The Jack Lemmon Star Collection (Some Like It Hot / Avanti! / The Apartment / How To Murder Your Wife) [Import]

My one main gripe with this new collection from MGM is that, while I love Jack Lemmon, almost everybody already owns Some Like it Hot in one form or another! That particular movie has been released to death by MGM. First in 2001 as a standard DVD, then again in 2001 as a "Special Edition" DVD, followed by its release in 2003 in the Billy Wilder DVD collection, next it was released in 2006 in a nice 2-Disc collector's edition, MGM should have left it at that. Instead, MGM released the "Decades" version in 2007, and finally it again in 2008 with the Billy Wilder Gift set! And now this! My point is while Some Like it Hot is a excellent movie, MGM could have taken this opportunity to release some new more obscure Jack Lemmon movies instead of the same ones over and over. MGM should have followed Columbia's lead with the The Jack Lemmon Film Collection (Phffft! / Operation Mad Ball / The Notorious Landlady / Under the Yum Yum Tree / Good Neighbor Sam) and released some Jack Lemmon movies that have yet to see the light of day on DVD. For instance, Irma La Douce is no longer available unless you buy it in the mammoth, and expensive, Billy Wilder Collection. Why couldn't MGM have included Irma La Douce in this box set instead? There are other Lemmon films in MGM's library that could have been included in this set. Yes, they may be subpar to Some Like it Hot, but we also haven't seen them released a million times on DVD like Some Like it Hot. All that being said, if you have by some chance missed purchasing Some Like it Hot, along with the rest of the movies in the set, then I would recommend buying this set as it has 4 great films and the price is really cheap compared to buying each individually. So, 5 stars for the films themselves, 1 star for MGM's total lack of creativity, 3 stars overall.

This is a collection of 4 United Artists films starring Jack Lemmon, 3 of which are written & directed by the legendary Billy Wilder. 2 are indisputably classics, the third an overlooked minor gem and the fourth, well . . .

The classics are "Some Like It Hot" and "The Apartment." It would be hard to find someone who HASN'T seen or at least heard of "Some Like It Hot," so I don't need to repeat its merits. "The Apartment," which won Best Picture for 1960, is about an up-and-coming business exec who succeeds by loaning out his apartment to his bosses for affairs. It features great performances by Shirley Maclaine (moving away from her early "kooky" roles) and Fred MacMurray who today is best remembered for "My Three Sons" and his Disney films. His role here reminds you that he is also the guy from the original "Double Indemnity." "The Apartment" is the romantic comedy which manages the difficult feat of being both cynical and sentimental and features a wonderful title song. Ray Walston (of "Damn Yankees" and "My Favorite Martian" fame) has a small role as one of Lemmon's lecherous bosses.

"Avanti" is an overlooked gem. A minor gem, to be sure, but still. It concerns a stuffy Baltimore business executive who flies to Italy to recover the body of his father who has died in a car accident. While there, he meets a young English woman (Juliet Mills), the daughter of the woman Lemmon's father was secretly dating. It is neither grim like "Stalag 17" or borderline slapsticky like "Some Like It Hot." Instead it's a quiet comedy, focussing on the gradual evolution of Lemmon's character and the culture clash between Baltimore and Italy. Clive Revill nearly steals the movie as the hotel manager, Carlucci. The music, mostly traditional Italian songs, also adds to the film. This movie was made in the 1970's and reflects that era's view towards sex. Note: while the other 3 films are all rated G, this one is rated R for mild nudity.

The last film, "How to Murder Your Wife," unfortunately hasn't aged well. Jack Lemmon is Sam Ford, a cartoonist who leads the "ideal" bachelor lifestyle. His comic strip, "Bash Brannigan," is notable for the fact that everything "Bash" does has already been done by Sam. After getting drunk at a party one night, Sam finds that he has married a pretty Italian girl who doesn't speak English. The macho cartoonist quickly becomes stereotypical henpecked husband. Sam decides to kill off his alter ego's wife, but when his actual wife disappears, Sam is suspected of foul play. As I said, the film's attitudes about relationships is dated. Terry-Thomas is a hoot, though, as Sam Ford's manservant.

The only extras are trailers of Billy Wilder films, such as "Irma la Douce" and "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes." Despite this, it's worth the price for "Some Like It Hot" and "The Apartment" with "Avanti" for dessert!

I did not own Some Like It Hot so happy to get it in this collection so not as upset it was included here. Not this collections fault that others already owned a copy or two. I've only watched The Apartment and enjoyed it for being an old movie it held it's own fairly well. I'm on occasion unhappy with an oldie for it's jarring lack of sophistication and acting. But this one did well. I remember bits of the ther movies and so have high hopes I"ll enjoy those too. Bought new and it is in good condition and set for wide screen at least The Apartment was. Normally I watch them on a wide screen but used an older TV that's not but managed to enjoy it despite the appearance. Sound was fine and no skips and each movie has it's own disk which is a real plus.