OPERATION MAD BALL

Mickey Rooney and Jack Lemmon

OPERATION MAD BALL (1957). Director: Richard Quine.

In France at a U.S. Army hospital just after the end of WW2, Private Hogan (Jack Lemmon) wants to do something to give his pal Corporal Berryman (Roger Smith of 77 Sunset Strip) a chance to spend time with his nurse girlfriend, even though she outranks him and shouldn't be fraternizing. Somehow this segues into a "mad ball" held off the base in a restaurant where nurses and men can get together for some dancing, drinking and fun. But there are complications, such as Colonel Rousch's (Arthur O'Connell) brother heading for the base and being the guest of honor at Rousch's own party -- now the nurses won't be allowed any passes (literally and figuratively). However, the fertile mind of Private Hogan will figure a way around this.

Kathryn Grant and Arthur O'Connell

Judging from its title, Operation Mad Ball should be a riotous service comedy, but the only time it really comes to life is in the last few minutes (the party) and when Mickey Rooney shows up and shows "em how it's done. He's a breath of fresh air in a "comedy" that is surprisingly dull for most of its length. Lemmon is okay, but other players make more of an impression, including the wonderful Rooney, Dick York as Corporal Bohun, Kathryn Grant as Lt. Bixby, who ignites Hogan's romantic interest, Jeanne Manet [Slightly French] as Madame LaFour who owns the aforementioned restaurant, and especially Arthur O'Connell as the head officer of the hospital. Ernie Kovacs, one of the three leads, is also okay, but not especially funny. Other soldiers are played by James Darren, William Leslie, and L. Q. Jones. Darren and Grant appeared together in The Brothers Rico.

Verdict: Generally good-natured but distinctly minor. **1/4.

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. ***.

THE NOTORIOUS LANDLADY

Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon

THE NOTORIOUS LANDLADY (1962). Director: Richard Quine. 

Newly arrived in London, Bill Gridley (Jack Lemmon) of the U.S. Embassy, looks for a flat to rent and winds up in the beautiful townhouse of Carly Hardwicke (Kim Novak). His boss, Ambruster (Fred Astaire) thinks the name of his employee's new landlady sounds familiar, and he is horrified when someone in the research department reminds him of just who Mrs. Hardwicke really is. It seems that her husband vanished without a trace several months ago, and now everyone is convinced that the "notorious" woman murdered the missing man! Before Ambruster can order Bill to find new quarters, Inspector Oliphant (Lionel Jeffries) importunes him to stay where he is and find out whatever he can about the supposed black widow. 

Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire

The first half of The Notorious Landlady is delightful, full of suspense, and bolstered by fine performances from the entire cast. Astaire makes his character more likable than he might have been had he been played by another actor. There are also good turns from Estelle Winwood [The Magic Sword], Maxwell Reed [Daughter of Darkness], Henry Daniell [Siren of Atlantis], and Phillipa Bevans. The second half of the film, after certain revelations have been made, goes a bit awry, with perhaps too much running around and the hasty unveiling of tricky plot points, but it recovers at the end with an amusing and exciting chase sequence backed up by the strains of Gilbert and Sullivan. Good show!

Verdict: The picture and the cast have a lot of charm! ***

THE FORTUNE COOKIE

THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966). Produced and directed by Billy Wilder.   

When cameraman Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) is knocked over by Cleveland Braves player Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich) during a football game, his brother-in-law, Whiplash Willie (Walter Matthau), importunes him to pretend his injuries are far worse than they really are for a huge cash payout. At first Harry is appalled by the very suggestion, but when Willie intimates that Harry's ex-wife, Sandy (Judi West), may come back to him out of sympathy, he agrees. Meanwhile a very guilty Boom Boom, who practically becomes Harry's servant, finds his own life spiraling out of control. Yet Harry's essential humanity may put paid to Willie's audacious and avaricious plan.

The Fortune Cookie is an excellent comedy-drama which begins as an amusing dark farce and midway turns a bit more serious. The performances are superb, with Matthau master of all he surveys, Lemmon on target throughout, Ron Rich sympathetic and appealing, and Judi West, introduced in this picture, scoring as Harry's ex, a singer who dreams of a shot at the big time in New York's Persian Room. Cliff Osmond also makes an impression as private eye, Purkey, although Lurene Tuttle overdoes it a bit as Harry's hysterical mother. There are other good character actors in the cast such as Les Tremayne. Although highly exaggerated, the characters come off more or less as real people, although many of the situations are not realistic and are not meant to be. I won't give anything away, but the ending strikes a blow for Civil Rights in a way that is unusual for a sixties movie (although one might wonder how anyone could be certain of Harry's reaction). Handsome and talented, this was the first big role for Rich, but he had only a few credits after this. Similarly, Judi West, who actually had a couple of TV credits before this film, had only a few subsequent credits as well. Joseph LaShelle's cinematography is first-rate.

Verdict: Imperfect at times, but a very entertaining black comedy with outstanding performances. ***1/2.                                                             

BELL BOOK AND CANDLE

Kim Novak with Pyewacket

BELL BOOK AND CANDLE (1958). Director: Richard Quine.

Shepherd Henderson (James Stewart) lives in Manhattan above an esoteric shop run by the beautiful Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak). Gillian is a witch, and she decides to use a potion to draw Shep away from his fiancee, Merle (Janice Rule), whom she knew in college and didn't like. Before you know it, Shep is breaking it off with Merle on the day of their marriage and declaring his love for Gillian, even though she believes witches can't feel true love. When Gillian's brother, Nicky (Jack Lemmon), learns the truth, he and author Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs) -- who is working on a book about witches with Nicky -- ask head witch Mrs de Passe (Hermione Gingold of Gigi) to intercede. Once the spell is removed, will Shep and Gillian discover that their feelings for one another are actually real?

Battling siblings: Novak and Lemmon

Based on a play by James Van Druten, Bell Book and Candle should be an exercise in charming whimsy, but instead it's a leaden bit of foolishness. There are intriguing elements to the picture -- including the notion that, like gay people (not to compare the two!), witches can hide in plain sight -- but the film never recovers from the fact that Gillian at times comes off like a psycho -- her revenge upon Merle while in college is definite overkill. The whole business with witches and warlocks being some kind of secret society isn't handled very well in any case. One would think the performances of the cast would help put this over, but no one -- not even Stewart -- distinguishes himself; Elsa Lanchester [Murder By Death] as Novak's aunt offers her usual dithery portrayal and nothing more. Kim Novak affects a curious speech pattern that sort of fits her role. I must say I was impressed with Gillian's cat, Pyewacket, who slinks through the picture with aplomb.

Bewitched and befuddled: Stewart

Even considering that he's under a spell, Shep discards his fiance in an abrupt and cruel fashion (admittedly he should never have gotten engaged to her in the first place). With its premise of a witch with powers falling in love with an "outsider" or ordinary human, Bell Book and Candle is the obvious progenitor of the TV show Bewitched, which debuted six years later. The contributions of George Duning and James Wong Howe are wasted on this comparative piffle. I think the biggest problem is that this was made the same year as Hitchcock's masterpiece Vertigo, and considering it has the same two stars, Bell very, very much suffers in comparison.

Verdict: I Married a Witch this isn't! **1/4. 

IT HAPPENED TO JANE

Doris Day, Steve Forrest, Jack Lemmon

IT HAPPENED TO JANE (1959). Director: Richard Quine.

Jane Osgood (Doris Day of Julie) is a widow with two children in the town of Cape Anne, Maine. Jane has just started to run a lobster business and is horrified to learn that the railroad left the lobsters sitting in the station to die. With the help of a longtime friend, a lawyer named George (Jack Lemmon), she sues the railroad, which is run by an old grouch named Harry Foster Malone (Ernie Kovacs.) Jane eventually takes her story to the media as Malone tries various legal maneuverings to bring her to her knees. But Jane is determined to get those damn lobsters to market and put Malone in his place.

Ernie Kovacs

It Happened to Jane was a box office failure for Day, probably because the critics and word of mouth made it clear that the picture never fulfills its promise. This is a shame, because Day herself gives a committed and outstanding performance, and Lemmon is no slouch as her foil. Steve  Forrest [Mommie Dearest] is miscast as a New York reporter who falls in love with and proposes to Jane after only four days -- one simply can't see this slick, sexy fellow succumbing to Jane's country charms so quickly and frenetically -- but the  biggest casting problem is Ernie Kovacs. True, Kovacs' dialogue isn't especially funny, but neither is his performance. He demolishes the whimsical tone of the film almost every time he appears.

Day, Lemmon, and Mary Wickes

This is too bad, since Jane has a good premise and begins very well, but it just doesn't sustain the fun. A scene when George tells off the town because they don't seem supportive of Jane is off-base because it ignores the townspeople's very real concerns and they hardly have time to react in any case. Jane's kids are cute; Mary Wickes, as usual, hasn't enough to do; and "A Real Good Scout" is a charming number Day sings to the boy scouts. Attempts to create levity with a pet lobster named Sam fall flat because crustaceans, alas, have little personality (but they go great with butter!). Jack Lemmon did several films, including My Sister Eileen, with director Richard Quine.

Verdict: Day's fans will enjoy this -- everyone else beware! **1/2. 

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (1962)

Bottoms Up! Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (1962). Director: Blake Edwards.

"The world looks so dirty to me when I'm not drinking." -- Kirsten.

Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is a public relations man who likes his liquor. When he first meets Kirsten (Lee Remick), the two don't exactly hit it off, but a persistent Joe finally gets a date with her. Although Kirsten doesn't drink, or even particularly like the taste of alcohol, Joe importunes her to try a Brandy Alexander, and she discovers she likes getting tight. When the two get married and have a daughter, both discover that alcohol is playing too large a role in their lives, only Kirsten won't admit she has a problem.

Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick

Days of Wine and Roses is based on a classic and excellent television play that was presented on Playhouse 90 in 1958. J. P. Miller wrote the script for both the show and the movie, although some questionable elements were added.to "open up" the story (one imagines director Blake Edwards also had a hand in that). The casting of Jack Lemmon [How to Murder Your Wife], who was mostly known as a comedian at the time, apparently necessitated sequences fabricated to let the audience slowly get into the eventually sombre mood by turning the first third of the film into a comedy as Lemmon pursues a disinterested Remick [Anatomy of a Murder]. The movie nearly sinks with an utterly ridiculous sequence in which Joe tries to get rid of the cockroaches in Kirsten's apartment, and her neighbors inexplicably complain about it.

Jack Lemmon and Charles Bickford 

The film eventually settles down into the main story, detailing how Joe loses his job due to his drinking, his recognition that both he and his wife are bonafide alcoholics, their moving in with her father, Ellis (Charles Bickford reprising his role from the TV version), who owns a nursery that Joe nearly destroys during a binge. (In both the TV and theatrical version we're not shown Ellis' reaction when he discovers what his son-in-law has done, which might have made for one intensely dramatic sequence.)

Lee Remick

Days of Wine and Roses is a good picture that is bolstered by fine performances from Lemmon (helping to establish him as a dramatic player as well as a comic one), Remick (possibly her best performance), and Bickford. Jack Klugman [12 Angry Men] is much less impressive as a representative of AA who tries to help Joe. The TV version is generally superior to the movie. In the original teleplay Joe is not responsible for Kirsten starting drinking, which he is in the film, and in the movie he never seems to feel any guilt about it. In the film Lemmon almost immediately takes a drink when Remick, in her lonely motel room, begs him to join her, whereas Cliff Robertson sits contemplating the bottle for awhile before he gives in. All in all, the teleplay is better if for no other reason than that it doesn't waste time with the sitcom-like stuff that the movie does. Both versions sort of gloss over the financial angles of the characters' situation, and other things are a bit prettified as well.

Verdict: Worthwhile picture, although not as good as the original. ***. 

MY SISTER EILEEN (1955)

Janet Leigh and Bob Fosse

MY SISTER EILEEN (1955). Director: Richard Quine.

Ruth Sherwood (Betty Garrett) and her younger and prettier sister Eileen (Janet Leigh of The Spy in the Green Hat) come from Ohio to Greenwich Village to pursue careers as, respectively, a writer and an actress. Eileen becomes entangled with lunch counter waiter Frank (Bob Fosse) and on-the-make reporter Chick (Tommy Rail), while Ruth is involved with prominent magazine editor, Bob Baker (Jack Lemmon). Will the sisters find success and romance?

Bob Fosse and Betty Garrett

My Sister Eileen was originally filmed in 1942 with Rosalind Russell playing Ruth. Russell then reprised the role in a Broadway musical version entitled Wonderful Town with music by Leonard Bernstein. Columbia Pictures, which owned the rights to the original film, wanted to do a film adaptation of Wonderful Town with Judy Holliday stepping into the lead, but the show's producers wanted too much money. Therefore they decided to remake Eileen and add a completely new and different score by Leo Robin and Jule Styne. Meanwhile, Judy Holliday became unavailable and Betty Garrett, oddly, was signed to the part.

Jack Lemmon

Garrett, who was married to the blacklisted Larry Parks, is pleasant and competent enough as Ruth, but she can't hold a candle to Rosalind Russell. My Sister Eileen did not lead to major stardom for Garrett, who had bigger successes on television (All in the Family; Laverne and Shirley). Aside from a film noir feature some years later, Eileen was, in fact, Garrett's last starring role. Everyone in this remake is a step downward from the cast in the earlier film with the exception of Bob Fosse, who is very appealing, and Tommy Rail, who is handsome and adept, although, like Fosse, better known for his dancing (and in Fosse's case, choreography and direction). Ironically, Fosse's role in the original picture was played by Richard Quine, who co-wrote (with Blake Edwards) and directed this remake. Jack Lemmon is also quite nice as the editor, Bob Barker. Lemmon and Quine reunited for How to Murder Your Wife ten years later.

Kasznar, Leigh, Garrett, York

Other roles are filled by Kurt Kasznar as the landlord and Dick York as the off-season football player (which the skinny York scarcely resembles) who lives upstairs. The roles of the sisters' father and grandmother have been eliminated, along with the fortune teller Effie. This remake is not only in Technicolor and CinemaScope but it's been opened up with scenes in Frank's drug store, the El Morocco nightclub, and even the Brooklyn Navy Yard, although the apartment and Village scenes are clearly filmed on a sound stage. The Portuguese merchant marines have become Brazilian sailors. Expanding this sequence just creates a ridiculous scene in which these guys all chase after the not-very-sexy Garrett, something not handled quite so blatantly in the original. The conga scene from the original movie becomes a big production number but loses most of its charm. Another change has Ruth pretending that her stories about Eileen are really about her, an unnecessary development that goes nowhere.

Garrett, Fosse, Leigh, and Rail

Then there are the songs. Jule Styne, the composer of Funny Girl, Gypsy and Darling of the Day can be counted on for some nice numbers and he delivers such good tunes as "I'm Great But No One Knows It," "There's Nothin' Like Love" and "Give Me a Band and My Baby." One of the best scenes in the movie has Fosse and Rail doing a dancing dual as Eileen goes off for an audition.

Verdict: On its own terms, this can be entertaining, and the musical interludes are generally nice, but on a whole it's a cut below the original. **1/4.

JACK LEMMON

JACK LEMMON. Michael Freedland. St. Martin's; 1985.

This overview of Lemmon's life and career is a fast read which gives most of the facts and highlights without digging too deeply, but it does manage to get across Lemmon's character, his devotion to acting, and his approach to certain challenging roles, such as in Some Like It Hot and Days of Wine and Roses. The book briefly discusses his first marriage, then his relationship with actress Felecia Farr, which led into his second, long-lasting marriage which was not without its problems, although this book downplays them considerably. His film work is certainly not ignored, and the book explores his working and friendly relationships with director Billy Wilder and actor Walter Matthau, with whom he collaborated numerous times. Along the way Lemmon did television and stage work, but his most frequent appearances were in films. He appeared in such early works as Betty Grable's penultimate film Three for the Show, the dreadful It Should Happen to You, and the vastly over-rated The Apartment. Frankly Lemmon was guilty of shameless mugging in some of his films, such as Luv, but he developed into a fine dramatic actor in such movies as The China Syndrome, Missing and Save the Tiger, for which he won a Best Actor Oscar (he had won a supporting Oscar for Mr. Roberts). Published in 1985, this book doesn't go into his later major triumphs in Glengarry Glen Ross and in the stage and TV adaptations of Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Verdict: A nice book on Jack Lemmon, but hardly the last word. ***.  

HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE

Jack Lemmon and Terry Thomas

HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE (1965). Director: Richard Quine.

Confirmed bachelor Stanley Ford (Jack Lemmon), the very successful writer-artist of a popular newspaper strip, Brash Brannigan -- Secret Agent, lives in a fabulous Manhattan townhouse with his devoted butler/houseman Charles (Terry-Thomas of The Vault of Horror). One night at a bachelor party for a friend, Stanley gets drunk and wakes up in the morning married to a stranger (Virna Lisi) who speaks only Italian and turns out to be the gal who jumped out of the cake. With the help of his lawyer Harold (Eddie Mayehoff of Off-Limits) and his wife, Edna (Claire Trevor of The Velvet Touch), Mrs. Ford begins taking over the house, the kitchen, and threatens to fly her mother in from Italy. When Charles quits in disgust, Stanley decides it's time to take action. But when he kills off Brash's wife in the comic strip and the real Mrs. Ford disappears, he finds himself in very hot water ...

Jack Lemmon and Eddie Mayehoff

The first thing that must be said about How to Murder Your Wife is that in the style of many films of the sixties it is outrageously misogynistic. Sure there are men who resent their wives' interference in their lives and miss their bachelor days, but the thesis of George Axlerod's incredibly sexist screenplay is that all men hate married life, every wife is a battle axe (despite the fact that Mrs. Ford seems like an ideal spouse in many ways) and if men could only push a button to get rid of them they would all do so with glee. The film not only ignores all the men who are perfectly happy with their spouses, but all the women who have had to put up with horrible husbands, not to mention the sexism many women have had to endure even before the days of #metoo.  True, How to Murder Your Wife is not supposed to be taken seriously, but even so! A courtroom scene is staggeringly -- even shockingly -- chauvinistic.

Mary Wickes, Lemmon, Claire Trevor

On the other hand, despite this major problem, the movie is often very funny, bolstered by fine performances from the entire cast. Mary Wickes even manages to practically steal a scene when she's playing Harold's secretary and gets drunk on champagne. Sidney Blackmer is also notable as the drunken Judge Blackstone, as is Jack Albertson as Stanley's doctor. One might wonder why Stanley almost seems to cringe whenever his sexy wife gets affectionate, even if the ending suggests that it is sex -- certainly not love -- that makes him decide that he may prefer to stay married. In other words, the only way to enjoy this movie -- and it is enjoyable -- is to recognize its dated qualities and take it on its own terms. The funny thing about misogynous males is that they want women for sex and nothing else, but develop the screaming mimis if anyone dares suggest they might prefer the more-than-company of other guys, but then there's always been a link between sexism and homophobia.

Verdict: Women-hatred at its worst, but with a few chuckles and adept performances. **3/4. 

THREE FOR THE SHOW

Betty Grable

THREE FOR THE SHOW (1955). Director: H. C. Potter.

Stage star Julie Lowndes (Betty Grable) is happily married to choreographer Vernon (Gower Champion), when her first husband, Marty (Jack Lemmon), supposedly killed in action, shows up out of the blue. Speaking to a befuddled Colonel Wharton (Paul Harvey) of the Air Force, she comes to the conclusion that she is legally married to both men, leading to a slightly risque menage a trois situation with the two husbands sharing a bedroom and her sharing them (chastely one assumes). Made in another time period, this might have had some amusing or eyebrow-raising sequences, but this is a fifties musical, and an awfully dull one at that. The performers, including Gower's real-life wife Marge Champion, are adept enough, and the Gowers' dance numbers are elegant and swell, but the other production numbers featuring Grable (and in one case, a male harem) are campy and awful. Grable [Give Me a Sailor] was supposedly 39 but looks older. Gower was 34 but also looks older; Marge was 36 but looks younger. Jack Lemmon [The China Syndrome] was the youngest at only 30 and looks it. Myron McCormick [Jigsaw] plays a producer who seems to have special feelings for Marge. The film was based on an old comedy, Too Many Husbands, that probably should not have been resuscitated. There's only one laugh in the whole movie. This was Jack Lemmon's third film; luckily he survived this stinker to go on to a brilliant career in both drama and comedy. Grable only did one more movie.

Verdict: It seems as if it will never end. *1/2.

THE GREAT RACE

Blink and you'll miss her: Vivian Vance

THE GREAT RACE (1965). Director: Blake Edwards.

Near the turn of the century, rival daredevils Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) and the Great Leslie (Tony Curtis), among others, embark on a race from New York to Paris (they go way up north and head for Siberia to make their way into Europe). They are joined by Maggie Dubois (Natalie Wood), a suffragette and wannabee reporter. Along the way -- the very longgg way -- they have assorted misadventures ... Frankly, I only put on The Great Race because I heard Vivian Vance [The Blue Veil] was in it. Unfortunately, "Ethel" -- now playing the wife of newspaper editor Arthur O'Connell -- is a mere "guest star" and is on screen for at best a minute and a half. Boo hiss! Worse, the movie is nearly three hours long. No, it's not awful and there are enough entertaining moments and good acting to keep you watching, but there's no need for this picture to be so long. (The movie is, rather presumptuously, dedicated to Laurel and Hardy, who certainly never needed three hours to make a funny movie!) Probably inspired by the success of such mammoth productions as Around the World in 80 Days and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Great Race is bloated and episodic, with way too many digressions. There is a long and unnecessary detour involving a foppish (or stereotypically gay?) prince who happens to be a lookalike of Fate's, a sequence which could and should have been excised from the final cut, despite some good performances from Lemmon as the prince and George Macready as a conniving member of his court. A sequence for some reason situated in the old west has Dorothy Provine [Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die] -- looking sort of like a monkey with a bouffant hairpiece that threatens to topple off of her head any minute -- belting out a terrible number, but at least it leads into a fairly rousing bar fight. On the other hand, a pie fight that caps the prince sequence goes on too long (keeping in with the "theme" of the movie) and hasn't a single laugh. Oddly, the best scene in the movie is a well-cut and choreographed sword and saber fight between Curtis and Ross Martin that isn't played for laughs but plays. Jack Lemmon is in manic mode (as he was in Luv) throughout the movie but is effective on that sometimes irritating level. Curtis and Wood are Curtis and Wood, although they are well-coached in their line readings. Keenan Wynn, Larry Storch, Macready and Martin make a better impression.

Verdict: Not quite "Blake's Folly" -- but not for lack of trying. **1/2.

THE CHINA SYNDROME

Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda

THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979). Director: James Bridges.

Reporter Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) is doing a routine story at a nuclear power plant in Southern California, when an "accident" occurs that has everyone working there quite nervous. Kimberly and her brash photographer, Richard (Michael Douglas), are convinced that there was more to the incident than anyone is saying, but Kimberly's superiors are understandably afraid of lawsuits or worse. Still, it develops that plant employee Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon) has uncovered certain unsafe conditions that could lead to disaster if the facility goes back up to full power, leading to a tense confrontation with the higher-ups and a delicate situation in the control room. The China Syndrome became famous when the incident at Third Mile Island happened not long after its release, turning the picture into a must-see at the time. Although it's well-made and well-acted -- Lemmon is especially good, with Fonda on the money as well -- time has somewhat blunted its impact. Scott Brady [Mohawk] is fine as one of Lemmon's associates at the plant, and for better or worse Wilford Brimley, as another plant employee, also got a higher profile from this picture. Michael Douglas is okay, but doesn't make that much of an impression. The Stephen Bishop song that plays over the opening credits is pretty awful and almost sinks the movie from the start.

Verdict: Has its moments. ***.

BROADWAY: GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

Al Pacino as Shelly Levene on Broadway

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. David Mamet. Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Broadway. New York City. Directed by Daniel Sullivan.

When Al Pacino appeared in the film version of David Mamet's play in 1992, he played the role of hot shot Ricky Roma. Twenty years later he's now playing the role of Shelly Levene [played by Jack Lemmon in the movie] in this new Broadway production of the play. Although it won a Pulitzer Prize, the somewhat old-fashioned Glengarry [taking its cue from previous plays and films about competitive salesmen and the like] is basically a play that sinks or swims on its acting. The film succeeded mostly because of a stellar cast giving their all. Shelly, afraid he may be washed up in the real estate business, is desperate for "leads" [the names of prospective buyers] even as younger Ricky Roma (Bobby Cannavale) is sewing up a deal that will put him on top in the office. The next day it develops that all of the leads have been stolen, and there's more than one suspect in the robbery.

Much of the audience I saw this with reacted to every utterance of "mother fucker" and the like with roaring laughter as if they were clever punchlines in a sitcom. People close to the stage may have felt like they were in a private party with the actors and felt they had to laugh at every obscenity. The language isn't the problem, but that much of the play's characterizations and observations are over-familiar and superficial. It probably goes without saying that anyone expecting a theatrical masterpiece like Death of a Salesman or Long Day's Journey Into Night had better look elsewhere. [I admit that I am not a big Mamet admirer.] The movie was relatively cinematic and therefore faster- paced, but the play -- especially the two scenes comprising the first act -- here seems very slow.

Pacino and the other actors [including David Harbour,  John C. McGinley,  Richard Schiff, Jeremy Shamos, and Murphy Guyer] all give good, even very good, performances. Pacino has a problem in that despite the added years he's playing a role that was much better suited to Jack Lemmon [comparisons may be odious, but Lemmon was better], but he has gotten more than respectable reviews, and his basic talent and that certain mesmerizing quality he has, almost always carries him through, as it has done here.

So, is this worth the exorbitant ticket prices this is getting on the strength of Pacino's name? It's not even worth what you'll pay for the mezzanine.

Verdict: Fine actors; mediocre vehicle. Rent the movie instead. **1/2.

THE APARTMENT

THE APARTMENT (1960) Director: Billy Wilder.

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) hopes to advance in his insurance company by letting many of the married male executives use his apartment for illicit trysts. He has a crush on the pretty elevator operator Fran (Shirley MacLaine), who, unbeknownst to him, is involved with his boss, Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). Lemmon muggs a bit too much, MacMurray is fine as a slick aging Lothario, MacLaine is effective as the young lady, and there are some small flavorful character performances. Some good dialogue, although the film leans towards the superficial and its characters lack dimension. Although the film won awards and certainly has its admirers, the general effect is one of tedium. It's not funny enough to be a strong comedy, and the dramatic possibilities of a woman involved with a married man have been milked for better results in countless other movies. We won't even get into the illogical moments, or the fact that the film misses real opportunities for both laughs and poignancy. It's also hard to like a movie with a lead character who for most of the film's running time is a complete door mat. Composer Adolph Deutsch's theme music is memorable, although some might say it rips off Rachmaninoff, whose music was used for Brief Encounter. Billy Wilder was inspired by a scene from that movie to make The Apartment. Incredibly this won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. This is a perfect example of a mediocre movie that makes a lot of money (due to its frank subject matter and the publicity it engenders), wins awards because of the publicity and money, and decades later becomes a supposed "classic."

Verdict: Watch Brief Encounter instead. Phony and predictable, this is not in its league. *1/2.

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1954). Director: George Cukor. Screenplay by Garson Kanin.

Recently fired from her job, Gladys Clover (Judy Holliday), who wants to be somebody, decides to use her limited resources to put her name in big letters on a billboard in Herald Square. Her new friend Peter (Jack Lemmon, who was introduced in this film) is appalled that she's wasting her money on an idea that has no real purpose. Indeed, Gladys is not only a moron, but she is so untalented that she can't even read off cue [or "idiot"] cards without sounding mentally deficient. Peter Lawford plays a Madison Avenue man who tries to romance Gladys even as he wants to buy away her advertising space. After much tedium and not a single real laugh, we finally arrive at the movie's obvious point, when Gladys turns down an offer for the Army to name a plane after her. "It isn't just making a name," she says, "it's making a name stand for something." (Wise words for Paris Hilton and her ilk.) I don't believe for one minute that Gladys is really bright enough to come to such a conclusion (anymore than Paris Hilton is). Honestly, although I sat through this entire dull, annoying film I could have left the room at any point, shaved, cut my nails, made a few phone calls, had dinner and shopped, and come back and not missed a single moment of value. Lemmon occasionally overacts; Lawford is as pleasantly bland as ever. The problem with the casting of Holliday is that when you have a dopey-looking person playing a dope, it makes them twice as irritating. Possibly the worst film that Cukor and Kanin ever worked on.

Verdict: It Should NOT happen to you. *.

LUV

LUV (1967). Director: Clive Donner.

One night on the Brooklyn Bridge Harry Berlin (Jack Lemmon) meets up with an old classmate Milt Manville (Peter Falk), who doesn't seem to notice that Harry is trying to commit suicide. Milt wants his wife, Ellen (Elaine May) to divorce him so that he can marry the bimbo Linda (Nina Wayne) and he importunes Harry to romance Ellen for his sake. This all leads to some complicated and frequently amusing couplings. Based on a play by Murray Schisgal, Luv is often very silly and it isn't helped by Jack Lemmon's constant mugging. Falk and May are excellent however. Nina Wayne is no actress but she's well-cast as Linda. Some very funny lines and the Niagara Falls "do you still love me?" scene is hilarious. Ellen and her charts of sexual intimicy are also a scream.

Verdict: If you're in a silly mood. ***.

A TWIST OF LEMON

A TWIST OF LEMMON: A Tribute to My Father. Chris Lemmon.

This certainly isn't a “Daddy Dearest” book although Jack Lemmon's actor-son Chris doesn't gloss over his father's flaws, his egotism, marital problems, and heavy drinking in later years [although these are not examined in any great depth]. The book has a truly lovely foreword, a beautiful tribute to Jack Lemmon, written by Kevin Spacey, as well as more tributes and comments from other friends and co-workers in the back. In between we have Chris Lemmon's amusing and occasionally poignant reflections on his beloved famous father, interspersed with memories of his final moments wasting away from cancer. This is a very nice book, but there are perhaps way too many pages devoted to golf. True, Jack and Chris both enjoyed the game and Chris undoubtedly saw it as a way of bonding with his father, but for many readers all the golf stuff may create a certain tedium. This book might have worked better as a long article in a film publication, but it is easy to take and pleasant. Still, a figure of Jack Lemmon's talent and importance deserves a major biography and career appraisal -- this will have to do until that comes along.

Verdict: Has its moments. **1/2.