# In praise of Jack Lemmon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113 "2008-02-25T20:08:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/1 "2008-02-25T20:08:25Z")
\*\*Jack Lemmon \*\* has long been one of my favorite actors. While watching the Acadamy Awards last night, my fiancee and I were discussing his work and how great it was to see the different clips of him throughout the years. I made the offhand comment that we should try and watch every film of his, in order… which she enthusiastically took me up on. So I’ve added his first film, \*\*\*[It Should Happen to You](http://imdb.com/title/tt0047123/) \*\* \* (1954), to our Netflix queue and after discovering that his next two films (\*\*\*Phffft \*\* \* (1954) and \*\*\*Three for the Show \*\* \* (1955)) were not available, we also added \*\*\*Mister Roberts \*\* \* (1955) for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. We’ll see how far we get into this undertaking. I should mention that my favorite films of his are _ **The Apartment** _, _ **Glengarry Glen Ross** _, and _ **Avanti** _. Of course, this project means that I’ll have to end my run w/ _ **The Legend of Bagger Vance** _, but I think I can handle it. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/2 "2008-02-25T20:16:50Z")
That’s a great idea – following an actor in chronological order – and Jack Lemmon is a good one to start with. I might do that with directors – I think I’ve only seen two of Scorsese’s films. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/3 "2008-02-25T20:18:43Z")
My favorite is _ **The Great Race** _. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/4 "2008-02-25T20:23:26Z")
Wait until you see him & Glen Ford in [Cowboy](http://imdb.com/title/tt0051496/). Gay so thick you could drive a nail in it and hang your hat. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/5 "2008-02-25T20:27:06Z")
Irma La Duce was great. Skip Luv. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/6 "2008-02-25T20:49:44Z")
I also loved him in **The China Syndrome** and **Grumpy Old Men** and, of course, **The Odd Couple**. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/7 "2008-02-25T21:11:44Z")
_Some Like it Hot_ is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/8 "2008-02-25T21:19:51Z")
Another vote for _The China Syndrome_. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/9 "2008-02-25T21:28:07Z")
In addition to the faves already listed, he’s terrific in “Days of Wine and Roses,” “The Fortune Cookie” and “The Odd Couple.” Some of his “second tier” films are very worthwhile. I like “The Notorious Landlady,” “Good Neighbor Sam,” and “The April Fools.” ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/10 "2008-02-25T21:38:10Z")
For me, ‘Save the Tiger’ is the quintessential '60s movie ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/11 "2008-02-25T22:14:06Z")
Grumpy Old Men will be fun. The Odd Couple II, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/12 "2008-02-25T22:25:53Z")
**Some Like It Hot** and **The Odd Couple** are two of my favorite movies. Feel free to skip the 17-hour\* version of **Hamlet**. Jack should have. \*Slight exaggeration ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/13 "2008-02-25T22:45:52Z")
One more obscure movie Lemmon did was _Mass Appeal_, in which he played a complacent priest of an middle to upper class parish, taking on an idealistic young seminarian. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/14 "2008-02-25T23:34:40Z")
Anyone mention “Bell Book and Candle”? He was excellent in that. “Mr. Roberts” is my favorite though. I guess I like him better as a supporting actor. [QUOTE=onomatopoem] One Lemon film I loved that nobody remembers is How To Murder Your Wife, with Virna Lisi. He’s a caroonist who marries while drunk, sketches getting rid of his wife by putting her into the wet cement being laid in the street outside, and then she disappears. In his drawings the intrusive cement mixing machine is called the Pocketa-pocketa machine for the noise it makes. [/QUOTE] Great little known movie. One of his best roles. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/15 "2008-02-26T00:00:25Z")
[QUOTE=onomatopoem] In his drawings the intrusive cement mixing machine is called the Pocketa-pocketa machine for the noise it makes. [/QUOTE] Good post/username match! I always heard that as ‘glopeta-glopeta’ – you know, a _thicker_ sound. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/16 "2008-02-26T00:21:18Z")
I’ve always liked Jack Lemmon in just about anything he did. He made a great TV movie entitled [The Entertainer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072942/) (similar to the earlier Lawrence Olivier film) and Jack does a standout acting job. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/17 "2008-02-26T00:57:49Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] For me, ‘Save the Tiger’ is the quintessential '60s movie [/QUOTE] Was it set in the 60’s? It was released in 1973. [Save the Tiger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_tiger) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/18 "2008-02-26T01:54:36Z")
Another vote for The Great Race! One of my all time favourite movies. Push the button, Max! ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/19 "2008-02-26T05:38:57Z")
[QUOTE=Cazzle] Push the button, Max! [/QUOTE] One of our family’s most-used quotes, for anything from locking the car door to turning on the DVD player. Followed closely by, “That’s a quarter of a century. Makes a girl think.” Can you tell which movies we like best? I really like the Odd Couple, and I’ve been trying to introduce the kids to _The Apartment_ for several years now. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113/20 "2008-02-26T11:04:48Z")
Does anyone think that Bryan Cranston (Hal from Malcolm in the Middle) was trying to ape Lemmon in his performance? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-jack-lemmon/439113.md?page=2)