RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES
By Lee Pfeiffer
Paramount has released a 2 disc special edition of the 1968 comedy classic
The Odd Couple as part of the studio's Centennial Collection. The film retains all of its initial appeal, despite the fact that virtually every baby boomer has committed the scenes and dialogue to memory. Although most people regard this as the first historic pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, in fact, that occurred with Billy Wilder's 1965 gem
The Fortune Cookie which saw Matthau winning the Oscar for supporting actor. The genius behind the story, of course, is Neil Simon, who adapted his smash hit Broadway play for the film. The part of Felix Unger was originally played on Broadway by the great Art Carney, but Lemmon was a much hotter box-office property and got the role in the feature film. The film is creative in the ways it opens up beyond the confines of a Broadway play, and affords some great views of New York City in the late 1960s. The DVD release boasts a widescreen edition of the film that is glorious to behold. In addition to a commentary track by the star's sons, actor Chris Lemmon and director Charlie Matthau, there is a full disc devoted to extras. Much of this consists primarily of talking head shots of various individuals extolling the virtues of the story as well as Lemmon and Matthau, who were regarded as all-around great guys to work with. Among those interviewed are the film's director Gene Saks, Carole Shelley (who played one of the Pigeon sisters), David Sheiner (who played the poker buddy Roy), actor Brad Garrett and even Larry King, who makes a poignant case for his belief that this is The Great American Comedy. Robert Evans, who ran Paramount during that era, is also interviewed and says that Lemmon's salary of $1 million equaled the cost of the rest of the budget. The extras are broken down into mini featurettes that cover most aspects of the film, but concentrate primarily on the Lemmon/Matthau relationship, as the two were best friends throughout most of their careers. (Almost poetically, they died within a year of each other). The segments in which Chris Lemmon and Charlie Matthau express their adoration of their fathers is quite touching and often amusing.
Fittingly, the DVD extras point out that much of the credit for the film's success goes beyond the contributions of Lemmon and Matthau and extends to the extraordinary supporting cast. The poker players, for example, afford expert comic vignettes by the likes of Larry Haines, David Sheiner, John Fiedler and that great second banana Herbert Edelman. However, there are significant omissions from the extras that seem are a bit grating. First is the absence of Neil Simon, who obviously opted out of participating in the tribute - a real pity. The featurettes fail to mention composer Neil Hefti and his iconic title tune, which has become a main staple of popular culture. Most unforgivable is the complete lack of recognition given to the off-shoot TV series starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. One of the few spin-offs from a feature film to equal the acclaim and success of the original,
The Odd Couple show shares much of the credit for keeping the film alive in the hearts and minds of the viewing public. The DVD does include a photo gallery of fascinating candid shots and production stills from the film as well as the original trailer. Kudos to Paramount for allowing the makers of the featurettes to get screen credit, which is something most studios now deny documentary filmmakers. I'd also like to praise the studio for returning to a long-gone DVD tradition: including an illustrated collector's booklet about the film in the set.
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