Irma la Douce (1963)

	Directed by: Billy Wilder	COUNTRY USA GENRE Romantic comedy NORWEGIAN TITLE Irma la Douce RUNNING TIME 147 minutes
	Produced by: Billy Wilder
	Written by (based on the play by Alexandre Breffort): Billy Wilder I. A. L. Diamond

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Nestor Patou / Lord X	Jack Lemmon
Irma la Douce	Shirley MacLaine
Moustache	Lou Jacobi
Hippolyte	Bruce Yarnell	½
Inspector Lefevre	Herschel Bernardi	-
Lolita	Hope Holiday	-
Amazon Annie	Joan Shawlee	-
Kiki the Cossack	Grace Lee Whitney	-
U.S. soldier with radio	James Caan	-

Review

Billy Wilder reunited with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine to try to recreate the magic of The Apartment with this playful romantic comedy. In many ways, Irma la Douce is an outdated film. With its courteous love story and faux Parisian setting, it has the feel of an elaborate stage play – a relic of big-budget studio filmmaking. You get the sense that the zeitgeist has passed Wilder by. He's an ageing director still depicting romances reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Nevertheless, he demonstrates that he's still a master of joyful storytelling, and once Jack Lemmon's alter ego Lord X enters the picture, Irma la Douce becomes a thoroughly enjoyable screwball comedy almost on par with the best in the genre. There's never anything erotic about a Jack Lemmon performance, not even when the theme is as explicit as in here, but he's a real hoot in his cover as the aristocratic British lord. And Shirley MacLaine brings a vibrant vivacity to the title character. Also with Lou Jacobi in a wonderful supporting role as the tavern owner, Moustache.