Review of Irma La Douce

Introduction

The summary tells you exactly what this is, a romantic comedy from 60s Hollywood by Billy Wilder. Jack Lemmon as the straight arrowed police officer is funny, and plays well off Shirley MacLaine. I hadn`t seen this film before and I was pleasantly surprised by it and enjoyed watching it.

Billy Wilder also directed Lemmon in The Apartment and Some Like It Hot, both written by I.A.L. Diamond as is Irma La Douce. There are no big surprises here, it`s a nice romantic comedy and gets a little farcical but is fun nonetheless. Wilder directs with style and I like the way he uses long takes, bringing out good performances from the cast. The few sets and locations that are used work really well here, and really gives a sense of a story in a small part of town.

Video

Video is quite sharp overall with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. Colours look somewhat subdued but this is more down to production design than any flaw in the transfer. There are noticeable specks throughout the film though and there was one scene with a black vertical line which lasted about a minute, clearly some damage. The lines on pin stripe suits are clearly defined, but there were problems with check patterns showing moiré effects creeping in. These minor niggles aside, the quality was good and doesn`t annoy or detract from the film.

Audio

We have a DD mono track and it`s sufficient enough for the film to do its job. There`s nothing out of the ordinary which would have made surround sound any better except perhaps that Andre Previn`s score might have sounded more defined and dynamic. All the dialouge is clear as a bell and is delivered nicely from the front, there`s no distortion and it`s pretty quiet with no audible hiss or crackle.

Features

This has static menus giving us scene selection and a trailer together with quite a few subtitle options and dubbed languages. The trailer is pretty mundane and lasts a whopping 3.5 minutes! What will spoil this film though, if you haven`t seen it before, is the static picture on the opening menu. This shows a shot from the end of the movie and can spoil things. Not good.

Conclusion

I enjoyed watching this film as it`s pretty easy going and doesn`t require you to really think much at all. I wasn`t sure the first time I watched it but it grew on me and watching it a second time was quite enjoyable. The performances from Lemmon and MacLaine are really good and there are lots of genuinely funny moments in the film. It does get a little silly, but I think it`s perfectly acceptable given the way it`s told. I like the production design with the palette in use reminding me very much of Hollywood movies of the 60s. Irma La Douce is a low priced DVD hence little in the way of extras, so if you`re familiar with Billy Wilder`s style of movie, you won`t be disappointed with this DVD, it`s a nice romantic comedy. If you can forgive the lack of extras, give it a spin!