Irma la Douce
Encyclopedia
This article is about the film. For the stage musical, see Irma La Douce (musical)
Irma La Douce (musical)
Irma La Douce is a musical with music by Marguerite Monnot and French lyrics and book by Alexandre Breffort. The English lyrics and book are by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. It was first produced in Paris in 1956.-Productions:...



Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 starring Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

 and Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...

, directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

.

It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce
Irma La Douce (musical)
Irma La Douce is a musical with music by Marguerite Monnot and French lyrics and book by Alexandre Breffort. The English lyrics and book are by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. It was first produced in Paris in 1956.-Productions:...

 by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.

Plot

The film version of Irma la Douce ["Irma the Sweet"] tells the story of Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

), an honest cop who, after being transferred from a quiet village to Paris, finds a street full of prostitutes and duly reports them. The police inspector, who is Nestor's superior, has been aware of those prostitutes but let them off by accepting bribes, so he fires Nestor, who is conveniently framed for bribery. Kicked off the force and humiliated, Nestor finds himself drawn to the very neighborhood that ended his career with the Paris police - returning to Chez Moustache, a popular hangout for prostitutes and their pimps. Down on his luck, Nestor becomes close friends with Irma La Douce (Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...

), a popular prostitute. He also reluctantly accepts, as a confidant, the proprietor of Chez Moustache, a man known only as "Moustache". (In a running joke, Moustache (Lou Jacobi
Lou Jacobi
Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi was a Canadian character actor.-Life and career:Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Ontario to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch...

), a seemingly ordinary barkeep, suggests a storied prior life - claiming to have been, among other things, an attorney and a doctor, ending with the repeated line "but that's another story".) After Irma dumps her pimp boyfriend, Nestor moves in with her, and he soon finds himself as Irma's new pimp.

Jealous of the thought of Irma with other men, Nestor comes up with a plan to stop Irma's prostitution. But he soon finds out that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. He invents an alter-ego, "Lord X", a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 peer who "becomes" Irma's sole client. Nestor's plans to keep Irma off the streets soon backfire and she becomes suspicious, since Nestor must work long and hard to earn the cash "Lord X" pays Irma. When Irma decides to leave Paris with the fictitious Lord X, Nestor decides to end the charade. Unaware that he's being tailed by Irma's former pimp, he finds a secluded stretch along the river Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...

 and tosses his disguise into it. The pimp, not having seen Nestor change his clothes, sees "Lord X"'s clothes floating in the water, and concludes that Nestor murdered him. Arrested by the police, Nestor is advised by Moustache against revealing that Lord X was a fabrication. "The jails are full of innocent people because they told the truth," the barkeep claims. Following Moustache's advice, Nestor admits to having killed Lord X, but only because of his love for Irma.

Hauled off to jail, but with Irma in love with him, Nestor is sentenced to 15 years' hard labor. Learning that Irma is pregnant, and with Moustache's help, Nestor escapes from prison and returns to Irma. He narrowly avoids being recaptured when the police search for him in Irma's apartment, but, donning his old uniform, Nestor simply blends in with the other police. With the help of Irma's ex-pimp, Nestor arranges for the police to search for him along the Seine from which, dressed as Lord X, he emerges. Knowing he can't be rearrested for a murder that the police now know didn't occur, Nestor rushes to church, where he plans to marry Irma. They barely make it through the ceremony before Irma delivers their baby. While Nestor and everyone else is occupied with Irma, Moustache notices one of the guests sitting alone in the front row. Rising from his seat and walking past Moustache, the guest is none other than Lord X! A clearly baffled Moustache looks at Lord X, and then at the audience. "But that's another story", he says.

Awards

Though the film is not a musical, it won André Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...

 an Academy Award for Best Score—Adaptation or Treatment. There is also a scene in the film, in which Shirley MacLaine exclaims "Dis-donc!" whilst dancing on a table, which appears to be a deliberate tribute to the musical from which the film is derived.

The film was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

 (Shirley MacLaine) and Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...

.

Cast

  • Jack Lemmon
    Jack Lemmon
    John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

     as Nestor Patou/Lord X
  • Shirley MacLaine
    Shirley MacLaine
    Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...

     as Irma la Douce
  • Lou Jacobi
    Lou Jacobi
    Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi was a Canadian character actor.-Life and career:Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Ontario to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch...

     as Moustache
  • Bruce Yarnell
    Bruce Yarnell
    Bruce Yarnell was an American actor who co-starred in the second season of NBC's Western television series Outlaws, set in the lawless Oklahoma Territory. He was also a noted Broadway and opera baritone.Yarnell played Deputy U.S. Marshal Chalk Breeson, having replaced Jock Gaynor in the role of...

     as Hippolyte
  • Grace Lee Whitney
    Grace Lee Whitney
    Grace Lee Whitney, also known as Ruth Whitney and Lee Whitney is an American actress and entertainer. She is best known for playing the role of Janice Rand on the Star Trek television series and subsequent films.-Early life:...

     as Kiki the Cossack
  • Joan Shawlee
    Joan Shawlee
    Joan Shawlee , also credited as Joan Fulton, was an American film and television actress.Her most notable roles were small roles in Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder films. Her most famous role was as Sweet Sue in the 1959 comedy classic, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack...

     as Amazon Annie
  • Hope Holliday as Lolita
  • Sheryl Deauville as Carmen
  • Ruth Earl as one of the Zebra twins
  • Jane Earl as one of the Zebra twins
  • Harriette Young as Mimi the MauMau
  • Herschel Bernardi
    Herschel Bernardi
    Herschel Bernardi was an American film, Broadway, and television actor....

     as Inspector Lefevre
  • Cliff Osmond
    Cliff Osmond
    Cliff Osmond is an American character actor and television screenwriter most famous for his role of "Barney" in Billy Wilder's "Kiss Me, Stupid"...

     as police sergeant
  • Tura Satana
    Tura Satana
    Tura Satana was an American actress and former exotic dancer. She was best known for her role as "Varla" in Russ Meyer's 1965 cult film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.-Early life:...

     as Suzette Wong
  • Billy Beck
    Billy Beck
    Billy Beck was an American character actor.-Career:Beck has appeared in small roles since the 50's in such films as Irma la Douce , The Patsy , The Fortune Cookie , Nickelodeon , House , and the 1988 remake The Blob as the first victim of the title creature.-External links:...

     as Officer Dupont
  • Edgar Barrier
    Edgar Barrier
    Edgar Barrier was an American actor who appeared on radio, stage, and screen. In the 1930s he was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and played Simon Templar on The Saint radio show....

     as General Lafayette
  • Bill Bixby
    Bill Bixby
    Wilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist.His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series...

     as the tattooed sailor
  • James Caan
    James Caan
    James Caan is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado...

     as the soldier with radio
  • Louis Jordan
    Louis Jordan
    Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...

     as Narrator
  • Paul Frees
    Paul Frees
    Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...

     as Trailer Narrator

Soundtrack

All compositions by André Previn.
  1. "Main Title" 2:14
  2. "Meet Irma" 1:42
  3. "This Is the Story" 3:16
  4. "Nestor the Honest Policeman" 1:54
  5. "Our Language of Love" 2:04
  6. "Don't Take All Night" 5:43
  7. "The Market" 6:28
  8. "Easy Living the Hard Way" 3:16
  9. "Escape" 2:13
  10. "Wedding Ring" 1:35
  11. "The Return of Lord X" 1:24
  12. "In the Tub with Fieldglasses" 2:27
  13. "Goodbye Lord X" 3:17
  14. "I'm Sorry Irma" 1:38
  15. "Juke Box: Let's Pretend Love" 3:07
  16. "Juke Box: Look Again" 2:16
  17. "But That's Another Story" 0:38

Remakes

  • Irma la Douce was remade for French television
    Television
    Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

     in 1972.
  • The film is remade in India
    India
    India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

     as the controversial Hindi
    Hindi
    Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

     film Manoranjan
    Manoranjan
    Manoranjan is a 1974 Indian Hindi film directed by Shammi Kapoor. It is a remake of Irma La Douce. Sanjeev Kumar plays Jack Lemmon's role, Zeenat Aman Shirley MacLaine's and Shammi Kapoor plays Lou Jacobi's. Hotel Casanova is called Hotel Mauj!...

     with Sanjeev Kumar and Zeenat Aman
    Zeenat Aman
    Zeenat Aman is an Indian actress who has appeared in Hindi films, notably in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the second runner up in the Miss India Contest and went on to win the Miss Asia Pacific in 1970...

     reprising the roles of Jack Lemmon
    Jack Lemmon
    John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

     and Shirley MacLaine
    Shirley MacLaine
    Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...

    respectively.
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