View source for Irma la Douce

{{Short description|1963 film by Billy Wilder}}
{{about|the film|the stage musical|Irma La Douce (musical)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Irma la Douce
| image          = Irma la Douce 1963 film poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Billy Wilder]]
| screenplay     = {{ubl|Billy Wilder|[[I. A. L. Diamond]]}}
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Irma La Douce (musical)|Irma la Douce]]''<br>1956 play|[[Alexandre Breffort]]}}
| producer       = {{ubl|Billy Wilder|[[Alexandre Trauner]] (uncredited)}}
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Jack Lemmon]]|[[Shirley MacLaine]]}}
| cinematography = [[Joseph LaShelle]]
| editing        = [[Daniel Mandell]]
| music          = [[André Previn]]
| studio         = [[The Mirisch Corporation]]
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{Film date|1963|06|05}}
| runtime        = 147 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $5 million<ref name="imdb">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160408020452/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057187/business Box Office Information for ''Irma la Douce''.] [[IMDb]] via [[Internet Archive]]. Retrieved September 5, 2013.</ref>
| gross          = $25.2 million<ref name="numbers">[http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1963/0IRLD.php Box Office Information for ''Irma la Douce''.] The Numbers. Retrieved September 5, 2013.</ref>
}}
'''''Irma la Douce''''' ({{IPA|fr|iʁ.ma la dus|lang}}, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1963 American [[romantic comedy]] film directed by [[Billy Wilder]] from a screenplay he co-wrote with [[I. A. L. Diamond]], based on the 1956 [[Irma La Douce (musical)|French stage musical of the same name]] by [[Marguerite Monnot]] and Alexandre Breffort.<ref name="Tibbetts p 168">{{cite book |last=Tibbetts |first=John C. |title=Video Versions: Film Adaptations of Plays on Video |year=2000 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-30185-8 |page=168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WsJNknw8tx8C&pg=PA168}}</ref> The film stars [[Jack Lemmon]] and [[Shirley MacLaine]].

==Plot==
Nestor Patou, an honest policeman, has been transferred from the [[Bois de Boulogne]] to [[Les Halles]], a more urban neighborhood in Paris. He finds a street full of prostitutes working at the Hotel Casanova and raids the place, arresting the prostitutes and catching his police department's chief at the same time (while not knowing him). The inspector fires Nestor, who is mistakenly framed for bribery and for insubordination.

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 tavern for prostitutes and pimps. Down on his luck, Nestor befriends Irma la Douce, a popular prostitute. He reluctantly accepts, as a confidant, the proprietor of Chez Moustache, a man known only as Moustache. In a running joke, Moustache tells of a storied prior life, claiming to have been, among other things, an attorney, a colonel in the [[French Foreign Legion|Foreign Legion]], and a doctor who worked with [[Albert Schweitzer]] in Africa, ending with the repeated line, "but that's another story". After saving Irma from her abusive pimp, Hippolyte, Nestor moves in with her and unwittingly becomes a new one.

Nestor becomes infatuated and devises a plan to derail Irma's life as a prostitute. With the help of Moustache, Nestor disguises himself as Lord X, a wealthy English lord, who becomes Irma's exclusive client. Lord X has supposedly been rendered impotent by his service in World War II but is eager to support her in exchange for two visits each week. To finance Lord X's expensive habit, Nestor takes graveyard shifts in the marketplace; since he is missing all night and tired all day, Irma suspects an affair.

Irma seduces Lord X and persuades him to take her to England. At that point, Nestor decides to end the charade and kill off his alter ego. Unaware he is being tailed by Hippolyte, he tosses his disguise into the [[Seine]]. Seeing Lord X's clothes floating in the water, Hippolyte concludes Nestor killed him.

Arrested and sent to prison, Nestor escapes when he discovers that Irma is pregnant. He narrowly avoids being recaptured when the police search for him at the apartment; donning his old uniform, Nestor blends in with the other police and eludes capture.

With the help of Hippolyte, Nestor arranges for the police to search for him along the Seine, from which he emerges dressed as Lord X. Exonerated of the murder, Nestor and Irma agree to get married. At the church, Irma goes into labor and has their baby. Moustache identifies the real Lord X as a guest. As Lord X leaves, a clearly baffled Moustache looks at the audience.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Jack Lemmon]] as Nestor Patou/Lord X
* [[Shirley MacLaine]] as Irma la Douce
* [[Lou Jacobi]] as Moustache
* [[Bruce Yarnell]] as Hippolyte
* [[Herschel Bernardi]] as Inspector Lefevre
* [[Hope Holiday]] as Lolita
* [[Joan Shawlee]] as Amazon Annie
* [[Grace Lee Whitney]] as Kiki the Cossack
* [[Paul Dubov]] as André
* [[Howard McNear]] as concierge
* [[Cliff Osmond]] as police sergeant
* Ruth Earl and Jane Earl as the Zebra twins
* [[Tura Satana]] as Suzette Wong
* [[James Brown (actor)|James Brown]] as customer from Texas
* [[Bill Bixby]] as the tattooed sailor
* [[John Alvin (actor)|John Alvin]] as customer #2
* Harriette Young as Mimi the MauMau
* Sheryl Deauville as Carmen
* [[Billy Beck]] as Officer Dupont
* [[Edgar Barrier]] as General Lafayette (uncredited)
* [[James Caan]] as the U.S. soldier with radio (uncredited)
* [[Louis Jourdan]] as narrator (uncredited)
* [[Paul Frees]] as trailer narrator (uncredited)
}}

==Production==
The film was conceived in 1962 as a vehicle for [[Marilyn Monroe]].<ref name="VultureHound Magazine">{{cite web |last1=Hogan |first1=Katie |title="This is not just a job, it's a profession" – 'Irma La Douce' (Blu-Ray review) |url=https://vulturehound.co.uk/2019/03/this-is-not-just-a-job-its-a-profession-irma-la-douce-blu-ray-review/ |website=VultureHound Magazine |access-date=24 December 2019 |date=18 March 2019 |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224095401/https://vulturehound.co.uk/2019/03/this-is-not-just-a-job-its-a-profession-irma-la-douce-blu-ray-review/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The project would have reunited her with Wilder and Lemmon, both of whom had worked with her on ''[[Some Like It Hot]]''. After [[Death of Marilyn Monroe|Monroe's death]], [[Shirley MacLaine]] was cast in the film after starring in ''[[The Apartment]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Potton |first1=Ed |title=Irma la Douce (1963) review |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/irma-la-douce-1963-review-39tfsgmp7 |website=[[The Times]] |access-date=24 December 2019 |date=15 March 2019}}</ref> MacLaine was paid $350,000 plus a percentage.<ref name="tino">Tino Balio, ''United Artists: The Company The Changed the Film Industry'', Uni of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p 171</ref>

While the film was mostly shot at the [[Samuel Goldwyn Studio]] in Hollywood, some exteriors were shot around Paris: [[Les Halles]], the church of [[Saint-Étienne-du-Mont]], and the banks of the [[Seine]].

==Reception==
The film was successful, grossing $25,246,588 in the United States and Canada<ref name="numbers"/> on a budget of $5 million.<ref name="imdb"/> It was the [[1963 in film|fifth highest-grossing film of 1963]], earning an estimated $12 million in [[theatrical rental|rentals]] in the United States and Canada.<ref>"Top Rental Films of 1963", ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', 8 January 1964 p 37. Please note this figure is film [[Gross rental|rentals]] accruing to distributors, not gross takings.</ref> ''Irma la Douce'' earned over $15 million in worldwide rentals, but because of profit participation for Wilder and the two stars, [[United Artists]] only made a profit of $440,000 during the film's theatrical run.<ref name="tino"/> It was the most popular film of all time in the Netherlands with admissions of 3.6 million.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=November 19, 1993|page=20|title=Netherlands All Time Top 10}}</ref>

[[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a brisk and bubbly film" with Lemmon "little short of brilliant" and MacLaine having "a wonderously casual and candid air that sweeps indignation before it and leaves one sweetly enamoured of her."<ref>Crowther, Bosley (June 6, 1963). [https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/06/archives/the-screen-wilders-irma-la-douceshirley-maclaine-and-jack-lemmon.html "The Screen: Wilder's 'Irma la Douce: Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon Star'".] ''[[The New York Times]]''. p. 37.</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' praised the "scintillating performances" by Lemmon and MacLaine but thought that the film "lacks the originality of some of Wilder's recent efforts" and that the 147-minute running time was "an awfully long haul for a frivolous farce."<ref>"Film Reviews: Irma La Douce". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. June 5, 1963. 6.</ref> Philip K. Scheuer of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that "I found it a brilliant, though outrageously outspoken comedy."<ref>Scheuer, Philip K. (July 3, 1963). "'Irma' Audaciously Funny Wilder Film". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Part IV, p. 9.</ref> [[Richard L. Coe]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' panned the film as "overblown and overlong, two hours and three quarters tediously spent on a single joke."<ref>Coe, Richard L. (June 22, 1963). "Now, Irma's Not So Sweet". ''[[The Washington Post]]''. D6.</ref> ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote, "Though the film stretches for two and a third hours, and rarely ventures away from the two principals and the studio-built Rue Casanova, the humour and spontaneity endure surprisingly well ... most credit goes to Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon for yet another ''tour de force'' of comedy playing."<ref>{{cite journal |date=February 1964 |title=Irma La Douce |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=31 |issue=361 |page=20 }}</ref> The film has a rating of 76% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 21 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/irma_la_douce |title=Irma La Douce |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=June 5, 1963 |access-date=January 13, 2021 }}</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year!! Award !! Category !! Recipients and nominees !! Results
|-
| rowspan=8 |1963 || rowspan=3|[[Academy Awards]] || [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] || Andre Previn || {{won}}<ref name="FilmAffinity oscars" />
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography, Color]] || Joseph LaShelle || {{nom}}<ref name="FilmAffinity oscars" />
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] || [[Shirley MacLaine]]  || {{nom}}<ref name="FilmAffinity oscars">{{cite web |title=36th Academy Awards (1964) – Movies from 1963 |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/awards.php?award_id=academy_awards&year=1964&movie_id=928471 |website=FilmAffinity |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan=3 | [[Golden Globe Awards]] || [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical|Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical]] || Shirley MacLaine || {{won}}<ref name="FilmAffinity golden globes" />  
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]] || Jack Lemmon || {{nom}}<ref name="FilmAffinity golden globes" /> 
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical]] || ''Irma la Douce'' || {{nom}}<ref name="FilmAffinity golden globes">{{cite web |title=21th Golden Globes Awards (1964) – Movies from 1963 |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/awards.php?award_id=goldenglobes&year=1964&movie_id=928471 |website=FilmAffinity |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
|-
| [[David di Donatello Awards]] || [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress|Best Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniera)]] || Shirley MacLaine || {{won}}<ref name="FilmAffinity David di Donatello Awards">{{cite web |title=David di Donatello Awards 1964 |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/awards.php?award_id=donatello&year=1964 |website=FilmAffinity |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
|-
| [[Writers Guild of America Awards]] || Best Comedy Screenplay || Billy Wilder || {{nom}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Writers Guild Awards (WGA) – Movies from 1963 |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/awards.php?award_id=wga&year=1964 |website=FilmAffinity |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
|-
| 1964 || [[British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Awards]] || [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role#Best Foreign Actress (1952–1967)|Best Foreign Actress]] || Shirley MacLaine || {{nom}}<ref name="FilmAffinity bafta">{{cite web |title=BAFTA 1965: British Academy Film Awards (Movies from 1964) |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/awards.php?award_id=bafta&year=1965 |website=FilmAffinity |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
|}

==Soundtrack==
{{Infobox album
| name       = Irma La Douce
| type       = soundtrack
| artist     = [[André Previn]]
| cover      = Irma_la_douce_(rykodisc.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = July 13, 1998
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      =
| length     =
| label      = [[Rykodisc]]
| producer   =
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title =
| next_year  =
}}
All compositions by André Previn,<ref>{{cite web |title=Irma la Douce [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] – André Previn {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/irma-la-douce-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000600001 |website=AllMusic |access-date=December 24, 2019}}</ref> using themes by Marguerite Monnot.

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

The film also features an [[a cappella]] enticement song set to the tune of ''[[Alouette (song)|Alouette]]''.

==Remakes==
* ''Irma la Douce'' was remade for French television in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |title=Irma la Douce |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308416/ |publisher=IMDb |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
* The film was remade in Turkey as ''Kırmızı Fener Sokağı'' in 1968
* The film was remade in India as the controversial film ''[[Manoranjan]]'' with [[Sanjeev Kumar]] and [[Zeenat Aman]] in the roles of [[Jack Lemmon]] and [[Shirley MacLaine]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Singh |first1=Prerna |title=Manoranjan Film Review: An Attempt To Break Stereotypes Around Sex Work |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2018/06/07/manoranjan-film-review/ |website=Feminism In India |access-date=24 December 2019 |date=6 June 2018}}</ref>
* The film was remade in Egypt in 1983 as ''Khamsa Bab'' (Door Five), with [[Nadia Al-Gindi|Nadia El Gendy]] as Tragy, the Irma character.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://elcinema.com/en/work/1010569/ |title=Movie - Khamsa Bab - 1983 Watch Online، Video، Trailer، photos، Reviews، Showtimes |language=en |access-date=2025-04-18 |via=elcinema.com}}</ref>

==Others==
In 1968, the Egyptian film ''Afrit Mirati'' ([[My Wife's Goblin]]) starring [[Salah Zulfikar]] and [[Shadia]], contained a soundtrack titled ''Irma la Douce'' performed by Shadia.

==See also==
* [[List of Egyptian films of 1968]]
* [[List of American films of 1963]]
* [[Salah Zulfikar filmography|Salah Zulfikar on screen, stage and radio]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0057187}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|irma_la_douce}}
* {{AFI film|22408}}
* {{TCMDb title|16641}}

{{Billy Wilder}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irma La Douce}}
[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:1963 romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s screwball comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s sex comedy films]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:American romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American screwball comedy films]]
[[Category:American sex comedy films]]
[[Category:Films about prostitution in Paris]]
[[Category:Films based on musicals]]
[[Category:Films directed by Billy Wilder]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance]]
[[Category:Films scored by André Previn]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by I. A. L. Diamond]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:English-language sex comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic comedy films]]