What if Billy Wilder had directed this?
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deforest-1 — 12 years ago(August 19, 2013 02:48 AM)
Yeah, a good murder in the middle of everything would have given it that special Wilder insouciance, like Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, He did ok better than ok with a Sherlock Holmes movie in 1970 to extend a great legacy.
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franzkabuki — 13 years ago(April 13, 2012 10:42 PM)
It would have been awful & idiotically unfunny just as all other Wilder "comedies" The Fortune Cookie, One Two Three and Seven Year Itch. Only Some Like It Hot is largely tolerable due to its more adventurous nature. The guy made great dramas and even OK semi-comedies like The Apartment, but had no talent for comedy whatsoever.
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nelson95 — 13 years ago(April 14, 2012 07:42 AM)
I don't know that I agree with that. He directed "The Front Page" which also starred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and that was really good! In fact, of all the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau movies I thought that was the bestit's certainly my personal favorite!
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franzkabuki — 13 years ago(April 15, 2012 01:14 PM)
Isnt The Front Page a remake of that Howard Hawks movie, His Girl Friday? Anyway, Ive actually seen it, but so long ago - and only in parts - that I forgot. Maybe Ill watch it again sometime (didnt it get a rather lousy critical reception, though?.
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nelson95 — 13 years ago(April 15, 2012 06:22 PM)
You're rightit was a remake of "His Girl Friday" but all the write-ups I've seen on "The Front Page" have been really goodcan't recall a single bad one. I also have that movie in video and I still enjoy watching it from time to time.
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itamarscomix — 13 years ago(January 06, 2013 04:39 AM)
It wasn't a remake of 'His Girl Friday', it was a different version of the play 'The Front Page' from which 'His Girl Friday' was also adapted; actually, Wilder's version was closer to the original play (the character Lemmon played in Wilder's version was a man in the original play, but switched to a woman in the Hawks version).
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vinceb-3 — 11 years ago(January 06, 2015 10:30 AM)
I respectfully disagree. The Fortune Cookie and The Seven Year Itch are both hysterically funny, in my humble opinion. I think Matthau even won an Academy Award for The Fortune Cookie, and Tom Ewell is comedy gold in the Seven Year Itch. But to each his own, that's what these message boards are for, to discuss and sometimes disagree over movies.
As for The Odd Couple, Gene Saks did a fine job with the movie. I watched it again recently and especially the early scene at the poker table, where the guys are convinced Felix is suicidal, is brilliantly acted and directed. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure Billy Wilder would have made a great version of the movie too. -
darryl-tahirali — 11 years ago(July 31, 2014 01:49 PM)
What if Billy Wilder had directed this?
I understand he wanted to direct it real bad but they got Gene Saks instead. - nelson95
I don't know about the "getting" of Gene Saks, but Saks did direct the Broadway play. Not having seen that production, which starred Walter Matthau and Art Carney as Felix, nor not knowing about how it was staged, I don't know whether Saks made any significant changes for the film version.
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faterson — 10 years ago(January 20, 2016 08:48 PM)
It would have been very different under Billy Wilder, perhaps not as crappy as this one. What a terrible disappointment this was for me. The Fortune Cookie is a masterpiece, but The Odd Couple was excruciating to watch that's how badly directed it was, although the play itself may be weak, I don't know. In any case, horribly directed movie here.