Phffft... e l'amore si sgonfia

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 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!

It's sort of like "The Awful Truth" as re-imagined by a '50s screenwriter with a smutty mind: Married couple divorce, try other partners, reunite. The high-school-boy-giggling-about-sex tone gets pretty heavy, but try to overlook that, because the film has so much to recommend it: New York location filming, early Kim Novak in a small part, and most of all, Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon. Was there ever a greater romantic comedy team? She's hysterically funny and amazingly touching at the same time, and he partners her perfectly. They're even sexy together -- it's not a quality you usually associate with either actor. Watch the "mambo" sequence, with their shifting feelings about each other played out in dance: a classic scene.

I'd rate these two over even Tracy and Hepburn. How sad that they made only two movies together.

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.

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.