Star Jack Lemmon was so eager to see Save the Tiger make it to the big screen that he waived his salary rather than have the film exceed its tiny budget. Lemmon portrays "the great American tragedy" as upwardly mobile garment manufacturer Harry Stoner, whose underhanded business tactics are beginning to catch up with him, and whose keeping-up-appearances lifestyle has forced him into bankruptcy. The script, by producer Steve Shagan, does nothing to endear us to Stoner: he flagrantly cheats on
his wife, arranges business deals by servicing his clients with prostitutes, and finally agrees to torch his warehouse to collect the insurance money, all the while paying empty lip service to his lost ideals. Nonetheless, one "feels" for Stoner throughout, especially when he breaks down while giving a speech to his assembled buyers, imagining that the audience is populated by his dead army buddies, who gave up their lives to make the world safe for good-for-nothings like himself. Lemmon's performance won him an Academy Award. Appearing in supporting roles are Jack Gilford as Lemmon's conscience-stricken partner and Thayer David as a smarmy arsonist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Jack Lemmon won the 1973 Best Actor Oscar in John Avildsen's Arthur Miller-like sentimental melodrama, in which he plays a bitter down-on-his-luck L.A. businessman who feels cheated by the American Dream.
Lemmon turns in showy, theatrical work that's appropriate to the not-terribly subtle film around him, but the whole enterprise is one that's best avoided...
Set fire to the factory. Supply women for the clients. Harry Stoner will do anything to get one more season.
December 15, 2009
Wahida K
Super Reviewer
The greatest performance ever given by an actor and Jack Lemmon delivers this in his breathtaking Oscar winning role.
One of the top ten best films of 1973.
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