5 comments about Irma La Douce.

1. SINCE I WAS A CHILD, WHEN WATCHED THIS FILM IN TV, I DREAMT OF BUYING A COPY IN THE FUTURE.
   FINALLY GOT IT AND IS REALLY A TREASURE LIKE THE BEST OF THE BOOKS, THAT YOU CAN SEE MANY TIMES WITHOUT GETTING BORED.
   
   ESCELLENT MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



2. In an attempt to recapture the magic of The Apartment, director Billy Wilder reassembled the stars of that film, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, in an adaptation of a popular musical -- and promptly removed the music. The result was Irma La Douce, a film that has been mostly forgotten my modern movie lovers even though it was a huge box-office success in 1963 (earning more than The Great Escape and The Birds combined!).
   
   Part of the reason for the obscurity of Irma La Douce may be its highly contrived and mostly unbelievable plot. Jack Lemmon plays Nestor Patou, a Parisian policeman who falls in love with streetwalker Irma La Douce ("Irma the sweet") after arresting her (and losing his job in the process). Taken by him as well, Irma (MacLaine) takes Nestor on as her live-in "fellow" (read: pimp).
   
   But Nestor is an insecure, jealous man, and he instantly schemes to replace her customers with a single one of his own -- one rich enough that she won't have to see any others. So he dresses up as "Lord X" a British millionaire and spends his nights working several jobs to produce the cash for the role. Then Irma's ex-fellow almost sees Nestor changing from his costume, but thinks he's witnessed a murder....
   
   The real appeal of Irma La Douce is in how Lemmon and MacLaine genuinely seem to like each other. One could easily imagine a relationship blossoming between them, and that is the key to believing in these characters.
   
   Wilder himself has called the film a "failure" (see Conversations with Wilder by Cameron Crowe), mostly due to the fact that his actors, though playing native Parisians, speak with their own accents. But their fans will not care because, though it does not come close to the quality of its predecessor, Irma La Douce is one of Wilder's most purely engaging films, even during the slow spots. Jack Lemmon has a lot of fun with his dual role, and Shirley MacLaine has never been sexier!
   
   (Keep an eye out for a walk-on by the young James Caan, in his film debut as a soldier.)



3. Is there any denying how beautiful Shirley MacLaine was in this film?
   
   I just finished watching Irma La Douce with my wife, over dinner. It's a delightful comedy, also starring Jack Lemmon as a clean police officer, who raids a den of prostitution, is fired for his trouble, and then falls in love with one of the prostitutes. Jealous of all her clients, he concocts a scheme to dress up as an English Lord ("Lord X"), so as to monopolize all her time. His best-laid plan of course goes astray, but love wins out in the end.
   
   I first watched this movie when about 9 or 10 years old, and had a crush on Shirley MacLaine as a result. She is just...luscious. The full implications of the prostitution were of course lost on me at the time.
   
   This film is definitely worth a watch...a great old-fashioned comedy.



4. One character in "Irma La Douce" describes the love between Jack Lemmon's sad sack and Shirley MacLaine's heart-of-gold streetwalker as "cute". Herein lies my problem with the film. I liked it, though it was a little overlong, but I was expecting something a little edgier from director Billy Wilder and his co-scenarist I.A.L. Diamond. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they were adapting someone else's work instead of creating something original. Lemmon and MacLaine still have that distinct chemistry but it's not as apparent as it was in Wilder's masterwork, "The Apartment". One pronounced credit to the film is the hilarious turn by Lou Jacobi as Moustache, Lemmon's mentor and dispenser of advise. Not a bad film but I would behoove you to check out Jules Dassin's "Never on Sunday" with Melina Mercouri which covers similar territory as "Irma La Douce" but with infinitely better results.



5. Yet another Billy Wilder smash hit, `Irma La Douce' pits the wonderfully charming Shirley MacLaine against the hilariously witty Jack Lemmon in a comedy that is every bit as smart as it is unforgettable. This is one of those comedies that sneaks up on you, getting better and better as the film progresses onward to its end, and then the ending is one that takes you for a loop and makes you reevaluate your whole understanding of the film.
   
   It's just wonderfully constructed from beginning to end.
   
   The film tells the story of Nestor Patou, a policeman in Paris who happens to take the law seriously. Unluckily for Nestor, he's the only law-abiding citizen in his district, and when his clean and polished ways rub the police chief the wrong way he finds himself without a job. After a chance encounter with a young street walker named Irma and her pimp leaves him the talk of the town though, Nestor finds that the law may not be his friend, but his new life seems to fit him just perfect. That is until his emotional attachment to Irma gets in the way of her line of work, and soon he finds himself battling with her every step of the way.
   
   `Irma La Douce' is a genuine comedy that is sweet and engaging despite its questionable subject matter. This is never played in a perverse way but used as light fun for the audience. As we watch Nestor try his hardest to keep Irma from `working' we fall in love with his efforts, for his care for her is genuine and sincere. As we watch their relationship totter because of his loving deceit we feel for them both because we want them to stay together.
   
   The acting is superb here, especially on the parts of the two leads. Lemmon and MacLaine have proven they are outstanding together (just watch them melt together in Wilder's equally marvelous `The Apartment') and here they take that chemistry to new heights, finding a beautiful balance between adoration and commitment. This is seen in the wonderful scenes with Irma and Lord X (Nestor's alter ego). There is such warmth present in those scenes as we witness Irma and Nestor growing closer by means of a medium.
   
   This is not Wilder's best work, but it is yet another slam dunk in my opinion. It's witty and fresh (thank god they cut the stage musicals singing routines) and it is entertaining to the very end. It will leave you guessing and keep you hooked, and in the end will have you wanting to take the ride all over again.

No comments about Bob and Margaret, Vol. 6: Holiday.

No comments about Pikes Peak Country.

No comments about Garmin Gps Map: 420s & 450s 430s 440s 530s 540s.

1 comments about Christmas Tree.

1. This is a great Christmas movie, especially for little ones. My brother and I always talk about this movie around Christmas and I'm so glad I could find a copy of it.

5 comments about Halloween - Television Version (Limited Edition).

1. This film is often hailed as Carpenter's masterpiece. Though it isn't (that would be Assault on Precinct 13), it is, nevertheless, one of the greatest slasher films ever made. People also often wrongly state that Halloween is the first slasher film ever made. Not so. There were many Italian slashers before it, including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Twitch of the Death Nerve.
   
   The mood and pacing of this film are nearly flawless. The soundtrack is classic. What many don't know is that Carpenter based the theme song to Halloween off of Goblin's theme song from Argento's Deep Red, which was in turn inspired by Tubular Bells from Friedkin's The Exorcist. Though the film takes place in Illinois, it was filmed in California, as evidenced by the trunks of palm trees seen in people's front yards. Further, though the film is set in the fall, it was filmed during springtime. Carpenter had a bunch of fake dead leaves that they would throw in the front yard of the house they were filming at. When they switched houses they would have to gather up all the fake leaves and move them!
   
   By the way, the mask that Michael Myers wears was a William Shatner mask that they somewhat altered. Shatner has since said that he does not appreciate being referred to as "evil incarnate." The crew of the film referred to Myers as "The Shape," implying that he is, as implied in the films, a supernatural force and not a human being.



2. Thirty years later and this horror classic is still as scary as ever. In the Hollywood horror genre today over-run with blood and gore, it is refreshing to take a break and return to the old school when horror films where truly (and still can be) scary. There are many devices that has made Halloween a success. Number one is Michael Myers, perhaps one of the most memorable horror villains of all time. There is no motive for his actions. He seems to kill without cause - an emotion-less villain who has never spoken a word almost his entire life. One moment he appears out of nowhere, glaring from a distance, and the next moment, he's gone. No matter how fast his victims run, Michael is always right behind, ready to make the kill, stabbing his victims with his trademark kitchen knife.
   
   Audio is one of the most important elements that can determine the success of a horror film, and above all else, John Carpenter's Halloween theme sets the tone all too well. Even at the opening credits the theme begins, instantly placing the viewer into a creepy horror state of mind. Slight variations of this simple theme are constant throughout the film, adding tension and suspense, and progressing scenes along nicely that might have seemed longer otherwise.
   
   The usual weak dialouge and acting are certainly present here, as in most horror films, but I can't say it takes away from the fun, as it is to be expected (especially from a film made 30 years ago). Jamie Lee Curis does a memorable enough performance as her charcater Laurie, the babysitter who Michael has targeted on Halloween. Donal Pleasance does a decent job as Dr. Loomis, a man who basically becomes obsessed (and has every right to) on taking down Michael Myers. The remainder of the cast is unimpressive, but serve up well as Michael's victims.
   
   Halloween has spawned off 7 sequals and even a recent remake. Though they don't match up to this original, it says enough that Halloween has become a popular sucess. I wish I could say for a movie that is 30 years old, it might be difficult for first time viewers today to appreciate, but the fact remains that this is from a different era of horror, a time when good horror films presented us with "less is more" Halloween is the perfect demonstration. There is less blood, less gore, less violence, and we know almost nothing of Michael's background, and the end result can be truly scary when we are not given details and must deal with the unknown.
   
   Acting - 2.5
   Characters - 4
   Horror - 4.5
   Music - 5
   Story - 4
   Overall - 4.5



3. I grew up with this film in its various incarnations on home video. And, yes, i probably own it in practically every format. But this version really packs a punch. It is really spectacular to see the crisp images from such a gritty film. You would never know this movie is now 30 years old by the Blu-ray transfer. The only element that was somewhat disappointing is that I noticed the audio dropping out occasionally, probably due to imperfections from the original mono source. Otherwise, you will find new details in this film that you never noticed before on this great hi-def version!!!



4. You cant beat the original Halloween! It is fantastic, has a wonderful theme song that gets stuck in your head! Watch this classic horror film with Jamie Lee Curtis in it!



5. Guess, I'll finally weigh in on this one. Halloween is a perfect product of it's time and the fact that it was actually scary allows it to continue to live on all these years later. The cast is perfectly awkward, the scares numerous, the soundtrack exceptional, and the nostalgia brilliant. Every year, after we've killed -- er, I mean fed --the last trick-or-treaters, we settle in for this fabulous, low-budget gem. It deserves it's status among fright films.

5 comments about Lady Day - The Many Faces of Billie Holiday.

1. This Billie Holiday album was like a ray of light to me when I first listened to it! It's so inspiring! You can see why so many artists of today are influenced by it! The music really took me to the borderline. I thank my lucky star that this album came along.



2. If you are interested in the (ever fashionable) approach to Jazz, via the contemporary interpretation of the social environment in which the Jazz artists created, then there is a good chance you may like this DVD.

   However, if real footage is what you are after, this DVD may well disappoint you too. In this latter case I strongly suggest you spend your money on "The Ladies Sing the Blues" DVD.

   Being interested in a combination of real footage and adept commentary I got disappointed on both ends. In the whole DVD, there are at most three incomplete songs where Lady Day actually sings, yet there are a few too many (poor taste) instances when her voiced dubs some disconnected Jazz players/dancers. As well, in addition to some general socio-historical vignettes, I found the commentary to be just a suite of encomiums with no critical side to it.




3. This documentary, released concurrently with a hard-cover book of the same name in 1991, is a brief but highly accurate overview of the life and art of Billie Holiday. The book, with text by Robert O'Meally, contains literally hundreds of rare photographs, and a good deal of these are liberally sprinkled throughout the film. But ultimately, it is the sparsely produced but flawlessly executed narrative of her life and craft that make this DVD stand out among the few biographical pieces that have been released about the great Lady Day.
   
   The film contains interviews with several of Billie's closest friends and the musicians who worked with her. The insight provided by fellow jazz-singers and friends Carmen McRae and Annie Ross is indeed enlightening, but it is the observances of her fellow musicians, Mal Waldron, Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, as well as particularly eloquent comments by writer and jazz historian Albert Murray, that make this documentary particularly illuminating. There are snatches of Billie's greatest recordings, which consist of excerpts that illustrate exactly what was so unique about Lady's genius, often accompanied by explanations of what made her music so important, or perfectly timed clips of jazz audiences and dancers of the day, reveling in the music. At one point, trumpet player Harry Edison remarks that Billie was a jazz musician, in the way that she used her voice and, "attacked the words and could swing just like a trumpet player". His comment is immediately followed by a brief clip of her 1936 recording of "I Can't Give you Anything But Love" (with Teddy Wilson and his band) in which she exactly emulates the sound of that instrument with her voice. Albert Murray and Sweets Edison carefully explain, once and for all, that Billie was not a blues singer, but a jazz singer - the very best jazz singer, while Buck Clayton, Carmen McRae and Mal Waldron clarify that Billie was the first vocalist to use her voice dramatically, change the melody and phrasing of songs to fit her mood, and improvise on written music to create a form of art that was as original as it was unique. They make you understand that Billie Holiday literally influenced every singer that came after her; this film makes it possible for someone with little prior knowledge of her, or her craft, to understand exactly why she was such an important and influential figure in both popular music and jazz singing. Simply put, Billie Holiday changed the way singers sang songs, and this film articulates this fact with vivid clarity.
   
   The film goes out of its way (as does the book) to correct some of the more glaring inaccuracies in her biography, and does not flinch from the somewhat sordid and sensational details of her tragically short and pain-filled life. At the same time, the portrait is one of someone who certainly did enjoy their life to the fullest despite tragedy, and Billie is revealed as the basically happy and cheerful (if often abused) person that she really was. Throughout we hear actress Ruby Dee read some of the more accurate portions of Billie's "autobiography" - Lady Sings the Blues, a book she didn't write, and probably never even read.
   
   Also worthy of note are the contributions of producer Milt Gabler, who relates the story behind Billie's biggest hit, "Lover Man", which he produced for Decca Records in 1944. There is also a well-orchestrated and effective buildup to the song "Strange Fruit", the social and political aspects of which are carefully explained by Milt Gabler (who labels it, "the first important protest song"). He relates that Columbia Records refused to record it, for fear of "bad press and boycotts" by their Southern dealers. Annie Ross says, "I knew it was banned, and I knew WHY it was banned", while Carmen McRae simply states, "that was just straight up facts, you know, the way it was in those days" while they all express their admiration for Billie and her brave stance as an African American, who dared to sing a song about lynching in the pre-civil rights era of 1939. The discussion is followed by a late clip of Billie, looking absolutely radiant, singing the song before a television audience, while accompanied by Mal Waldron on piano. The expressions and drama etched on her face while she runs through the powerful lyrics, ("Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves, and blood at the root; black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees") right through the dramatic climax, ("...for the sun to rot, for the tree to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop") make this video a potent testament to her amazing valor and artistic perfection.
   
   There are other rare and wonderful (if much too brief) video clips of Billie Holiday at her best, and sometimes, at the stark and shocking end of her life. One clip begins with a particularly sickly, ghostly looking Billie, her appearance nothing less than alarming, but as the clip progresses we realize that poor video quality, combined with an unflattering camera angle and bad lighting, make her look far worse than she really did. A moment later the camera switches angles, and with relief we see that she is far more elegant and healthy-looking than she appears at the onset of the clip.
   
   We also get brief scenes of her only film, New Orleans, with Louis Armstrong, made in 1947. While Billie sings the song "The Blues Are Brewin'", the close-ups give us a rare glimpse into what it must have been like to experience the real Billie Holiday; she sings the words, "...suppose you want somebody, but you ain't got nobody, you only got a gleam in your eye...", and her expressions are absolutely brilliant. There is not only a gleam in her eye, there is a wrinkle in her brow, a lilt in her gestures and contractions in her facial muscles that, all combined, communicate a range of feeling and a show of expression that lesser singers could never hope to convey. Priceless.
   
   The climax of the film is the celebrated clip of her singing her composition, "Fine and Mellow" from the famous 1956 television special, The Voice of Jazz. Accompanied by several of her peers in the jazz world, including Ben Webster, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge and Gerry Mulligan, the cameraman wisely chose to concentrate on Billie's face, even as the soloists took their individual turns, and we get a delightful look of Billie playfully nodding her head in time with the beat, appreciation for the talents of her fellow musicians clearly showing in her eyes and motions.
   
   Some viewers have expressed disappointment by the fact that more video clips of Billie are not presented here, forgetting that (unfortunately) there are very few video records remaining of her performances. I believe I have now seen, through this and the other available videos, most of her surviving video performances, and this film does contain some of the very best of them. But the inclusion of those few precious video clips notwithstanding, it is the explanation of Billie's art and the clear articulation of her genius that make this documentary so gratifying.
   
   As the film closes on the story of her life, Albert Murray comments that, in the end, it is, "the eloquence, the universality of her statement that matters" most, while Carmen McRae reflects that, although much of Billie's voice was gone by the time she recorded "Lady in Satin", there was something about her voice, even then, that could evoke intense feeling, and Miss McRae says she still plays that album, and cries. Over the credits, we hear a few bars of "I'm A Fool To Want You" from Lady in Satin, and we instantly know exactly why Carmen McRae found it so moving.
   
   Highly recommended.



4. It is great to have a digital standard bio of such a great Lady...



5. This is the first music of Billie Holiday's that I have ever bought. It was beautiful, and I will treasure this CD always. She is such a singer that pulls at your heartstrings as you listen.

No comments about Jacques Pepin's Thanksgiving Celebration.

No comments about Secrets of the Sonoran Desert.

5 comments about A Christmas Carol (50th Anniversary Edition).

1. Amazon seems to have mixed up the reviews, so I will say that I am writing about the 1999 DVD of Alistair Sim's A Christmas Carol as released by VCI. I also have the 2007 release, and this 1999 disc is MUCH more enjoyable. Not a perfect transfer of the movie, but good enough to get lost in and revel in Sim's and all the other actors' marvelous performances.
   
   Avoid the 2007 2-disc set at all costs.



2. This is by far the best version of A Christmas Carole out there. Black and White all the way!



3. Be careful what you're buying here. Pictured is a 30 minute animated version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with the VOICE of Alistair Sim. But read the other reviews and you'll discover that they're describing the live-action 1951 version in which Alastair Sim played Scrooge also. Both are great films. If you want the animated version, do an Amazon search using the two principle voices as your search criteria: "Alastair Sim Michael Redgrave".



4. In December 1845 Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol was first published. Many consider it the best short story (70 pages) ever written. There have been more film versions of A Christmas Carol than any other story, the latest has Micheal Moore as Scrooge. This version in B&W is by far the best. Other reviews praise the style and narrative of this version, and miss the fact that this is the story word for word as Dickens wrote it. Dickens like Shakespeare is best in his own words. Alastair Sim heads a great cast, Even death is the best one ever done. I have watched this movie on TV, DVD, and VCR, every Christmas Eve since the late 50's when it first came out on TV. (except the two Christmases I spent in Viet Nam) It's as much a part of my Christmas as a Christmas tree, and the best story of redemption ever written.
   The only suggestion I have to improve the movie is read the story then watch the movie.



5. Very good adaptation on film for of this classic book written by Ch. Dickens but I think there are more adaptations much better as release.