PHFFFT

Judy Holliday and Luella Gear

PHFFT (1954). Director: Mark Robson.

Their eight-year marriage having grown stale, Nina and Robert Tracey (Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon) decide to call it quits. Nina gets advice from her mother, Edith (Luella Gear of Carefree), while Robert moves in with and is sort of adopted by his best buddy, playboy Charlie Nelson (Jack Carson of The Groom Wore Spurs). Charlie importunes Robert to date the beautiful but intellectually-challenged Janis (Kim Novak). Although they both seem happy to be divorced and on their own, the truth is that Nina and Robert are having trouble moving on -- maybe they're still in love with each other? 

Jack Lemmon and Jack Carson

That same year Holliday and Lemmon, in his first picture, teamed up for the truly dreadful It Should Happen to You. Fortunately Lemmon survived that debacle and teamed again with Holliday and this time the results were more felicitous. Based on an early play by George Axelrod, Phffft hardly has the most original premise or situations -- the problems of divorced couples having trouble moving on because they're still in love were a staple of movies of the golden age -- but there is enough humor in the film to make it palatable, and the performances by the entire cast really put it over. Highlights include a scene when Nina and Robert, both with their own dates, wind up dancing the mambo together on the dance floor, and especially the hilarious climax, when Nina and Charlie Nelson have a disastrous date. These are three fine actors working at the top of their form, with good support from Novak and an excellent Luella Gear helping add to the fun. 

Verdict: A great cast makes this work. ***.