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Jack Lemmon: Retrospective {1925-2001}

Jack Lemmon {1925-2001}
 Reviewed by: Tom Reynolds
Genre: Comedian, dramatic actor, entertainer, consummate performer, consummate professional, nice guy
DVDS: "Mister Roberts," "Bell, Book and Candle," "Some Like It Hot," "The Apartment," "Irma la Douce," "The Fortune Cookie," "The Odd Couple," "The Front Page," "Airport '77," "The China Syndrome," "That's Life!" "JFK," "The Player," "Chaplin," "Grumpy Old Men," "Grumpier Old Men," "My Fellow Americans" and "The Odd Couple II."
Audio: The voice of Hardy Greaves in "The Legend of Bagger Vance,"
Language: A good actor will say so much with his eyes, and Lemmon's were windows to his soul.
Subtitle: Felix, George, Mel, Shelley
Length: 69 Films
Rating: The Best{and there will never be another like him again."Ever"
Release Date: John Uhler Lemmon III was born in an elevator.
Studio: Assorted
Commentary: " The day I don't find romance in a loaf of bread, I'm going to quit."
Documentaries: Craftsmanship to each performance
Featurettes: Lemmon and Matthau
Filmography/Biography: Everyman, Different parts, different films
Interviews: "When most actors walk into a room, you've got nothing. When Jack walks into a room you've got a situation." By Billy Wilder
Trailers/TV Spots: Consistently connect with his audience
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: Relive so many of those moments again, moments that remind us what a theater filled with laughter sounds like.
Music Video: So many pictures in our minds
Other: One-of-a-kind; he was unique.
Cast and Crew: A Cast of Thousands
Screenplay by: Dramatic role of alcoholic Joe Clay in Blake Edwards' "Days of Wine and Roses," "The Odd Couple ('68)," in which he brought the fastidious Felix Unger to life, playing Harry Stoner, a dress manufacturer who gets involved in some rather untoward goings-on, in "Save the Tiger,"
Produced by: The magic of Jack Lemmon.
Directed By: Billy Wilder, Blake Edwards, just to name a few.
Music: A piano player, A self-taught, accomplished pianist, Lemmon was proud of having contributed a song to one of his films, "Fire Down Below," in 1957, and he wrote the theme for "Tribute," in 1980.
The Review: John Uhler Lemmon III was born in an elevator. Perhaps that was fate's way of preparing him for the usual ups and downs of a career in show business, which for him began in the late '40s, after his graduation from Harvard University, and spanned over fifty years. Early on, he worked as a piano player in a beerhall, then on radio, off Broadway, in television during it's infancy (in the early '50s), and finally on Broadway. In 1954 he made his motion picture debut with Judy Holiday in "It Should Happen To You." A year later he received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Ensign Pulver in "Mr. Roberts," his fourth film. He went on to earn the Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1972 film, "Save the Tiger," and received a total of eight Oscar nominations in all (seven of which were for Best Actor), two nominations at Cannes for Best Leading Actor, both of which he won, for "The China Syndrome" (1979), and "Missing" (1980), and three Emmy nominations, winning for the acclaimed 1999 film "Tuesdays With Morrie." In 1988 he also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2000 Emmy ceremony. Lemmon is best remembered for his comedy, and yet five of his nominations for Best Actor were for dramatic roles. He was nominated in 1959 for his role as Jerry/Daphne in "Some Like It Hot," and again in 1960 as Bud Baxter in "The Apartment," both of which were directed by Billy Wilder, whom Lemmon has called "The greatest filmmaker of all time." Of Lemmon, Wilder once said, "When most actors walk into a room, you've got nothing. When Jack walks into a room you've got a situation." They would go on to do a total of seven feature films together, converting their mutual admiration and Jack's ability to create a "situation" into some of the most memorable moments in the history of the silver screen. Who can ever forget Jack in drag as Daphne in "Some Like It Hot," running with that bullet-riddled instrument case or fending off Joe E. Brown's advances, or that terrible cold of Bud's in "The Apartment," or as the hapless, naive Nestor Patou in "Irma la Douce?" It was also Wilder who brought Lemmon and Walter Matthau together for the first time in the 1966 film, "The Fortune Cookie." Lemmon and Matthau appeared in twelve feature films together, making them one of the most beloved and enduring comedy teams-- who were never actually a team-- ever, since Hope and Crosby. Their last film together was Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple II," in 1998. For Lemmon's one film as a director, in 1971, he had Matthau as his star, in "Kotch." A self-taught, accomplished pianist, Lemmon was proud of having contributed a song to one of his films, "Fire Down Below," in 1957, and he wrote the theme for "Tribute," in 1980. By 1962, Lemmon had established himself as a gifted, comedic actor, when he took on the decidedly dramatic role of alcoholic Joe Clay in Blake Edwards' "Days of Wine and Roses," starring opposite Lee Remick. It landed him his fourth Academy Award nomination, and left no doubt as to his ability, range and versatility as an actor. He followed up his triumph in that film with "Irma la Douce," and during the next few years created a string of his most memorable comedies and characters, including "The Great Race ('65)," (again with Blake Edwards), in which he played Professor Fate, the epitome of the villain from early melodrama, complete with curlicue mustache and top hat, "The Fortune Cookie ('66)," "The Odd Couple ('68)," in which he brought the fastidious Felix Unger to life, and "The Out-of-Towners ('70)," which took hapless Midwesterner George Kellerman on a business trip to The Big Apple. He turned again to drama in 1973, playing Harry Stoner, a dress manufacturer who gets involved in some rather untoward goings-on, in "Save the Tiger," for which he received his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor. After that, he successfully alternated between comedy and drama with a facility that no other actor has ever been able to duplicate. Certainly many dramatic actors have played comedy, and many comedians have attempted dramatic roles; but no one has ever achieved the level of quality, nor brought such expertise and craftsmanship to a performance in both genres as Lemmon. He was quite simply one-of-a-kind; he was unique. From his debut in 1954, Lemmon's presence was felt in every one of his sixty-nine films, from starring roles to doing the voice of Hardy Greaves in "The Legend of Bagger Vance," and in such movies as "The Prisoner of Second Avenue ('74)," "The China Syndrome ('79)," "Tribute ('80)," "Missing ('82)," "That's Life! ('86)," in which he appeared with his wife, Felicia Farr, and his son, Chris, "JFK ('91)," David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross ('92)," for which he received some of the best reviews of his career, "Grumpy Old Men ('93)," "My Fellow Americans ('96)," "Hamlet ('96)" and "The Odd Couple II ('98)." He also gave acclaimed performances in the made-for-television movies, "Twelve Angry Men ('97)," "Inherit the Wind ('99, for which he received a Golden Globe Award)" and "Tuesdays With Morrie ('99)," receiving Emmy nominations for all three. When Lemmon decided to become an actor, he went to his father-- who was an executive with a bakery company-- to borrow a few hundred dollars to go to New York and see about getting an agent, or getting into the theater somehow. His father said, "You really want to give it a shot, huh?" To which young Jack replied, "Yeah, I've got to find out. Otherwise, I'll never really know whether I could have done it or not." And his father said, "You've done similar stuff, you've done enough to know that you love it?" "I love it, " Jack said. His father gave him the money and said, "Great. Because the day I don't find romance in a loaf of bread, I'm going to quit." Lemmon said it was the greatest line his father ever said to him; he loved it, and never forgot it. And in retrospect, how lucky we are that his father understood that kind of love, that passion. Because ultimately, it gave us Jack Lemmon.
Image and Sound Comedian, dramatic actor, entertainer, consummate performer, consummate professional, nice guy; that was Jack Lemmon. An actor who was able to consistently connect with his audience, because he always managed to bring that sense of Everyman to whatever role he was playing. And that's the way people remember him, as Everyman. Different parts, different films perhaps, but always able to give you something with which to empathize, identify or relate. In a dramatic role, no matter who the character was, there would be something about him that would convey that sense of just being an ordinary person confronted with extraordinary circumstances, like Jack Godell, an executive with a nuclear power plant faced with a meltdown in "The China Syndrome." And all you had to do to know what was going on inside of him was look at his eyes. A good actor will say so much with his eyes, and Lemmon's were windows to his soul. The range of emotion contained therein was remarkable. In a comedy, he was the guy beset with a relentless onslaught of woe, none of which was ever his fault. Consider George Kellerman in "The Out-of-Towners." What George goes through takes Murphy's Law to the Nth degree, but he never gives up or gives in; he's the little guy standing his ground, taking his lumps and fighting back for every other little guy in the world-- he does not go gently into that dark night. Who can ever forget George, standing in the middle of the street railing at New York City and everybody in it? It's that kind of indelible image that Lemmon was able to impress upon the memory time after time in countless films. He gave you the underdog to root for, or the guy you just wanted to see win, like Mel, in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," who-- frustrated and paranoid-- buys a snow shovel to exact revenge on a neighbor, but has to wait for it to snow first. And even as he approached an especially anxious situation, and that nervous, harried, adrenaline inspired delivery of his kicked in, there was still an underlying gentleness about the man that was inescapable. As Shelley Levene in "Glengarry Glen Ross," you were able to empathize with him so readily because he let you in, he allowed you to see through all the exterior bravura to the agony encased within, and at times Shelley's pain is almost tangible. He's a guy who made a mistake-- he knew it and you knew it-- but you didn't want to see him suffer for it. This is what Lemmon brought to the screen; and he leaves us with so many pictures in our minds, images that can be so easily accessed and which remain vivid even after a number of years. And how great it is that we now have the magic of DVD that enables us to relive so many of those moments again, moments that remind us what a theater filled with laughter sounds like. Yes, Lemmon-- with a couple of lines-- could fill a theater with the sounds of joy, or he could induce a poignant silence-- instantly and totally-- the kind of silence that resonates within it's own quietude. Such was the magic of Jack Lemmon.
The Extras Jack Lemmon movies currently on DVD include: "Mister Roberts," "Bell, Book and Candle," "Some Like It Hot," "The Apartment," "Irma la Douce," "The Fortune Cookie," "The Odd Couple," "The Front Page," "Airport '77," "The China Syndrome," "That's Life!" "JFK," "The Player," "Chaplin," "Grumpy Old Men," "Grumpier Old Men," "My Fellow Americans" and "The Odd Couple II."
Commentary I never knew Jack Lemmon personally, but I feel as if I did. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Because that's the effect he had on people, and on audiences everywhere. Lemmon was like an old friend, a family member or a neighbor, and as far back as I can remember, he was there. He was that favorite song you hear over and over again on the radio that becomes a bookmark for a certain time and place in your life, which every time you hear it now transports you there. I vividly remember being nine years old and my father taking me to the Cornell Theater in Burbank, California, to see "Operation Mad Ball." It was the day I met Jack Lemmon on the screen, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Just as I remember going with my father to the Encino Theater to see "Some Like It Hot," and a year or so later going with both my parents to see "The Apartment," at the Panorama Theater in Panorama City. Then there was "The Fortune Cookie," which I saw with my future wife at the Van Nuys Drive-In Theater in Van Nuys, California. All moments from my life that I can recall with acute clarity today, and I can't help but think it was more than a coincidence that Jack Lemmon was there with me each time. Sure, other actors and films have had a similar effect on me from time to time, but never to the extent that Lemmon's films have. And I truly think it has to do with the joy Lemmon's films evoked, that emotional connection he could make with people of all ages. Going back and watching some of his films from different stages of his career is like looking at the family album; there are so many great pictures-- many of which, for whatever reason, seem to have simply fallen into disregard and are rarely seen today on television, video and most especially, DVD. Like "Tribute," in which Lemmon gives a powerful performance as Scottie Templeton, a life-of-the-party playwright dying of cancer who is attempting to reconcile with his estranged son; or "Missing," in which Lemmon plays Ed Horman, a man who goes searching for his son in a politically volatile Latin American Country-- another terrific performance by Lemmon, who was directed by Costa-Gavras, of whom Lemmon once said, "Both professionally and personally, he's one of the greatest men I've ever known." And there are so many others, like "The Grass Harp," or "Hamlet," directed by Kenneth Branagh; "Buddy, Buddy," "Good Neighbor Sam" and "How To Murder Your Wife." So many exceptional films by an actor who could run you through a gamut of emotions like few of his peers could ever even hope to even attempt. Actor Ving Rhames left no doubt as to his admiration for Lemmon at the 1998 Golden Globe Awards when, after having won for Best Actor in a TV Movie, Rhames called Lemmon (who had also been nominated) to the stage, whereupon he presented him the award because he thought he deserved it. For anyone who was watching that night, as I was, it was a moment that will never be forgotten; a moment that said so much so succinctly about the kind of actor-- and the kind of man-- Jack Lemmon was.
Final Words: Jack Lemmon was many things to many people; a great actor, a loving father and husband, an artist-- the list could go on and on. He was a man who was greatly admired and loved. And of all the things that could be said about him, the most important, I think, is the fact that he had a gift-- he could make people happy, could make them laugh-- and that he shared that gift selflessly with the whole world. Because of Jack Lemmon, the world is perhaps just a little bit brighter today. To say he will be missed just doesn't seem to be enough somehow. And yet, maybe it is; because like so many of the endearing characters he created-- Felix, George, Mel, Shelley-- it gives you something to identify with so easily. So let's just call it that. For Jack Lemmon will indeed be missed; and there will never be another like him again. Ever.


Send all Comments to Teakwood Productions
 July 4, 2001