TNMC

This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

The Evolution of Jack Lemmon

People simply enjoy seeing movie stars in the same roles every time. Tom Hanks is always the caring everyman, Arnold is always the action hero, and Julia Roberts is always the object of desire. The Julia Roberts of her time, Marilyn Monroe, exclaimed as Sugar Kane in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot that she always got the fuzzy end of the lollipop. However, it was her co-star, Jack Lemmon, whose characters always got the fuzzy end. From his bass player, Jerry in Some Like It Hot, lonely Baxter in The Apartment, and finally aging has-been Shelly "The Machine" Levene in Glengarry Glenross, Lemmon’s characters never got the sweet strawberry sucker. Instead, they always were the suckers.

The recent ten year anniversary DVD release of Mamet’s Glengarry Glenross features a well done documentary on Lemmon’s life and his films. It features his son and co-stars giving retrospective interviews on almost every aspect of Lemmon’s life. However, his characters deserve just as much analysis and retrospective praise. Lemmon was one of the best actors in cinema history and for that sole reason his characters deserve a second look in the context of his body of work.

In Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis and Lemmon are on the run from the mob. The two musicians witnessed a murder and now they are next on the list. They seek work in order to flee Chicago and end up in drag, passing themselves off as part of an all female band. They encounter Marilyn Monroe, the embodiment of sexual desire, as Sugar Kane. Instantly, both men are taken with her. Lemmon openly exclaims that Kane’s movement is like Jello on springs while Curtis keeps his thoughts to himself. Lemmon has a sexually charged scene with Monroe in his sleeping compartment on the train and Wilder leads the audience to believe they will end up together. However, Curtis comes through, changing his gender role again and portraying himself as a millionaire. He steals Monroe’s heart. Lemmon, meanwhile, is stuck with an engagement to the real millionaire, Osgood. Lemmon loses Monroe and ends up with basically nothing, a common fate to most of his characters.

A year later in Wilder’s The Apartment, Lemmon portrayed C.C. Baxter. Baxter is just one of the 40,000 employees of a New York company and decides that, in order to further his career and be promoted, he will loan out his nearby apartment to the company’s executives so they can bring their mistresses there. Lemmon becomes taken with the elevator girl, Fran (Shirley MacLaine). However, he is loaning his apartment out to his boss, Sheldrike (Fred MacMurray) and Fran happens to be his lover. Fran and Baxter carry on a friendship, which brings Baxter to save her life after a suicide attempt. Wilder puts Lemmon in the position of having to decide between true love and Fran. In the end, he chooses Fran and loses his job. While Lemmon still gets off with love, he has quite the price to pay.

Finally, in 1992’s Glengarry Glenross, Lemmon played Shelly "The Machine" Lavene. David Mamet’s screenplay begins with the aging Lemmon on the phone, attempting to reach his daughter in the hospital. Already, Lemmon is put at a disadvantage to his fellow salesmen, Roma (Al Pacino), Moss (Ed Harris), and Aaronow (Alan Arkin). It’s not surprising when Blake (Alec Baldwin) and Williamson (Kevin Spacey) inform the salesmen that they will be fired if they do not "close" (sell property) that Levene has the most to lose. The salesmen speak of schemes to rob the office and steal the good investment leads for themselves. Moss wants to do it to get even, Roma is just cutthroat, and Aaronow allows himself to be taken advantage of by Moss. Mamet does this to counter balance the peril he puts Levene in and while the outcome may seem like a surprise to some, it isn’t really when put into context with Lemmon’s other work.

It is not a bad thing that the audience always sees it’s stars in the same roles. That’s what they feel most comfortable watching. Monroe will always be the sex pot, Clint Eastwood will always be the silent gunman, and Jack Lemmon will always be the sap who gets the fuzzy side of the lollipop. This does not make any of his films less than great to watch. Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and Glengarry Glenross are some of the best films in cinema history. While the Wilder DVDs are a little bare in terms of extras, it’s the quality of the films that matter. Extras are strictly extras, no matter how excessive they are they cannot make up for a poor or mediocre film. It’s a treat just to watch Lemmon perform.

This will be the last DVD review of the year. Mr. Morton’s last piece of the year will be this week’s review of the John August’s screenplay for Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle.

What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums