Irma la Douce

Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce is an absolute gem. Coming after 'Some Like it Hot' and 'One, Two, Three' and before the similarly undervalued 'Kiss Me, Stupid' it is part of Wilder's most creative period. Shirley Maclaine is perfect as the hooker with the heart of gold and Lemmon is hilarious as the protective lover.

Largely shot in studio, Wilder makes hay with the control that this gives him, with a fabulous market where Lemmon works to keep Irma off the streets.

It is such a joy to see Lou Jacobi in the pivotal role of Moustache. His line delivery cannot be faulted and he is given many of the film's funniest moments.

It is also a joy to watch a great wit like Wilder show us that prostitution is a way of earning a living, not a social problem. May you smile in Heaven, Billy!

Billy Wilder is one of the few masters, and his writing brilliance is on full display in this film about a straight-laced cop who falls for a prostitute, and cooks up an ill-conceived scheme to keep her as his own.

Jack Lemmon was very good at this sort of broad, slapstick comedy, and you can see his influence on other great comedy actors, particularly Tom Hanks. He and Shirley MacLaine generally succeed at reprising their screen chemistry from 'The Apartment'. And Lou Jacobi, in the roll of Moustache, the all-seeing, all-knowing cafe owner, steals the show.

The film has some laugh-out-loud moments, and would be deserving of an 8 or even 9 had Wilder not overcooked the ending. A traditional Shakespeare would have ended 20-30 minutes earlier, the moment when the deception is revealed and the gig is up, however, Wilder decided to milk it, and ultimately, the film jumps the shark with some truly nonsensical and unnecessary plot twists. It's a shame. However, the first two hours contain some great moments, so would ultimately recommend it, especially for Wilder fans.

A policeman, Nestor, falls in love with a prostitute, Irma, but doesn't want her seeing other men. So he creates an alter-ego, a wealthy Englishman, Lord X, who will be her only customer. Seems like a solid enough plan...to him. What could possibly go wrong?

Directed by the great Billy Wilder and written by Wilder and his long-time collaborator I. A. L. Diamond this has all the usual Wilder comedy trademarks: a warm, light-hearted story with intelligent humour and some great one-liners. The subject matter is but more risqué than usual, and would have been pushing the envelope a bit in 1963, but even then Wilder turns the film into something beautiful and funny rather than seedy or salacious.

Another factor is the performances. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine were brilliant together in Wilder's 1960 masterpiece "The Apartment" (which for me is his greatest work). Three years, and two Wilder films, later Wilder pairs them together for this film and the effect is no less spectacular.

Both are perfectly cast and give superb performances. Lemmon is great as Nestor, using his great physical comedy skills to great effect. MacLaine is wonderful as Irma, somehow seeming innocent and fragile while playing a cynical prostitute. She got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.

On a trivia note, watch out for James Caan in his debut performance. He only has about 30 seconds of screentime and one line and goes uncredited.

On the negative side, the film does threaten to degenerate into farce at many points in time. I thought "this is going somewhere silly" on several occasions but to Wilder's credit he pulls it back from the brink on every occasion.

Wilder also doesn't seem to know when to end the story. He overplayed and overextended the Lord X persona too long: it seemed to have reached its natural endpoint but he then kept going with it.

Overall, a great comedy.

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.

In Paris, after six months working with children, the decorated rookie policeman Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon) is assigned to work in the red light district on the Casanova Street, a place crowded of streetwalkers, pimps and corrupt police officers. The honest Nestor, who is naive and strictly by the book, notes the movement of couples in the Casanova Hotel and befriends the prostitute Irma La Douce (Shirley MacLaine) believing that she is a lady. When he discovers that she is also a streetwalker, he calls the central station for a raid in the hotel. However, among the arrested costumers is the corrupt Chief of Police Lefevre (Herschel Bernardi) that has a scheme with the pimps union. Nestor is fired with a dirty record and has difficulties to find a new job; he goes to the bistro of the versatile and experienced Moustache (Lou Jacobi) to drink, and he starts a conversation with Irma La Douce. However, her bully pimp Hippolyte (Bruce Yarnell) fights against Nestor, but he beats him up. Irma brings Nestor home and he becomes Irma's pimp. However he falls in love for her and he is jealous when she meets a client. He decides to create the wealthy British Lord X to be the only regular client of Irma. But things go wrong when Nestor is jealous of Lord X and decides to end his character.

"Irma la Douce" is a delightful fairytale of the fantastic Billy Wilder, certainly one of the five top-directors of Hollywood ever. Based on a play, this delicious romantic comedy has witty and cynical screenplay and dialogs, supported by the chemistry of the charming and gorgeous Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon, who had worked together three years ago in the masterpiece "The Apartment". Lou Jacobi plays a skilled man in hilarious situations. The lines of Jack Lemmon playing a British lord are very funny. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Irma la Douce"