John Brooks Jack Lemon. What a natural. What an actor. Shirley MacLaine also very good. This film with all its convoluted twists and turns and knots and what not, has a beautiful love story at the center of it. It appears to be incredibly sweet, and touching, all the while supplying good comic relief, in particular with that bartender character and his insane anecdotes where he's been in every corner of the world and back, very good stuff - and the film does really well at developing lots of content in a plot that is fairly simple...but - and there's a big but (and I cannot lie) - it lingers for too long to a point where the viewer is ready to indulge and buy into the film's surrealistic plot for a while... but then it exaggerates just too much and a growing sense of silliness starts spilling out of it. In that, it's also too long: nearly two hours and thirty minutes, for such a cute, light story there's no reason whatsoever for that length.Could've been better as a shorter, more focused, less leaky story.Good stuff still. 7/10.

lasttimeisaw Billy Wilder's shark-jumping screwball romp set in le quartier rouge of Paris, couples for the second time the riveting pair from THE APARTMENT (1960), Lemmon plays a goofball cop Nestor Patou, only soon to be discharged from his duty by dint of his impetuous intervention of the local sex industry, and becomes a pimp of the numero uno streetwalker, our titular Irma la douce (MacLaine).Poules and their mecs, this is the basic bundle of the oldest profession, Nestor's foolhardiness and knight errantry conquers Irma right on the spot, not to mention that he also physically defeats her abusive (now ex-)pimp Hippolyte the Ox (Yarnell), a set piece reminiscent of the early silent comedy sketches, rough-hewn, clumsy but laboriously funny. So now Nestor is the red-hot new mec, even been elected as the chairman of the MPPA (Mec's Paris Protective Association), but like any man who has his manhood to protect, as much as he loves Irma, and vice versa, he cannot get over the fact that many a customer can share his darling love's company and body for sexual pleasure, and he in fact lives off her for all the income.A highly specious plan has been hatched with the aid of Moustache (Jacobi), the genial proprietor of the bar around the corner, whose past experiences enlivens the story with its running joke "and that's another story" until a pretty nonsensical but zany finish to leave audience in utter astonishment and amusement. What is the plan? Nester disguises himself as an ageing British gentleman Lord X, who will patronize Irma twice a week, each time offers her 500 francs (the money he would borrow from Moustache), so that, Irma doesn't need to see any other customers thanks to the munificent gestures from Lord X, when Irma gives the money to Nestor, he will return the money back to Moustache.Of course, the plan only sounds plausible on paper, the very first time, almost all the 500 has been squandered on champagnes for celebration. In order to earn extra money to pay back to Moustache, Nestor has to sneak out of their flat in the middle of night every day to work in the local food market, dealing with fish, pork, vegetables and fruits, which exhausts him and he must sneak back in the morning before Irma wakes up. That's where the story goes berserk like a folly propelled by absurd incidents and drollness, up to a point, rationality will be completely thrown out of the window.Marvellously, the viewer will not feel too much of being cheated or exasperated by the outright cop-out into a spuriousness-prone farce, mostly owing to two leading stars' comic aptitude, Lemmon engages in with unswerving gusto, from strictly choreographed slapstick to onerous physical labor, to invite audience to stand by him and pat him on the back no matter how ridiculous the story-line unwinds; MacLaine, on the other hand, oozes deadly sexiness in the common working-girl-with-a-golden-heart formula, it is strange that she receives an Oscar nomination while Lemmon misses, the competition in these two categories are usually not on the same level, especially after Hollywood's Golden Age, the quality of female roles has been drastically dwindled ever since. Moreover, Lou Jacobi should have walked away with at least an Oscar nomination for his firmly supportive but equally opportune scene-stealing act.Among Wilder's tremendous body of work, IRMA LA DOUCE doesn't have any single chance to claim best, but instead, it preserves itself in a niche as an odd experiment whose sole objective is to give audience a buzz, and it has accomplished its goal with admirable dash, no one can deny, that's something only can be manufactured with the help of a master-hand and intelligent-mind.

elisedfr «What are you going to do now, Billy ?» someone asked Wilder after he received the Academy Award for his perfect film, The Apartment. The answer was One, Two, Three, then Irma La Douce with a re teaming of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine : both films were rather bullied by critics although the latter would score a box-office hit. But to compare The Apartment with Irma is in itself absurd : inevitably, it's less gripping, biting and moving. Yet, as it tells such a different story, which develops in a rather unexpected light, it did work out for me -at least more than this disastrous other mixture of pepper and sugar, The Emperor's Waltz.Set in Paris' hot spot of Les Halles in the 60's (but it does look much older at times), narrated by uncredited Louis Jourdan (who else could muse «don't you believe it» with such smooth ? ), here's the love story of a sexy, independent-minded prostitute and a naive happy-go-lucky cop. Fired from the corrupt police force because of his honesty, Nestor becomes Irma's pimp and lover. But his jealousy drives him to dress up as a British Lord to secure all of his business partner's attentions. What follows is a bunch of misunderstandings and ultimately a lavish church wedding, with prostitutes as bridesmaids and a very pregnant bride. Well, believe it or not.Yet, the fantasy is saved by its own dizzy charm- and there's plenty of it : a good combination of screwball comedy, light drama and witty dialogs only Wilder and Diamond could write- so good the characters say them several times. The real problem is the length. No Parisian farce should exceed two hours and this one would have deserved a quicker start. Irma's tear-jerking, phony stories, while the main credits still roll, could have been cut with no harm , and the same goes for the general slowness in the development, with too many too long sequences. One of these musicals without music, Irma still get an Oscar for Andre Previn's beautiful score. Its atmospheric themes, composed by Marguerite Monnot for the original operetta, make for a very pleasant listening, specially the intimate «Language of Love» and the only dance number, done with disarming skill and energy by the two leads. Settings too have that singling out quality: from the poetic Casanova street, designed by Alexander Trauner, complete with old shop signs, to Irma's homey studio and the real things : sunny Parisian bridges where poor Jack Lemmon had to swim out. Honestly, the whole thing looks better than Midnight in Paris.An other determinate point is the humanity depicted by behind the kookiness of characters and situations. They are crazy and unbelievable for sure, but in a lovable way. I could not care a bit for the boheme bunch of Can-Can, a film much similar to this one (at least, it has MacLaine as a light dancer), but this one won me over. Comic does drag a bit, but there are moments genuinely hilarious : the jail escape, Lemmon's British imitation: «The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain...I've seen every English movie in town», and about every time mysterious bartender Moustache is around, a character not so unlike «le maître de jeu» from La Ronde. And indeed, the lightness in the folly brings back the spirits of Max Ophuls or Luigi Pirandello, as well as some good old' slapstick.Apart from the pleasure of having Jack and Shirley together again, it's actually quite nice to see them as «a real couple», up to strange adventures but also conventional banter, kisses and fights. Both of the characters are eccentrics and first very puzzled at each other, but they're willing to get along and one can easily buy their quirky romance. Lemmon gives a wonderful spontaneity to Nestor, that constantly saves him from caricature. Honest to a fault, madly jealous and overenthusiastic, you actually care for the guy when he gets punched by Irma's pimp or cries with exhaustion after the girl mistakes his moonlighting for infidelity. And his flamboyance as middle-aged Lord X, chuckling and impotent, lets his natural versatility shine. He'll get another great double part in The Great Race. As for MacLaine, in a part previously meant for Marilyn Monroe, she's pleasantly at ease and injects her own touch to the cliché of the sweet prostitute with green stockings. Stoic and casual, Irma wants security, stability and respect : she's a serious businesswoman of the underworld, that never seems over-concerned about anything. But like every Wilder heroin, she has also a good deal of cute innocence: «You don't anything about men, because you've been with too many», Nestor tells her near the end of the story. A lot has been said about the filthy, racy mood - sure there are plenty not so subtle double entendres and some very plain lines, but with a general feeling of live and let live behind. Irma's stimulation of Lord X's blocked imagination are a wink to Some Like It Hot. And there's a graceful little scene, when Nestor and Irma are about to make love for the first time. While she's willing and practical, he gets shy and asks her to put her night mask while he undresses. After a fade, you find the mask on a sleeping, peaceful Nestor. The ending does not make much sense - nor does the reappearance of Lord X with all the clothes found months before by the cops, but who cares ? Like Moustache, masterfully played by Lou Jacobi, claims: that's another story. A story of hate, love, passion and death. All those things that make life worth living.

thinker1691 Among the street people of Paris, there is a saying, 'it costs nothing to hate, but if you wish to make love, it will cost you thirty franks.' The movie "Irma La Douce" meaning, 'Irma the sweet' stems from an original play by Alex Breflort and is adroitly directed by the great Billy Wilder. It tells the story of Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon) a young idealistic French Policeman, who gets transferred to the 'Red Light' district of Paris France. Unaware of the established economic system between the police and the street prostitutes, he naively orders a raid and among the many surprised clients arrested, Nestor discovers his own boss. Fired from his job, he becomes a pimp for his girlfriend called Irma (Shirley MacLaine). Learning her work involves prostitution, he arranges to become her only client. This creates the Topsy-turvy world which includes the mysterious Lord X. Lou Jacobi is 'Moustache' who explains to the audience how silly a situation can become when plucking chickens. A superior film and one which has become a definite Classic. ****