Phffft

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.

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.

You wanna know why? Cause she doesn't play Judy Holliday.

Normally of all the Holliday films that get bounced around as great, Born Yesterday and It Should Happen to You are usually what gets mentioned. This one, to me, is her best. She actually plays a character that's not the dumb ditzy blonde. There's no trace of the Born Yesterday character in this. I loved it.

There doesn't have to be a whole lot mentioned about Jack Lemmon because...well...he's just great in just about anything he does. This one is no exception. The chemistry between these 2 is pretty amazing. I'm a little surprised they didn't do more films together.

Watch this on a rainy day with an ice cold glass of milk and a box of doughnuts. It's one of those films you'll fall into on the couch and smile when the credits role.

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.

The four stars make a marvelous quadrangle, and the physical comedy is great. My one disappointment is Richard Quine's direction. Lemmon must've liked him because they did at least 3 movies together, but he always seems to be trying to unexplicably extract pathos out of screwball situations, and this technique quickly wears thin. That aside, still a lot of fun.