Do you want to see ‘Irma La Douce’?

Irma La Douce (1963)

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Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 14
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1

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Movie Info

This romantic comedy opens with a resounding warning: its chief concerns are passion, bloodshed, desire, and death. "Everything," exclaims the narrator, "that makes life worth living." Irma La Douce (Shirley MacClaine) is Paris' most prosperous prostitute. Wise, endearing, and compulsively clad in green, Irma rules the rue Casanova. She triumphantly works the most coveted corner on a street where the cops gladly look the other way and the naughty johns leave tips. Her street is a content

Unrated, 2 hr. 24 min.

Romance, Classics, Comedy

Directed By: Billy Wilder

Written By: Alexandre Breffort, Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1963 Wide

On DVD: Sep 18, 2001

Cast

Jack Lemmon
Nestor Patou/Lord X
Shirley MacLaine
Irma La Douce
Lou Jacobi
Moustache
Bruce Yarnell
Hippolyte
Herschel Bernardi
Inspector Lefevre
Hope Holiday
Lolita
Joan Shawlee
Amazon Annie
Grace Lee Whitney
Kiki the Cossack
Paul Dubov
Andre
Howard McNear
Concierge
Cliff Osmond
Police Sergeant
Diki Lerner
Jojo
Herb Jones
Casablanca Charlie
Tura Satana
Suzette Wong
Lou Krugman
First Customer
James Brown
Texan Customer
Bill Bixby
Tattooed Sailor
Harriet Young
Mimi the Mau Mau
Sheryl Deauville
Carmen
Billy Beck
Officer Dupont
Edgar Barrier
General Lafayette
Richard Peel
Englishman
Joe Palma
Prison Guard
John Alvin
Customer
Donald Diamond
Man With Samples
Louis Jourdan
Narrator
James Caan

Critic Reviews for Irma La Douce

All Critics (15) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (2) | DVD (9)

A good example of how a movie can be utterly characteristic of its maker and still fall with a resounding thud...

August 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Mr. Lemmon is little short of brilliant...

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

One of Billy Wilder's lesser films, Irma La Douce relies entirely on its two stars, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, neither of whom is particularly good or funny, despite the masks and the accents.

February 17, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Wilder somehow sustains the lively pace and humor for the two-and-a-half hour color comedy.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Just great fun.

February 21, 2008 Comment

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

The movie was filmed on a 360-degree set so shooting could be done in any direction.

August 15, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Wonderful story, stars (Lemmon & MacLaine), director (WIlder). And what a great Previn score.

May 9, 2007 Comment

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Though the saucy French souffl� has a few tasty moments it mostly sinks into being tasteless fare.

March 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Wilder's soft-centred cynicism provides frequent enough laughs without too many longueurs.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

A marriage of paradoxes.

August 6, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

Underrated Wilder

October 16, 2002 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Irma La Douce

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This is another really funny movie from WIlder, and starring the great Jack Lemmon. The story isn't new, and it's predictable sometimes, but that doesn't make the movie an less funny.

September 5, 2010

AJ Verser

Super Reviewer

A brilliant comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley McClane where the charcters and situation escalate way out of control and have hilarious consequences. The humour is still fairly subtle, but this is a totally unique quirky gem of a film, which has gone straight into to my favourites list.

April 21, 2007