A story of passion, bloodshed, desire and death... everything, in fact, that makes life worth living.
When a recently fired policeman falls in love with a French prostitute, he doesn't want her to be with other men, so he creates an alter-ego in order to become her only customer.
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Character
Comic, classical in form, plot-driven and resolved.
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- character-ledplot-driven
- resolvedopen-ended
- warmbleak
Who loves it, who doesn't
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“Is Shirley MacLaine the best thing in Irma la Douce?”
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“Is this Billy Wilder's best work?”
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“Has Irma la Douce aged badly?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Jan 20247/10
I love the first half hour of this film. It's all about the fastidious policeman "Patou" (Jack Lemmon) who is unwittingly transferred into a Parisian red light district where he encounters the eponymous hooker (Shirley MacLaine) plying her trade with her little dog. He smells a rat and immediately calls for a police raid on the hotel in which she works. Bad mistake! Not least because one of his bosses is enjoying the hospitality of the house - so he gets fired. Now pretty much resident in the café of "Moustache" (Lou Jacobi) across from her workplace, he becomes increasingly frustrated that this woman that he is now enamoured of is still working, so he concocts a cunning plan to adopt the identity of a visiting British lord and to woo her into a relationship that's exclusive. Initially this is a success - paid for by borrowed money from his new best friend, but when "Moustache" starts to want repaying, "Patou" has to start working overnight in the adjacent meat market and his burning of the candles at both ends soon causes consternation with "Irma". Eventually he concludes that his lordly lark isn't sustainable and so fakes his suicide. The razor-sharp mind of "Insp. Lefevre" (Hers
Read the whole review on TMDB - John Chardon TMDB · Jul 20197/10
One of Wilder's most divisive film's amongst his fans. Adapted from Alexandre Breffort's stage musical, Irma la Douce in film form turns into something of a roller-coaster ride. Even allowing for the absence of the songs (a major gripe with purists), the film is far too bloated to really achieve the heights of being a great comedy classic. If it had been condensed to perhaps a 100 minute film then I think it could have achieved the splendour that some sequences hint at. As it is though, there is still much to enjoy, and nobody should be under the impression that this film isn't funny, because it is, but just how long can you stretch the joke Mr Wilder? I think the chief thing that sticks out is just how did Wilder get such an overtly sexual farce past the censors? He pushes the boundary more than usual with this one, and I honestly would be surprised if he himself wasn't surprised to get away with so much cheeky sexual shenanigans. The sets are fabulous from Alexandre Trauner, and Andre Previn's score is perfect and in tune with the Parisian heart of the film, but the lead actors here are oddly not firing on all cylinders. Jack Lemmon's hopeless romantic Nestor is the core humour c
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Cast
- Shirley MacLaineIrma La Douce
- Jack LemmonNestor Patou
- Lou JacobiMoustache
- Bruce YarnellHippolyte
- Herschel BernardiInspector Lefevre
- Hope HolidayLolita
- Joan ShawleeAmazon Annie
- Grace Lee WhitneyKiki
- Paul DubovAndre
- Howard McNearConcierge
Crew
- Billy WilderDirector
- Billy WilderScreenplay
- I. A. L. DiamondScreenplay
- Joseph LaShelleDirector of Photography
- André PrevinOriginal Music Composer
- Daniel MandellEditor
- I. A. L. DiamondProducer
- Billy WilderProducer
- Edward L. AlpersonProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Some Like It Hot 195980% alikeBoth comic, classical in form.
Wicked Little Letters 202480% alikeBoth comic, classical in form.
The Gold Rush 192578% alikeBoth comic, classical in form.
The Ladykillers 195578% alikeBoth comic, classical in form.
Victor/Victoria 198277% alikeBoth comic, classical in form.
Both comic, classical in form.
Both classical in form.
The Prince and the Showgirl 195776% alikeBoth comic, classical in form.
The Muppet Show 197672% alikeTelevision · Both comic.
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Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
