Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine, Lou Jacobi, Herschel Bernardi, Bruce Yarnell

Director: Billy Wilder

Summary: A prostitute called Irma falls in love with an English lord who is not all he appears to be. The lord is really Irma's business manager who wants to keep her all to himself...

Billy Wilder's adaptation of Alexandre Breffort's stage farce stars Shirley MacLaine as the Parisian prostitute of the title. When Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon) a naive, uncharacteristically honest young gendarme decides to raid Chez Moustache, the bistro which provides a base of operations for many of the Les Halles streetwalkers, including the popular Irma, his boss Inspector Lefevre (Herschel Bernardi) is among the johns, and Nestor quickly finds himself unemployed. But, smitten with Irma, the former cop returns to Les Halles and after a fight with her extortionate pimp Hippolyte (Bruce Yarnell), Nestor takes over his role. As he and Irma become more involved, he becomes increasingly jealous toward her steady parade of customers, and finally resolves to become one. Posing as impotent British aristocrat Lord X, he offers to pay Irma a sizeable sum simply to spend some time with him on a weekly basis. The plot thickens when, on a trip to England, Irma seduces Lord X, whose sexual malady is proven to have been somewhat overstated. Composer Andre Previn won an Oscar for best score.

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Irma La Doucereunited The Apartmentteam of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine with director Billy Wilder in an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name which had been a hit in Paris, London and New York. The screen transfer by Wilder and his colleague--writer IAL Diamond--however, omits the show's songs, relegating them to a background score refashioned by Andre Previn with some additional themes of his own. Background here is a complimentary term, for whatever qualms one might entertain as to this move, the two sets of themes are skilfully woven together by Previn and emerge as a witty and lyrical aural delight in their own right which is given due prominence on the soundtrack.

Wilder is no rush to tell prostitute Irma's story: her affair with Lemmon being the pivot of the tale as he takes on the disguise of an English Lord. Lemmon and MacLaine beautifully play their mutual attraction under Wilder's deft direction with the slapstick never allowed to get out of hand. Many will recognise Wilder's touch in his handling of the scene where Lemmon as a policeman is carted off in a van full of voracious prostitutes from the bunks-in-the-train sequence in Some Like It Hot. The handsome production, designed by Alexander Tranner--with the occasional view of the Seine thrown in for good measure--and the Panavision photography by Joseph La Shelle are further assets.

On the DVD:The DVD contains a longer than usual theatrical trailer, half shot as a cartoon with characters closely resembling those Pink Panther figures who emerged at the same time from the Mirisch Brothers, a pair prominent in sustaining the unique success of United Artists, whose name was deleted, in favour of the MGM logo, in the early 1960s. It's too bad that the music on this DVD transfer sometimes strikes a coarse note particularly over the extended opening credits. --Adrian Edwards

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Original Theatrical Trailer, Interactive Menu Screens, Chapter Selections
Year:	1963
Release Date:	November 26, 2001
Runtime:	137 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	17322 D V D
Keywords:	Comedy, General, Wide, Screen, Romantic, La, Douce, Irma
Genre:	Comedy