The Fortune Cookie (1966) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, with some Jack Lemmon and some Walter Matthau

"This guy is so full of angles and gimmicks and twists; he starts to describe a doughnut, and it comes out a pretzel."

Director

Billy Wilder

Cast

Jack Lemmon - Harry Hinkle
Walter Matthau - William Gingrich
Ron Rich - Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson
Judi West - Sandy Hinkle
Cliff Osmond - Chester Purkey
Lurene Tuttle - Hinkle's mother
Harry Holcombe - O'Brien
Les Tremayne - Thompson

The 1966 comedy "The Fortune Cookie" is a trio of comedic perfection. So much so, it truly, truly deserves every ounce of praise and acclaim. It should stand among classic films that have withstood time and are highly regarded to this day. 

I think it might get some of that but not as much as it deserves. 

Not only does it mark the first movie Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, whom my mind will sometimes call "Lennon and McCartney" instead of Lemmon and Matthau, but it's directed by the legendary director, Billy Wilder. 

Wilder sat in the director's chair for some of Hollywood's most notable and easily recognizable titles such as "Double Indemnity" (1944), "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), "Stalag 17" (1953), "Sabrina" (1953), "The Seven Year Itch" (1955) and a load of others.

He directed Lemmon in "Some Like it Hot" "The Apartment" and "Irma la Douce" before pairing him with Matthau in this flick. 

This isn't the only movie Wilder would direct with Lemmon and Matthau starring together. There's a few more I'll mention later.

"The Fortune Cookie" is the best introduction to Lemmon and Matthau. Right away, there is so much chemistry between these two guys that if Louis Pasteur were alive to see them together, he'd toss his notebooks out and start from scratch. 

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in "The Fortune Cookie."

In this movie, Jack Lemmon plays Harry Hinkle, a CBS cameraman who ends up injured while broadcasting a Cleveland Browns football game. The Brown's star player, Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) accidentally runs into Harry on the sidelines, leaving Harry with some minor injuries. 

While he's in the hospital for observation to make sure those minor injuries are, in fact, minor, Harry's brother-in-law William Gingrich (Walter Matthau), who's a shady ambulance chasing attorney, sees dollar signs in Harry's situation. After all, he's known in some circles as "Whiplash Willie." 

Despite his aversion to William's greedy plan to claim both his hand and leg are paralyzed, Harry goes along with it after William convinces Harry that it could help get him back together with his ex-wife Sandy (Judi West). Plus, the insurance company will issue a sizeable indemnity. 

Thanks to an old injury Harry suffered during his childhood, the doctors are convinced Harry is in the amount of pain he claims to be in. 

The insurance company isn't so easily swayed and sends out some attorneys to investigate Harry's demise. William just needs to convince these lawyers that Harry is really injured. Easy? Sure it is, as long as luck is on their side. 

The chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau is matchless. Seldom do two comedians pair in a manner that's nothing short of being meant to be. 

I wish they made more films together, and I appreciate the number of movies they made. The seem unofficially a pair, but officially a duo.

Lemmon and Matthau made eight comedy movies together and appear in nine comedies together. They also both appear in Oliver Stone's "JFK" but don't share any scenes. 

Their respective style and quarks bring a comedy that's incomparable to other comedic pairs. Jack Lemmon is often the fastidious character, or the guy pummeled by day-to-day misfortunes or being forced to put up with the insistences of others. This is true, for the most part, when he's in a movie sans Matthau. "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1975) definitely comes to mind when speaking about Lemmon's comedic style.  

Matthau's characters, meanwhile, have to put up with Lemmon's characters. 

When it comes to Lemmon and Matthau, director Billy Wilder is like the third man in the group. 

Though Wilder directed this movie as well as their other movies, "The Front Page" (1974) and "Buddy Buddy" (1981), he's like the Zeppo Marx among the rest of the Marx Brothers. The former movie being a favorite comedy of mine, and the latter being a movie I've already reviewed. 

"The Front Page!" Boy, I can't wait to get to that one! In fact, when it comes to my top ten favorite comedies of all time, three of them have Lemmon and Matthau, and a couple others have either Jack or Walter. 

I just don't know how else to say it without sounding cliché, or whatever. I sat for a difficult three minutes trying to come up with a way to express this sentiment, but all I could come up with is that you cannot be in a bad mood or feel melancholy while watching anything with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or Jack Lemmon without Walter Matthau, or Walter Matthau without Jack Lemmon.

The only complaint I have about this initial movie of theirs is that it feels a bit slow somewhere in the middle. Still, I enjoyed the entire thing. Maybe I'm biased about it since I love these guys a lot, alone or together. 

As an introduction to Lemmon and Matthau as a comedic pair, "The Fortune Cookie" is perfect. It establishes the unofficial (or official?) team exquisitely. The chemistry is solid right from the start and lasts through their entire career until their last movie together, "The Odd Couple II" from 1998. I can't wait to talk about their next movie. In fact, I'm going to work my way through all of their comedies, except "JFK." Plus, I have some other movies I want to take a look at that star either Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon. So, I'm all in for more Lemmon and Matthau, or some Lemmon and some Matthau. I'll get to those, too...hopefully.