Irma La Douce (1963) KL 1080p BluRay x265 HEVC AAC-SARTRE

One of director Billy Wilder’s biggest box office hits following his landmark comedies Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, the spectacular Irma La Douce — adapted from the 1956 musical for the French theatre — reunites Wilder with his Apartment stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, providing the latter with one of her most fondly remembered early roles. MacLaine is Irma, a popular Parisian prostitute whose new pimp is an unlikely procurer: Nestor (Lemmon) is a former honest cop who was just fired and framed by his boss after Nestor inadvertently had him arrested in a raid. However, Nestor’s love for Irma is making his newfound vocation impossible, so he poses as a phoney British lord who insists on being Irma’s one and only “client.” But when “Lord X” appears to have become the victim of foul play…further comedic complications ensue! Irma La Douce offers many of the same sardonic observations on human nature as Wilder’s earlier comedies — in addition to the same riotous humour and touching romance — but on an even broader, more colourful canvas. Collaborating again with his regular screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond, Wilder delivers one of his most purely entertaining crowd-pleasers of the 1960s.

Extras

• Commentary One - In this audio commentary, film historian Joseph McBride explains how years ago the work of Billy Wilder apparently released him from his old-fashioned morality, and discusses the different phases of the director's career, the stylistic qualities of Irma la Douce (and specifically its emphasis on the 'gutter quality'), the evolving relationship between the two leads, the old-fashioned romantic qualities of the film and how they relate to the work of Ernst Lubitsch, Andre Previn's contribution, etc.

• Commentary Two - This audio commentary features critic Kat Ellinger who focuses primarily on the identities of the main characters and the progression of their relationship.

• Theatrical Trailer