Phffft (1954)
After they get a divorce after eight years of marriage, a TV writer (Judy Holliday) and a lawyer (Jack Lemmon) find it difficult to adjust to the single life. Based on an original screenplay by George Axelrod (SEVEN YEAR ITCH) and directed by Mark Robson (PEYTON PLACE). This romantic comedy seems a forerunner to the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies that would flourish a few years later. Shot in B&W, it lacks the glamour and lushness of those Technicolor comedies but in Holliday and Lemmon, it has two superb actors with expert comedic timing which the film needs as its script is pretty thin. But at an under 90 minute running time, it doesn't have enough time to wear out its welcome. The film features Kim Novak in her first major role and she's charming as a ditzy Monroe like blonde. Fortunately, Columbia didn't keep casting her in such roles which allowed her career to go in a different path. With Jack Carson, Merry Anders, Donald Curtis and Joyce Jameson.
Great review. I think Novak was criminally underused during her career - she's the best thing in the film. As for Lemmon, i thought his performance was below what he did later. Maybe he was still learning?
ReplyDeleteNovak had a good run from 1954 to 1960 with films like Pushover, Picnic, Pal Joey, Bell Book And Candle, Middle Of The Night, the underrated Strangers When We Meet and of course, Vertigo. But the 1960s weren't kind to her as far as the films she did, some bad career decisions. Reportedly, she turned down Breakfast At Tiffany's and The Hustler, two films which would have helped her career.
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