Irma la Douce

Director: Billy Wilder
Year Released: 1963
Rating: 3.0

Underrated Wilder romantic comedy with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine (who were so magnetic together in The Apartment) for this story about a Parisian police officer who falls in love with a prostitute ... with a heart of gold (ugh). They become an item, but his jealous side torments him and he devises a plan to get her off the streets and away from her 'customers.' The story may be so-so (and the picture about twenty minutes too long), but that doesn't hinder the performances in the least - Lemmon and MacLaine are magic together - and, there to help, is a great supporting cast (most notably a humorous bartender who claims to have been everything from a college professor to a lawyer and finishes every trip down memory lane with 'but that's another story'). Fun and carefree (it's whimsical filmmaking at its best), you'd be foolish to not surrender.