Bruce Lee Movie:

Editorial Review:
In 1963, Billy Wilder's Irma La Douce was one of the biggest box-office hits of the year, grossing twice as much as The Great Escape and The Birds. Yet this popular movie has been almost completely forgotten by film history, even to fans of Wilder or stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine (the same trio had made a masterpiece, The Apartment, three years earlier). It doesn't represent the best work of those legends, but Irma provides tart entertainment. At least some of the movie's popularity can be chalked up to its subject, which was pretty risqué for the time: Lemmon plays a Paris policeman who falls in love with a prostitute (MacLaine). The script was adapted from a stage musical, but Wilder decided to cut the songs, instead developing the humor and romance into his own blend of bittersweet perversity; this Technicolor-fantasy Paris is kind of a dark cousin to Gigi. Lemmon is in his prime period of hand-wringing self-doubt, and MacLaine is perfectly in tune with his rhythms, especially in scenes that add tenderness to the sometimes queasy mix of moods. Ironically--given the nixing of the songs--the film won its only Oscar for André Previn's adaptation of the stage play's music into a wordless orchestral score. --Robert Horton

Irma la Douce [Region 2] Reviews:
irma la douce
2009-07-17 - seen this movie when i was in the army back in the early 70"s been looking for it off & on finally found great movie

Hilarious!!
2009-05-04 - I laughed out loud at this screwball comedy. Believable - hell no. Funny - hell yes. That's what comedies are supposed to be - laugh out loud hilarious!

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are just wonderful, as well as the other major actors. Even the little dog played his part well.

If you want to watch a genuine comedy - one that is witty, romantic and heartwarming, this is your movie.

Cheery - oh, Chappie!

"A Story of Passion, Bloodshed, Desire and Death..."
2008-12-27 - "Irma La Douce"

"A Story of Passion, Bloodshed, Desire and Death..."

Amos Lassen

"Irma La Douce" is one of those movies that is just as much fun today as it was when it first came out (in 1963). I was in the mood for something light and funny the other day and for some reason I found myself watching Billy Wilder's "Irma La Douce" and I loved it. It is described as "a story of passion, bloodshed, desire and death...everything, in fact that makes life worth living" and it is also great comedy and a helluva good movie ("but that's another story").
Nester Patou is a naïve French policeman who is transferred to the Red Light district of Paris. Once there he sees what appears to be a brothel and calls the station to arrange a raid. He takes the ladies to jail but this disrupts the arrangement that the pimps had with the police. Also caught in the raid was Nester's superior officer and Nester loses his job. Distraught, Nester goes to a bar where he meets Irma and they become friendly, so much so that Nester beats up her pimp. He suddenly finds himself pimping for Irma but he does not like her seeing other men so he devises a plan...and herein is the comedy of the film.
"Irma" was Billy Wilder's greatest financial; success and this is probably because the screenplay and the actors are so wonderful. Shirley Maclaine as Irma and Jack Lemmon as Nester were soaring in their careers when the film was made and the movie was based upon a successful Broadway musical so it had a lot going for it. "Irma La Douce" is the kind of film that makes the audience feel as if it is peeking at something it should not see and in 1963 prostitution was not a subject dealt with much less talked about openly. But it is also a love story about a policeman turned reformer who falls in love with a prostitute. It is also Paris and French to the core---set in the area of the city of lights that tourists want to see but can never find-- that part of Paris that is known as the "milieu". We also have the story of the goodness of man as he works to find true love.
The film is a treasure and Shirley Maclaine as Irma is perfect (she received an Oscar nomination for her role). Jack Lemmon is hilarious as Nester and Lou Jacobi as Moustache gives the movie some of its funniest moments. Here is a celebration of love and a wonderful look at jealousy. Keeping in mind that the film was made in 1963, it is amazing that Wilder got this film past the censors.


A RISQUE, COMIC GEM
2008-12-13 - The combination of Billy Wilder, Shirley McLaine, and Jack Lemmon is unbeatable. Maclaine was indeed ' sweet,' and positively gorgeous in this movie, and Lemmon was flat-out hilarious as her ( Irma's ) lover, and 'business manager.' THE APARTMENT may have been a better movie for Wilder, and his 2 stars, but I love both films, and believe that I laughed just as hard during both.

I am so glad that they did not use Elizabeth Taylor for 'Irma,' as the studio originally intended to. MacLaine projected a wistful naivete that was perfect for this role, and a comic timing that was a flawless match for Lemmon. I only wish that she, and Lemmon had made more movies together. They were comedic dynamite.

IRMA LA DOUCE is about a Paris streetwalker who only wishes to support her business manager, Nestor ( Lemmon ) by plying her trade. Nestor, unfortunately, is honest, head-over-heels for her, and wants her for himself. In order to accomplish his goal he invents an English Lord that Irma only has to see twice a week. However, for Nestor's alter ego to pretend to be filthy rich it is necessary for Nestor to work all night at the open-air food market. Trouble arises when Nestor is too tired for Irma, and she begins to fall for the antic Lord X.

I'll warn you ahead of time- one viewing of IRMA LA DOUCE is impossible!

I've fallen head over heals for Irma...
2008-09-16 - 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.