Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.
It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.
Irma la Douce ["Irma the Sweet"] tells the story of Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon), an honest cop, who after being transferred from the park Bois de Boulogne to a more urban neighborhood in Paris, finds a street full of prostitutes working the at Hotel Casanova and proceeds to raid the place. The police inspector, who is Nestor's superior, and the other policemen, have been aware of the prostitutes but are tolerating them in exchange for bribes. The inspector, a client of the prostitutes himself, fires Nestor, who is accidentally framed for bribery.
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 hangout for prostitutes and their pimps. Down on his luck, Nestor becomes close friends with Irma La Douce (Shirley MacLaine), a popular prostitute. He also reluctantly accepts, as a confidant, the proprietor of Chez Moustache, a man known only as "Moustache". (In a running joke, Moustache (Lou Jacobi), a seemingly ordinary barkeep, suggests a storied prior life - claiming to have been, among other things, an attorney and a doctor, ending with the repeated line "but that's another story".) After Irma dumps her pimp boyfriend, Nestor moves in with her, and he soon finds himself as Irma's new pimp.
Shirley MacLean Beaty (born April 24, 1934), known professionally as Shirley MacLaine, is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well known for her beliefs in New Age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career. She was nominated for an Academy Award five times before winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1983 for her role in Terms of Endearment. Her younger brother is Warren Beatty.
Named after Shirley Temple, MacLaine was born in Richmond, Virginia. Her father, Ira Owens Beaty, was a professor of psychology, public school administrator, and real estate agent, and her mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a drama teacher originally from Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada; MacLaine's grandparents were also teachers.The family was devoutly Baptist. Her uncle (her mother's brother-in-law) was A.A. MacLeod, a Communist member of the Ontario legislature in the 1940s.
Colette Renard (1 November 1924, Ermont – 6 October 2010 Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse) born Colette Raget, was a French actress and singer. Renard is closely associated with the titular character from the musical Irma La Douce, a role she played for over a decade. Renard retired from theatre and film in the 1980s, returning in 2004 to play the role of Rachel Levy on Plus belle la vie. In addition to acting, Renard was a prolific singer, having released 52 albums during her career.
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts (for which he won the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger (for which he won the 1973 Best Actor Academy Award), The Out-of-Towners, The China Syndrome, Missing (for which he won 'Best Actor' at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival), Glengarry Glen Ross, Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men.
Lemmon was born in an elevator[citation needed] at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. He was the only child of Mildred Burgess LaRue (née Noel) and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., who was the president of a doughnut company. Lemmon attended John Ward Elementary School in Newton and The Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts. He had stated that he knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of eight. Lemmon attended Phillips Academy (Class of 1943) and Harvard University (Class of 1947), where he lived in Adams House and was an active member of several Drama Clubs - becoming president of the Hasty Pudding Club - as well as a member of the Delphic Club for Gentleman, a final club at Harvard. After Harvard, Lemmon joined the Navy, receiving V-12 training and serving as an ensign. On being discharged, he took up acting professionally, working on radio, television and Broadway. He studied acting under coach Uta Hagen. He also became enamored of the piano and learned to play it on his own. He could also play the harmonica, organ, and the double bass.
Plot
Naive, by the book French police officer Nester Patou, is transferred to the Red Light district. Upon witnessing what must be a brothel, he calls the station and organizes a raid, transporting all the 'ladies' to the jail. This unfortunately disrupts the well organized system of the police and the Pimps union. Not to mention inadvertently netting his station superior at the brothel. Fired, he goes to a bar to drink, is befriended by Irma, beats up her pimp, and finds he is now Irma's new pimp. Nester's doesn't like the thought of his girl seeing other men, so comes up with a plan.
Keywords: baby, bartender, based-on-play, bistro, breaking-the-fourth-wall, bribe, british-lord, cancan-dance, champagne, character-name-in-title
A story of passion, bloodshed, desire and death... everything, in fact, that makes life worth living
Come along on the wildest joy-ride of them all...
YOU COULDN'T ASK FOR FRIENDLIER FEMALES OR A FUNNIER PICTURE! (original print ad - all caps)
Irma the Sweet puts spice in men's lives...until Jack the Gendarme arrests her activities!
Irma La Douce: Who wants to be a stray dog? You got to belong to someone, even if he kicks you once in a while.
Moustache: To be overly honest in a dishonest world is like plucking a chicken against the wind... you'll only wind up with a mouth full of feathers.
Moustache: Life is total war my friend... nobody has a right to be a conscientious objector.
Moustache: Shows you the kind of world we live in. Love is illegal - but not hate. That you can do anywhere, anytime, to anybody. But if you want a little warmth, a little tenderness, a shoulder to cry on, a smile to cuddle up with, you have to hide in dark corners, like a criminal. Pfui.
Nestor Patou: Why don't we just tell him the truth?::Moustache: The truth? That's dynamite.::Nestor Patou: But I'm innocent.::Moustache: The jails are full with innocent people because they told the truth.
Moustache: But that's another story...
Irma La Douce: You oughta be ashamed of yourself, scaring a poor little dog like that.::Nestor Patou: They oughta take that dog away from you, you're not a fit mother.
Irma La Douce: A painter once lived here. Poor guy, he was starving. Tried everything, even cut his ear off.::Nestor Patou: Van Gogh?::Irma La Douce: No, I think his name was Schwartz.
Moustache: It's a hard way to earn an easy living.
Irma La Douce: You know, I'm sort of glad about that girl in Dijon, with the cough.::Nestor Patou: You are?::Irma La Douce: Because frankly, in the police van I thought that you'd never in your life, uh...::Nestor Patou: Oh, she wasn't the only girl. I've had more than one girl.::Irma La Douce: How many?::Nestor Patou: Altogether? Oh, let me see...::Irma La Douce: Three?::Nestor Patou: Not as many as that.
Plot
Naive, by the book French police officer Nester Patou, is transferred to the Red Light district. Upon witnessing what must be a brothel, he calls the station and organizes a raid, transporting all the 'ladies' to the jail. This unfortunately disrupts the well organized system of the police and the Pimps union. Not to mention inadvertently netting his station superior at the brothel. Fired, he goes to a bar to drink, is befriended by Irma, beats up her pimp, and finds he is now Irma's new pimp. Nester's doesn't like the thought of his girl seeing other men, so comes up with a plan.
Keywords: baby, bartender, based-on-play, bistro, breaking-the-fourth-wall, bribe, british-lord, cancan-dance, champagne, character-name-in-title
A story of passion, bloodshed, desire and death... everything, in fact, that makes life worth living
Come along on the wildest joy-ride of them all...
YOU COULDN'T ASK FOR FRIENDLIER FEMALES OR A FUNNIER PICTURE! (original print ad - all caps)
Irma the Sweet puts spice in men's lives...until Jack the Gendarme arrests her activities!
Irma La Douce: Who wants to be a stray dog? You got to belong to someone, even if he kicks you once in a while.
Moustache: To be overly honest in a dishonest world is like plucking a chicken against the wind... you'll only wind up with a mouth full of feathers.
Moustache: Life is total war my friend... nobody has a right to be a conscientious objector.
Moustache: Shows you the kind of world we live in. Love is illegal - but not hate. That you can do anywhere, anytime, to anybody. But if you want a little warmth, a little tenderness, a shoulder to cry on, a smile to cuddle up with, you have to hide in dark corners, like a criminal. Pfui.
Nestor Patou: Why don't we just tell him the truth?::Moustache: The truth? That's dynamite.::Nestor Patou: But I'm innocent.::Moustache: The jails are full with innocent people because they told the truth.
Moustache: But that's another story...
Irma La Douce: You oughta be ashamed of yourself, scaring a poor little dog like that.::Nestor Patou: They oughta take that dog away from you, you're not a fit mother.
Irma La Douce: A painter once lived here. Poor guy, he was starving. Tried everything, even cut his ear off.::Nestor Patou: Van Gogh?::Irma La Douce: No, I think his name was Schwartz.
Moustache: It's a hard way to earn an easy living.
Irma La Douce: You know, I'm sort of glad about that girl in Dijon, with the cough.::Nestor Patou: You are?::Irma La Douce: Because frankly, in the police van I thought that you'd never in your life, uh...::Nestor Patou: Oh, she wasn't the only girl. I've had more than one girl.::Irma La Douce: How many?::Nestor Patou: Altogether? Oh, let me see...::Irma La Douce: Three?::Nestor Patou: Not as many as that.