Billy Wilder’s twenty-seventh movie, Buddy Buddy, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, was released in 1981. Billy was 75 years old. With Buddy Buddy, Billy Wilder’s directorial career ended not with a whimper, but with a wretch. Buddy Buddy is the story of a hitman (Matthau) trying to do one last job before retiring. A […]
Entries Tagged as 'Jack Lemmon'
Day Twenty Seven: Buddy Buddy
July 26th, 2011 · No Comments · 1981, Adaptation, Buddy Buddy, Francis Veber, Jack Lemmon, Klaus Kinski, Paula Prentiss, Walter Matthau
Tags:
Day Twenty Five: The Front Page
July 24th, 2011 · No Comments · 1974, Adaptation, David Wayne, Front Page, IAL Diamond, Jack Lemmon, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia, Walter Matthau
Billy Wilder’s twenty-fifth movie, The Front Page, starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Susan Sarandon was released in 1974. Billy was 68 years old. There is absolutely no reason why this movie should have been made — not when His Girl Friday stands as the definitive remake of the play The Front Page by Ben […]
Tags:
Day Twenty Four: Avanti!
July 23rd, 2011 · No Comments · 1972, Adaptation, Avanti, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Italy, Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Nude Scene
Billy Wilder’s twenty-fourth movie, Avanti!, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills, was released in 1972. Billy was 66 years old. Avanti! is the story of a brusque American executive (Lemmon) who must travel to Italy to pick up the body of his father who passed away unexpectedly. There, he discovers that his father died in […]
Tags:
Day Twenty Two: The Fortune Cookie
July 21st, 2011 · No Comments · 1966, Academy Award, Cliff Osmond, Ed Sikov, Fortune Cookie, Howard McNear, IAL Diamond, Jack Lemmon, On Sunset Boulevard, Walter Matthau
Billy Wilder’s twenty-second movie, The Fortune Cookie, the Academy-Award winning film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, was released in 1966. Billy was 60 years old. It’s a good thing I like Jack Lemmon. Here he is again in The Fortune Cookie. (All told, Lemmon appears in seven Wilder films!) Fortunately, this time he’s with […]
Tags:
Day Twenty: Irma la Douce
July 19th, 2011 · No Comments · 1963, Academy Award, Adaptation, Alexandre Breffort, Bruce Yarnell, Grace Lee Whitney, Herschel Bernardi, Howard McNear, Irma la Douce, Jack Lemmon, Lou Jacobi, Paris, Shirley MacLaine
Billy Wilder’s twentieth movie, Irma la Douce, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine, was released in 1963. Billy was 57 years old. Once again, Billy’s directorial output takes a turn — this time for the better. It’s possible this is a better movie than the one that preceded it (One, Two, Three, starring James Cagney) […]
Tags:
Day Eighteen: The Apartment
July 17th, 2011 · No Comments · 1960, Academy Award, Apartment, Fred MacMurray, IAL Diamond, Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine
Billy Wilder’s eighteenth movie, The Apartment, the Academy-Award winning comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, was released in 1960. Billy was 54 years old. In typical Billy Wilder fashion, The Apartment starts with voiceover narration — lots and lots of exposition, which is usually the kiss of death for a screenwriter with […]
Tags:
Day Seventeen: Some Like It Hot
July 16th, 2011 · No Comments · 1959, IAL Diamond, Inciting Incident, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Mid Point, Plot Point I, Plot Point II, Some Like It Hot, Tony Curis
Billy Wilder’s seventeenth movie, Some Like It Hot, the irrepressible comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe, was released in 1959. Billy was 53 years old. This is what movie-making is all about! Some Like It Hot is my second favorite movie, following closely on the heels of Casablanca. This is note perfect, […]
Tags:
You can call me Billy. But don't expect me to answer to that.