How To Murder Your Wife
"Extremely funny!" -The New Yorker
He had what every man wanted... then she came along! Legendary funnyman Jack Lemmon stars in this "hilarious farce of almost remitting fun" (The Hollywood Reporter) with the "breathtakingly beautiful" (L.A. Herald Examiner) Virna Lisi.
Bachelorhood is bliss for cartoonist Stanley Ford (Lemmon)- complete with an English butler (Terry Thomas), delectable dames and extra-dry martinis. But when he attends a bachelor party and meets an Italian beauty (Lisi) who pops out of a cake, his fate is sealed. The next morning, he discovers he's married to her even though she can barely speak English - and now the consummate bachelor will go to any lengths to untie the knot!
Member Reviews
One of the few really funny farces of the 60s. - Superdave
The success of Pillow Talk in 1959 ushered in a new era of sophisticated comedies, sexier than the ones of the 40s and usually set in upscale Manhattan. Many of these were actually more clever than funny (mostly because they tried to be tasteful and who wants that in a farce?). This one still stands up now, and to repeated viewings.
Bachelor and successful cartoonist Jack Lemmon gets drunk at a stag party and inadvertently marries beautiful Virna Lisi, who then proceeds to turn him into the classic emasculated husband at the urging of her 'well-meaning' female friends. His response is to use his cartoon strip to play out a fantasy murder. Things get complicated when the wife disappears and everybody thinks he did her in for real!
Typical for the genre, the central situation is pretty farfetched. Anybody who finds himself accidentally married to Virna Lisi should invest in lottery tickets, because he's on a lucky streak. And Lemmon's attachment to his New York bachelor lifestyle seems a bit quaint and dated when viewed from the post-sexual revolution world.
Yet, the actors sell the contrived story well, with Terry Thomas being especially fun in the role of a rather misogynistic butler who eggs on Lemmon's murder fantasy. And to be fair the story line is well-worked out as a comedy farce, albeit along 60s sit-com lines. Ultimately it all works because it's just plain funny, with lots of witty material in evidence, especially during Lemmon's murder trial at the end, where he manages to put women and the institution of marriage on trial with him. Recommended.Classic - miskiw
Jack Lemmon and Terry-Thomas are great, of course, but some of the outstanding supporting players should be mentioned: Virna Lisi, absolutely gorgeous (and funny!) as Lemmon's "ball-and-chain," and the relatively unknown Eddie Mayehoff, who plays Lemmon's lawyer. Mayehoff's courtroom epiphany is hilarious. This guy steals every scene he's in from Jack Lemmon, and that's not easy.A hidden gem - Phoenix_rayne71
I am not one to rent or watch old movies but this was on late one night while nothing else was on television. It must have been 3 am but i really liked this movie. It was very cute. It was a story of a man who was a bachelor and was very much happy being a bachelor till the day when he woke up married. Things change in his life and he hates it a fist but falls in love with her by the end. A really cute movie. I would say it would be a movie that you would want to watch with a significant other.
Member Reviews
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One of the few really funny farces of the 60s. - Superdave
The success of Pillow Talk in 1959 ushered in a new era of sophisticated comedies, sexier than the ones of the 40s and usually set in upscale Manhattan. Many of these were actually more clever than funny (mostly because they tried to be tasteful and who wants ...Classic - miskiw
Jack Lemmon and Terry-Thomas are great, of course, but some of the outstanding supporting players should be mentioned: Virna Lisi, absolutely gorgeous (and funny!) as Lemmon's "ball-and-chain," and the relatively unknown Eddie Mayehoff, who plays Lemmon's ...A hidden gem - Phoenix_rayne71
I am not one to rent or watch old movies but this was on late one night while nothing else was on television. It must have been 3 am but i really liked this movie. It was very cute. It was a story of a man who was a bachelor and was very much happy being a ...