how good she was. I already knew Jack Lemmon was good. I thought the film was funny and delightful from start to finish.

At any rate, a lot of years later, I watched Phffft again, and was very disappointed. I really want to see it a third time, now, because I wonder if I was just in a bad mood, or something. I don't understand how my reaction could be so different. I found it dull and slow-moving, and most surprisingly, not very funny. It also looked kind of cheaply made, and it probably was (cheapness being sort of a hallmark of Columbia Pictures, unless it was a big, important film - and even then, sometimes).

I can usually get into an older film and appreciate the humor based on what was humorous then, but I found a lot of the wit too dated to enjoy, and even at times in bad taste (although nothing like the bad taste of some current movie humor).

I like all four of the main actors a lot, so I'm sorry to report I didn't really get into this listless and rather strained marital comedy this time around.

One reason Judy Holliday fans (of which I am one) are so fervent in their love for the comedienne is that she had mastered timing. In comedy, timing is everything.

Phffft! is an excellent vehicle for Judy to work her magic. The story is pedestrian and the one-liners range from cute to tired. But, in Holliday's capable hands the material takes on new life. Watch her delivery, her pauses, her expressions. All pitch-perfect.

Jack Lemmon is fantastic as well. In this and "It Should Happen To You" he and Judy display a great on-screen comic chemistry. They play off each other very well. Lemmon handles his own scenes in his classic style as well. He was truly a joy to watch.

The film also benefits from excellent support by Jack Carson as Lemmon's best friend/bad influence. Kim Novak makes, I believe, her first major appearance in this movie and does well. She's not as polished as she will later be but her appeal is still quite evident.

For me, the movie gets better with repeated viewings. Always a good sign. The mambo scene between Judy and Jack alone is worth the price of admission! Ole!

If PHFFFT had been made in the '30s or '40s, it would have been done with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur as the couple (or Cary and Irene Dunne). But by 1954, JUDY HOLLIDAY and JACK LEMMON were paired once again (they starred previously in IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU), and proved to be a great comic team with perfect timing and good chemistry.

As it is, the story is a throwback to the '30s and the kind of screwball comedies Grant usually did. George Axelrod's script is about a couple who decide that their married life has become a bore and impulsively seek a divorce. They then settle down to the business of finding another mate and discover that the single life is not exactly a bed of roses.

Lemmon is matched with KIM NOVAK (a blind date arranged by JACK Carson), and Novak gets a chance to glow as an airhead with a Marilyn Monroe air of winsome charm but ditsy manners. She tries hard, but the character seems forced and her attempt to play the simple minded glamor girl comes across as strained and awkward.

But the show belongs to the shenanigans of Holliday and Lemon as they go through the paces of an amusing script with some laugh getting results. However, the material is thin and the ending is a rather predictable one with Judy successfully resisting the advances of JACK Carson and realizing who her own true love really is.

Fans of Holliday and Lemmon should enjoy it, but Kim Novak still had a lot to learn.

I never heard of this movie until I saw it on AMC. It's a funny sex comedy about Oscar-winners Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon realizing they were better off before they divorced. It really hasn't received as much acclaim as Holliday's other comedy, Born Yesterday (winner Best Actress Oscar - 1950) and deserves a video release.

Almost all US sex comedies of the 50's & 60's are dated now by a quaint leering approach to sex & marriage, not to mention the costumes, hair, settings. But the remarriage theme will always be ripe for romantic comedy fun. Here, George Axelrod got his start. He later wrote screenplays for "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter," "Breakfast At Tiffany's," "Goodbye Charlie," and in a dark mood, "The Manchurian Candidate." His style is comparable to Preston Sturges, using wit to slice through the social conventions. Judy Holliday & Jack Lemmon were a wonderful match. Judy could play an "everywoman" to Jack's "everyman" as in "It Should Happen To You." She could surprise & bedevil him with her mix of ditzines & intelligence. Their comic timing together seems effortlessly perfect. This film should be remembered more fondly.