Jack Lemmon stars as Stanley Ford, a successful cartoonist and a devout bachelor who shares a lavish apartment with his manservant, Charles (Terry-Thomas). While attending a friend's bachelor party, Stanley drunkenly falls in love with a gorgeous Italian girl (Virna Lisi) who pops out of a cake at the party! In his drunken state he impulsively marries her, seriously regretting it the next day. Stanley can't get a divorce because his Italian bride doesn't speak a word of English! She is however a "domestic goddess," plying him with rich Italian food until poor Stanley (who we saw as such an athletic specimen in his bachelor days) waitline increases dramatically.
I think this film is hilarious and very beautiful, there is a wonderful Technicolor shot of Manhattan that opens the film and the colours are gorgeous, just like all the Cary Grant films. The colours add so much to the style and tone. The whole screenplay is centred around the fact that men should never get married and that having a wife is the worst possible thing to happen in a mans life. Its really very politically in-correct when you think about it!!! Feminists should be outraged, but I think even hard-core ones would fall for its charm. Its impossible to find this film offensive, I think this is down to Axelrod's clever writing because manages to make the film humorous to both men and women. This is because it's a clever comedy, and with an actor like Jack Lemmon who everybody loves, his character is never acting out of malice. That's why its funny, you know Lemmon will pull through as the nice guy at the end of the film,
Which he does of course!This film is incredibly stylish, the clothes are amazing, and I would quite happily live in his apartment, and this time period come to think of it! This makes the concept work because you are really jealous of Stanley's life when the film begins, so you feel his pain when 'she' comes into his live and invades his gorgeous apartment. My favourite parts in the film are when Stanley acts out scenes (for his comic strip 'Brash Brannigan') while his manservant Charles photographs him. Having your own comic strip has to be the best job in the world! Stanley has an amazing studio where he draws his cartoon strips.
Stanley's comic strip mirrors his life, he prides himself on the fact than Brash Brannigan never does anything he, himself couldn't do (that's why he acts out the scenes himself you see.) So when Stanley has had enough of his wife he decides to kill her off in his comic strip. he acts this out with a mannequin over the streets of Manhattan. Well, she comes in the next day to see the comic strip and feels so hurt that she leaves him without saying goodbye. Of course the next day the whole of New York are reading the comic strip in the newspaper and when news gets out about his wife's sudden disappearance, everyone thins Stanley has actually murdered his wife.
Made in 1965, same year as 'The Great Race' another Jack Lemmon classic...
...Mel Keefer drew all the comic strips for the film, so I thought he definitely deserves a mention!
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