The Odd Couple II (1998) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"You still maintain that pain in the ass quality that drives me berserk."

Director
Howard Deutch

Cast
Jack Lemmon - Felix Ungar
Walter Matthau - Oscar Madison
Jonathan Silverman - Brucey Madison
Lisa Waltz - Hannah Ungar
Mary Fogarty - Flossie
Alfred Dennis - Morton
Alice Ghostley - Esther
Peggy Miley - Millie
Rebecca Schull - Wanda
Florence Stanley - Hattie
Estelle Harris - Peaches
Ellen Geer - Frances Ungar-Melnick
Doris Belack - Blanche Madison-Povitch
Richard Riehle - Sheriff of Santa Manendez

After recycling the comedic formula from 1968's "The Odd Couple," the movie that made Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau a duo, and inserting it into the movies "Grumpy Old Men," "Grumpier Old Men," and especially "Out to Sea" - the last movie I reviewed - Hollywood writers and producers evidently arrived at the conclusion to just make a sequel to "The Odd Couple." Since Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were still alive at the time and still had their chemistry, it was best they get on that task while they could. The result was "The Odd Couple II." 

It's a sequel I somehow didn’t even know existed until years after its release. Back then, I was attending a Catholic boarding school and didn't have a lot of knowledge about what movies were coming out and basically whatever else was going on in the world. But being the huge fan of the first movie, and a fan of Lemmon and Matthau, one would think I would have known "The Odd Couple" had a sequel written by Neil Simon. It was released 30 years after the original and is directed by Howard Deutch who also directed well known pictures such as "Pretty in Pink," "Some Kind of Wonderful," "The Great Outdoors," and the aforementioned "Grumpier Old Men." 

When I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke. But no, it's real. 

This time Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) are back in each other's hair because Oscar's son, Brucey (Jonathan Silverman) and Felix's daughter, Hannah (Lisa Waltz) are tying the knot. 

Oscar is living down in Sarasota, Fla., still working as a sportswriter. Brucey is still living out in California as referenced in the first film. 

Despite his chagrin over the engagement, Oscar flies out to California and runs into none other than Felix at the airport. 

So, they share a rental car to drive out to fictional San Malina for the wedding. 

During their road trip, they go through their usual bickering as luggage is lost, cars are destroyed, arrests are made, weird people cross their paths, and more arguments ensue. 

"The Odd Couple II" starts off like the original movie. The first half is clearly trying to recapture the humor and feel of the original film. It's the portion of the film when the familiar jokes and call-backs from the part one are carried out, such as another restaurant scene with Felix obnoxiously clearing his throat. Once all that's out of the way, it starts trying to be its own movie. 

Felix and Oscar start trying to get past their differences to find something they both have in common. They've managed to raise relatively good children. That realization is apparent but nothing about it has depth. And they're about to become in-laws. Who would have thought?  

It concludes on an all too familiar Odd Couple scenario. 

While it's fun to see Lemmon and Matthau reprise the characters that made them a comedic pair and then put these characters in a car together driving along California roads rather than going back to Oscar's New York City apartment, overall, the movie doesn't feel as organic as the 1968 movie. For instance, Felix's hypochondria feels more forced than before. That's not to say Lemmon isn't funny in this sequel. He is. I got some laughs out of his performance. Matthau's performance is, well, Matthau. He plays Oscar Madison with the same lax and care-free demeanor audiences saw in Lemmon and Matthau's last couple of movies together. He's playing Oscar again with all the same mannerisms and habits Oscar had back in 1968. Funny enough, the sloppy aspect seen in the first movie isn't quite there as much. He's more careless than sloppy, save for a poorly packed suitcase. Maybe Oscar learned and retained a little something about order and cleanliness from Felix when he invited him to stay at his apartment and then tossed him out.   

But Oscar's negligent qualities seem spot on. And the conversations they have in the car from "how long has it been" to "is your daughter anything like you" is some of the best dialogue in the movie 

Thankfully, the film's dependence on nostalgia doesn't stick around for long. That can be fun for a while before it starts feeling repetitive and lazy.

Also, the emotion in "The Odd Couple II" is much thinner compared to the first. Oscar and Felix's friendship is really tested in the first film. The annoyance and the comedy of the situation play out way more organically. It's easily convincing. And it appears effortless. 

In the sequel, the whole thing is more overplayed for laughs since anything they needed to figure out, they already did back in '68. But they still annoy each other. Isn't that hilarious?

Nothing between the characters of Felix and Oscar is really tested in part two. Their friendship certainly isn't tested like it was before. The movie is just a nostalgic trip, and not much more than that. 

The story does touch on aging, loneliness (the first movie really touched on that, too) and regret of past decisions. The key word is "touch." The story doesn't dig deep into these topics. Had it done so, that would have likely made "The Odd Couple II" more interesting and memorable. 

The difficulty with a continuing premise from the 1968 movie is how to get Felix and Oscar back together in a new situation that lasts long enough for them to drive each other crazy with all that hilarity like before. They're certainly not going to be roommates again. A road trip is a good enough premise to accomplish that. But where would they go? And why would they go together after all these years? The marriage of Oscar's son and Felix's daughter makes the sequel its own movie, putting Felix and Oscar in a completely different scenario where they're forced to be in each other's company over a long enough period of time. 

Having their kids marry seems like a plot to a T.V. sitcom. It's an easy setup to get Felix and Oscar back in each other's lives and in close quarters where the bickering and intolerable habits can resume. 

There's a running joke where Felix and Oscar keep finding themselves in situations that lead to their arrest. They don't actually break the law so the police chief, whose desk they keep finding themselves sitting in front of, is forced to let them go each time. But he quickly gets sick of seeing both of them. And as this keeps happening, they both drive the local police chief crazy. That's a nice touch to add to a third party to the already odd couple.

There's no way part two can be as memorable or as sharp as the original. Still, this sequel gives audiences a side of Felix and Oscar the first film didn't go into. I got a few laughs from Lemmon and Matthau, but it doesn't have the natural comedic flow that makes the first a fantastic comedy. The comdey comes in waves. It tries to give us the same thing we've seen before, but in a different premise, and then shifts to give us something new.  

Of course, by the end, Felix and Oscar realize they're stuck with each other for the rest of their lives. It's a creative touch as "The Odd Couple II" is Lemmon and Matthau's last movie together. As they play Felix and Oscar in this final performance of theirs together, it's a bittersweet experience. 

This sequel gives audiences one last opportunity to watch them slip back into the characters they're most associated with.

Regardless of its weaknesses, it's still enjoyable seeing where this odd couple would be 30 years later. 

Out to Sea (1997) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"We're not working. We're dancing and cavorting."

Director
Martha Coolidge

Cast
Jack Lemmon - Herb Sullivan
Walter Matthau - Charlie Gordon
Dyan Cannon - Liz LaBreche
Gloria DeHaven - Vivian
Brent Spiner - Gil Godwyn
Elaine Stritch - Mavis LaBreche
Estelle Harris - Bridget

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's 1997 comedy "Out to Sea" feels more like a new adventure comedy spin-off of "The Odd Couple" because it centers on a Felix Ungar & Oscar Madison-esque pair of characters who meander onto a cruise ship, find romance, and hilarity ensues. 

All the while, the movie tries not to be "The Odd Couple" while modeling itself with the same general comedic formula. 

"Out to Sea" was released after "Grumpier Old Men" and has become a much-too-forgotten movie. 

It's a fair attempt for Lemmon and Matthau to do a picture that's different enough from their previous films but ends up being similar in comedic style to their last two. 

The comedy and plot of "Out to Sea" reminds me of early comedy shorts with, say, Laurel and Hardy or any other comedian or comedy team finding  themselves in a whole new scenario in each short. 

Lemmon and Matthau play their usual comedy duo routine in a setting that's new to them. In this case, they play brothers-in-law who hop aboard a luxury cruise working as dance hosts. Well, maybe it's not all completely new. They also play brothers-in-law in "The Fortune Cookie." 

Jack Lemmon's character is the cautious one who misses his late wife. Walter Matthau is the sleazy, flirty old man always taking the easy way. This trope also goes back to "The Fortune Cookie." So, once again they're basically playing opposites. 

In this movie, Herb Sullivan (Jack Lemmon) is talked into going on a cruise with his compulsive gambling brother-in-law, Charlie Gordon (Walter Matthau). Charlie, however, doesn't tell Herb that he signed them both up to work as dance instructors on a cruise so they can get on for free. He simply tells Herb that it's a "free cruise." 

Of course, he waits until the ship sets sail to let Herb know they need to work. And if they don't work as dance instructors, they'll have to shell out a few thousand for the cost of the cruise ticket. If they can't pay, then they'll get kicked off. Charlie claims he's trying to do Herb a favor because Herb's wife, Susie has passed away and Herb misses her dearly. 

To add insult to injury, Herb and Charlie have to stay in a cramped cabin. 

They both work under the strict supervision of the head entertainer Gil Godwyn (Brent Spiner) who isn't really impressed by either of them, especially with Charlie. 

The two men meet a couple women aboard the ship whom they take an interest in.
Herb meets Vivian (Gloria DeHaven) who is on the cruise with her daughter and her daughter's

newlywed husband. They hope Viv will find a man on board and start dating once again. She works as a book editor and is under the impression that Herb is actually a doctor rather than a dance instructor.

Herb falls for Viv but is still emotionally tied to Susie. So, he has conflicted feelings even after Viv falls for him as well. Wait! Jack Lemmon's character is emotionally tied to a wife who's no longer in the picture, and that's getting in the way of a potential romance! Where have I seen that before? 
Charlie, meanwhile, meets up with Liz LaBreche (Dyan Cannon) during a poker game with a couple of well-to-do, uppity gentleman on the ship. 

He fast-talks his way through the game and wins a sizeable amount of cash off one of the men 

Charlie is under the impression Liz is also very well off. She's sailing with her mom, Mavis (Elaine Stritch) who has a sharp sarcastic tongue and sees right through the kind of person Charlie is. Of course, Liz isn't all she appears to be.
Both men pursue their newfound romances. But when the truth comes out that Herb isn't really a doctor, and Charlie isn't well off as he tries to make himself appear, the budding relationships start to crumble.
Meanwhile, Gil is completely frustrated with the two and wants them off the ship. He's also working to get a promotion from the ship's owner, Ellen Carruthers (Rue McClanahan). 

Once again, Matthau plays the careless risk-taking irresponsible yet lovingly rogue character similar to his role as Oscar Madison. This contrasts Lemmon's role as a gentle, cautious, and more timid character who doesn't want to go along with what Matthau has up his sleeve. 

Brent Spiner with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in "Out to Sea." 

The chemistry is there, and is as strong as always. There are some genuinely funny scenes. And there's some emotion, especially with Herb's inner struggle to find new love while letting go of his deceased wife. I can't tell if it's overplayed or underplayed. I admit I did not feel much while watching these old comedians try to find love, tell some lies, and then win the hearts of the ladies regardless. 

I like this movie better than their previous "Grumpier Old Men" as "Out to Sea" is steady in its comedy from beginning to end. It flows well and has a respectable and funny supporting cast. Brent Spiner is ridiculously fun to watch. Spiner gives the movie a nervous, tightly wound energy that plays perfectly against Matthau's shambling looseness.

You can tell that Charlie wants to slap this guy and then call him a dumb schmuck. 

I'll be honest. I was less interested in the romance and how these two guys would manage to win the hearts of their respective ladies. I was more interested just watching Lemmon and Matthau play off each other in a scenario original to them. 

The movie also stars Gloria DeHaven whose first film appearance was in Charlie Chaplin's 1936 movie, "Modern Times" in an uncredited role. "Out to Sea" is her final film role. First appearing in a Chaplin masterpiece and then capping her movie career with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau is a superb full circle. 

"Out to Sea" is truly a respectable comedy that manages to get enough laughs. It's certainly not as great or even as memorable as "The Odd Couple" or "The Fortune Cookie." It succeeds as Lemmon and Matthau are effortlessly funny off of each other. Their chemistry is just as strong as it is in those previous movies of theirs. They're the primary reason to watch this movie. 

And they pair up one more time in the next movie of theirs I'll be commenting on soon. 

Grumpier Old Men (1995) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"This restaurant is sitting on top of one of the biggest and best worm beds in all of Wabasha county."

Director
Howard Deutch

Cast
Jack Lemmon - John Gustafson Jr
Walter Matthau - Max Goldman
Ann-Margret - Ariel Truax Gustafson
Sophia Loren - Maria Ragetti Goldman
Daryl Hannah - Melanie Gustafson
Kevin Pollak - Jacob Goldman
Burgess Meredith - John Gustafson Sr

While I've watched and reviewed "Grumpy Old Men" with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, having seen it

once or twice before, I've never seen its 1995 sequel "Grumpier Old Men" before until now. 

I wasn't ever really persuaded to watch it even though I enjoyed the first movie, and Lemmon and Matthau reprise their roles. Honestly, it struck me as just another sequel made only to recapture the first movie's lightening-in-a-bottle all over again. The first movie pairs Lemmon and Matthau late in their careers. Plus, with Burgess Meredith being added in amidst the duo to steal the show, the first movie is really well-balanced with a truly solid chemistry that's difficult to reproduce. But the writers and producers certainly tried with "Grumpier Old Men." 

I kept the intention to "watch it one of these days" in my mental to-do list mainly out of curiosity. I knew I'd eventually get to it. So, now I can scratch it off that list. 

In this sequel, Walter Matthau's Max Goldman is still a bit of a frump with enough dapperness to carry him around bachelorhood. 

Jack Lemmon's John Gustafson Jr is happily married to Ariel Truax Gustafson (Ann-Margret) from the previous movie. And the two are still neighbors. 

The two old men still fight. But the fighting words they sling at each other seem a bit more intended as ribbing rather than actual fighting words. Their friendship, not as ornery as before but still salty enough for the title's sake, needs to be smoothed around the edges. In other words, they've mellowed out just enough to be noticeable. 

Max's son, Jacob (Kevin Pollak), is now engaged to John's daughter, Melanie (Daryl Hannah). 

And John is enjoying married life with Ariel. John's father, John Gustafson Sr (Burgess Meredith) is alive and kicking. And fishing still remains a central pastime for John and Max, and whoever else in Wabasha, Minnesota is into fishing. The elusive catch of all catches, the infamous fish called "Catfish Hunter" remains at large in the local fishing hole. Yeah, Catfish Hunter is back!

However, things become sour when news that the bait shop from part one, a connecting social point for the fishing enthusiasts in the area, is going to turn into an Italian restaurant thanks to newcomer, Maria Sophia Coletta Ragetti (Sophia Loren) and her elderly mother, Francesca "Mama" Ragetti (Ann Morgan Guilbert). 

Sophia Loren and Walter Matthau in "Grumpier Old Men."

Max and John take their sites off each other and shift their grumpiness onto these soon-to-be Italian restauranteurs. 

They first try to put an end to the restaurant with childish pranks. This just backfires on them. Ariel becomes upset with John for his antics towards the new folks in town and it puts a bit of a strain on their relationship. In fact, she forces him to go and make amends much to the dismay of Max. 

The antics also backfires in Max's face as he and Maria begin to fall for each other. 

Even so, thanks to their antics, Max and Jacob end their engagement because of their respective dads. 

Amidst all the tangled problems between everyone, John Sr dies. 

Shortly after the funeral, Max and John really begin to consider everything that's going on and think that the best course of action ought to be towards mending relationships, encouraging their kids to marry, and welcoming the restaurant. After all, who doesn't like Italian food? In fact, maybe there's room for some compromise? 

The movie starts off well with some good laughs. Its pace picks up nicely from the previous "Grumpy Old Men." 

Overall, it feels more like a TV series pilot special running at 101 minutes. As always, Jack and Walter are fun to watch, and they still carry that long lasting chemistry. By this time, it comes naturally. 

Even so, I wanted to see more Burgess Meredith. I kept looking forward much more to his lines and screen time. Burgess's dialogue that gave me the most laughs. And then, in the middle of the story, he disappears. When he shows back up, he's dead. So, I didn't like that. No, sir. I didn't like that at all. 

In one scene when Melanie is worried because her little girl, Allie (Katie Sagona) swallows a quarter, 

Jack Lemmon and Burgess Meredith.

John Sr. says, " Relax. Kids swallow quarters all the time."

"Really?" Melanie replies.

"Sure. If she craps out two dimes and a nickel, then you can start worrying."

In another scene, John Sr reads a bedtime story to Allie.

 "And then the Mama Bear said, 'Somebody's been sleeping in my bed, too.' And finally, the Baby Bear looked and he said, 'Somebody's sleeping in my bed, and the bastard's still there!' But Goldilocks had a Remington semi-automatic with a scope and a hair-trigger."

"That's not the way it goes!" Allie remarks. 

"And that was the end of the Three Bears."

So, Burgess struck me as the best part of the movie. Otherwise, "Grumpier Old Men" tries to be different enough from part one, but it also tries to mimic the style and charm of part one. 

Somewhere in the second act, the movie starts to fall apart. The comedy wanes, the story begins to drag, and the plot starts feeling like it forgot where it needs to go. It starts floundering to the point where I wanted it to finally end. 
The plot is basically Walter Matthau refusing to accept the concept of a girl who's out of his league. And it pays off well for him in the end. Since John manages to marry in the first movie, then Max deserves a shot at marriage. It's a standard case of the sequel not being as good as the first.

It starts off as entertaining, begins to trip over itself in the middle of the second act and then seems to make things up as it goes along. By the end, it's not authentic. It's disjointed. 

The stars are fun to watch, but still I waited for something exciting to happen. It has its funny lines, most of which came from Meredith. That's not to say I didn't get some laughs from Lemmon and Matthau/

And as much as I love Walter Matthau, I couldn't take any sincere interest in his character's romantic pursuits. It certainly wasn't for me. Of all the Lemmon and Matthau movies, this one unfortunately falls the flattest.  

Grumpy Old Men (1993) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"What makes two men spend most of their lives fighting?"

Director
Donald Petrie

Cast
Jack Lemmon - John Gustafson Jr.
Walter Matthau - Max Goldman
Ann-Margret - Ariel Truax
Burgess Meredith - John Gustafson Sr.
Daryl Hannah - Melanie Gustafson
Kevin Pollak - Jacob Goldman
Ossie Davis - Chuck
Buck Henry - Elliott Snyder
Christopher McDonald - Mike

With my annual Christmas movie binge out of the way until next Christmas, I can resume my thread of Lemmon and Matthau movies. I have a few more to go. 

My last highly unqualified Lemmon/Matthau movie critique was aimed at "The Front Page." After they filmed that, the guys teamed up in Billy Wilder's 1981 movie, "Buddy, Buddy." Well, I had already reviewed "Buddy, Buddy" in 2021 for a thread I christened "Video Rental Chicken Fat." 

I'm not watching "Buddy, Buddy" again nor do I need to say anything else about it so I'm jumping to the next movie of theirs — the 1993 comedy "Grumpy Old Men." 

I should mention that Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau both appear in the 1991 Oliver Stone movie "JFK" but don't share screen time together. That means "Grumpy Old Men" marks their first movie together as a pair in 12 years. 

In this movie, divorcee John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) and widower Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) are next door neighbors somewhere in frozen Minnesota. Once upon a time, they used to be buddies. Now, they're bickering geriatric rivals. Grumpy. Old. Just like the title says. Plus, they're constantly pulling some pretty mean pranks on each other to keep the animosity flowing. 

Well, their feud reaches atomic levels when a gorgeous English widow, Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret), moves into the house across the street. Shwing! 

John and Max's hormones rev up into overdrive as they both compete for her attention and hopefully romantic affection. They awkwardly flirt with her. They go out of their way to embarrass the other. They make complete asses of themselves in the process. Now, that's comedy. 

As Max and John duke it out for Ariel's attention, their grown-up children, Melanie Gustafson (Daryl Hannah) and Jacob Goldman (Kevin Pollak), put up with their respective dad's constant complaining and bickering. 

The duel of the dads doesn't discourage their children from having a genuine and long-time friendship as they both try their best to get their dads to make amends and be the pals they used to be. Max and Melanie secretly had feelings for each other since childhood but they never quite got the kickstart they needed. 

On top of all this, the movie throws in Burgess Meredith as John Gustafson Sr, John's dad, and it's a perfect comedic trio between Meredith, Lemmon and Matthau. 

Off the bat, I thought the few sexual innuendos and that particular scene between John and Ariel that tries to be charming but fails is just too off-putting. I'll have to deduct points for that. Gross! 

If alternate universes exist, I hope there's a version of this movie out there in the whatever-verse that also stars Carol Burnett because I just wish Lemmon and Matthau made more movies with her after "The Front Page." What could have been.

As I mentioned in my review of "The Front Page" in which Burnett co-stars, I think she makes a great addition to the two. If the writers had thought of it, I'm sure she could have fit somewhere in this movie.

Still, "Grumpy Old Men" is a fun film, plain and simple. It's as though the writers gave Lemmon and Matthau briefly explained the story to them in a sentence or two, told them what their respective characters are like, and just let them go at it. By 1993, who would be presumptuous enough to give Lemmon and Matthau direction on how to be funny?  

The movie definitely channels the chemistry and comedic stye that makes Lemmon and Matthau funny in their second movie together, "The Odd Couple." Lemmon and Matthau continue to work impressively well off each other, tattered a bit from age but still in working order. Now, it's taken to the next level. 

"Grumpy Old Men" focuses on the quarreling and irritation each one inflicts on the other without the character quirks their respective characters had in "The Odd Couple." 

That's all this movie has to support it, save for a good supporting cast. In other words, there's no old grimy Oscar Madison and old squeaky Felix Unger. The movie takes all Lemmon and Matthau can offer by 1993 and uses as much as it can. The movie would work just as easily if it were titled, "Lemmon versus Matthau." 

By this period "Grumpy Old Men" introduced a new generation of movie goers to the chemistry and comedy of these guys. The thrill of the movie is watching Matthau and Lemmon play off each other. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel as genuine as some of the previous movies of Lemmon and Matthau. It's lacking a little bit. 

Burgess Meredith, by the way, is absolutely perfect as a supporting character. Never have I seen a performance of Burgess Meredith I didn't like whether on the series "The Twilight Zone" or the 1960s series "Batman," orespecially in the "Rocky" movies. I also title-drop "Clash of the Titans" while I'm on the topic Burgess performances. And now "Grumpy Old Men." 

Burgess Meredith in "Grumpy Old Men."

And the whole package pays off in the end. It's funny. I wouldn't say "Grumpy Old Men" is Lemmon and Matthau's most solid comedy, but I wouldn't hesitate to place it in fourth place following "The Odd Couple" followed by "The Fortune Cookie" followed by "The Front Page." I think that's a solid position for a comedy! 

Though Lemmon and Matthau were slowing down as far as energy goes by this time, their old age works to the films advantage. Afterall, "old men" is in the title. They pissed each other off in "The Odd Couple." Now they do it again as old men. 

The premise of a love interest is a nice and simple way to get these two characters and long-time friends to fight it out. The plot conjures up Norman Rockwell's piece "The Rivals" painted in 1922, which depicts two young boys meeting by chance at the front gate of a girl's house, one carrying flowers and the other carrying sweets, and glaring at each other in good ol' fashion male competition. Men let everything slide—unless there’s a woman involved.

Of course, the outcome in "Grumpy Old Men" is who Ariel will end up with, if anyone. For a comedy the premise is delicate and relatable. So is the outcome. 

This is a satisfying comedy about a rivalry burning as hot and heavy as the joints of these old characters will allow. It manages to stand as endearing for the most part. The pranks are clever. The insults are satisfyingly cynical, the reactions are hilarious. It's funny. It could even work as a live action origin story of Statler and Waldorf from "The Muppet Show." Now there's an idea! "Grumpy Old Men" has found a place in pop culture. I often hear it referenced here and there. And it spawned a sequel! I'll get to that later. 

Kotch 1971 - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"Old people are a big problem. Nationally it's a staggering problem. Locally, I've just had it."

Director 

Jack Lemmon 

Cast
Walter Matthau - Joseph P. "Kotch" Kotcher
Deborah Winters - Erica Herzenstiel
Felicia Farr - Wilma Kotcher
Charles Aidman - Gerald Kotcher
Ellen Geer - Vera Kotcher

Now that October is over, and my annual horror movie commentary thread "extravaganza" that I share over at 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com is all done, I'm now getting back to all my other stuff. My other stuff includes this thread of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies. Those movies include works with both of them acting together, or one or the other. 

The 1971 movie "Kotch" stars Walter Matthau and is based on Katharine Topkins's 1965 novel. It's unique as far as Lemmon and Matthau movies go as Jack Lemmon sits in the director's chair for this flick, directing his old acting buddy, Matthau. It's also Lemmon's directorial debut. It's also the only movie he directed. 

The movie also stars Deborah Winters, Charles Aidman, Ellen Geer, and Lemmon's wife Felicia Farr. Lemmon does have an uncredited role as a sleeping bus passenger - a performance I completely missed. 

In this movie, Walter Matthau plays Joseph Kotcher - Kotch for short. He's a grandfatherly fellow, mild-mannered and more than willing to share with others what life has taught him regardless of whether anyone wants to listen or not. 

He's also not going to sit idlily as his own son, Gerald (Charles Aidman) and his daughter-in-law, Wilma (Felicia Farr), whom Kotch lives with, treat him like he's a burden. 

Their living situation reaches a difficult point when Wilma insists Gerald put Kotch in a retirement home. 

Kotch initially checks out the retirement home but has no intention of staying. The tests that the home's psychiatrist conducts to consider his mental and cognitive state put Kotch off. 

Instead, he decides to go travel someplace else on his own. He's an adult, so he doesn't think he needs to tell anyone. 

He befriends a young pregnant girl named Erica Herzenstiel (Deborah Winters), whom he met earlier when Gerald and Wilma hired her to babysit their infant son, Duncan. 

Her parents kicked her out because she became pregnant out of wedlock and also decided to quit school for a hairstyling job in San Bernadino. 

Feeling bad, Kotch offers Erica a little money so she can survive a little longer, especially since she's pregnant. She reluctantly agrees to take it promising to pay him back as soon as she can. 

Kotch follows through on his escape plan, hops on a Greyhound bus and travels afar staying in motels and seeing the sites. 

Walter Matthau as 'Kotch.'

After a long excursion, Kotch returns home on Halloween night. 

Erica informs him she can't repay the money he gave her claiming she's come into some serious issues. 

Kotch also learns she was let go from her hairstyling job as she didn't have a license. So, Erica is back looking for work. 

Feeling pity, Kotch offers Erica a job as his personal housekeeper as he goes to live on his own. 

She doesn't accept at first, but after spending the fall season by herself, come Christmas time she thinks it's the best option she has. 

The film centers on this unlikely friendship. Kotch, in the winter of his life and refusing to be thought of as a burden, becomes the support Erica needs. Her parents kicked her out. The father of her baby is unreliable. The two have something in common.

His fatherly role over Erica renews in Kotch a feeling of purpose. This way, he can maintain his dignity. 

Erica, meanwhile, doesn't have to face this unexpected life change all alone. Someone cares. 

In Joe Baltake's book, "Jack Lemmon: His Films and Career" Lemmon is quoted as saying in regards to this movie, "I was drawn to 'Kotch' first by the character and the individual spirit of the human being. I was fascinated by it. It raises a lot of questions that I think need to be raised, but I was not trying to make any kind of statement about old age. I merely wanted to do a nice little drama about a character who happens to be old." (Baltake, 193) 

Even in the closing chapters of his life, Kotch once again has to find his place in the world. He may have lived in the right place before the story begins, but new journeys can call someone in an unexpected moment regardless of their age. 

On the topic of directing Matthau in the lead role, as opposed to acting opposite his comedy partner, Lemmon says, "Walter will take direction well, I found, unless something goes totally against his instincts. But I directed him mostly by leaving him alone. He's so inventive that when I was editing the film, I found he never did the same thing twice, and I wanted to kill him because it was almost impossible to cut." (Baltake, 193) 

On the flip side, in regard to working under Lemmon, Matthau says, "He's a fantastic director because he has a most unique ability to communicate with the broad spectrum of personalities on the scene, a man with a magnificent command of all the integral parts of a script. He has taste, talent, and imagination. And being an actor, he has the added advantage of understanding an actor's problems." (Baltake, 194) 

To its credit, the movie doesn't try to saturate the audience with sentimentality. The plot and acting speaks for itself, and the audience is free to take whatever emotion is there. It gives the audience considerations to think about as well. 

Walter Matthau and Deborah Winters

The film opens with scenes of Kotch and his grandson enjoying the day. It certainly sets the mood. 

And though the movie doesn't wash the audience with emotion, Matthau's performance carries much sympathy and heart. Kotch knows people don't want him around. He copes with these difficulties by diving into his past when times were better...when he wasn't old. 

Still, despite a great performance from Matthau, it was hard not to seem him through his makeup and grandfatherly appearance. Rather, I kept seeing Matthau playing a sympathetic old man. 

That's not to say Matthau is a bad actor. I have never seen a Matthau performance I didn't like, though some I like better than others. I enjoyed his performance in this role as he makes Kotch someone worth rooting for. 

The comedy is light, while the emotion flows naturally. One scene in which Kotch is undergoing a Rorschach test at the retirement home from a serious psychiatric nurse who looks as though she hasn't cracked a smile since elementary school, he feels like she's unimpressed with his answers. When she turns to answer a phone for a few moments, he sneaks a peak at her notes about him so far. "Unimaginative? Literal?" her notes read. His answers have all been one-word answers. Now that he has some insight into her opinions, at the next ink blotch where she asks what he sees, Kotch responds, "An inexperienced spermatozoon, about fifteen years old, asking directions to the nearest fallopian tube." Why not crack a joke? He won't be staying anyways. The scene cracked me up. The time was perfect, and the delivery of that line alone was comically unexpected. 

I had to let this movie stew a bit before sharing my thoughts. 

"Kotch" is a modest and underappreciated film with a solid theme of independence, compassion and connection between generations. Plus, there's a subtle pro-life message that I can definitely get behind. 

Matthau gives the role his all. He depicts a tender character who's not gruff, wisecracking and who doesn't succumb to any mistreatment around him. 

Instead, he seizes upon an opportunity to do one last remarkable thing unselfishly. He's not making up for any past misdeeds or sins. He wants this last chapter of life to be meaningful. Of course, he succeeds and is happy in his small corner of life. 

I think "Kotch" nicely complements Matthau and Lemmon's career together, even the parts of their work together after this movie's release. By 1971, Lemmon and Matthau had starred in two movies together - "The Fortune Cookie" and "The Odd Couple." Their next picture together would be, "The Front Page" in 1974. 

"Kotch" is a well-made depiction of concern and empathy which can come about in even unlikely situations. There's always room to improve and grow, even in the final stages of life. 

The Front Page (1974) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

Director

Billy Wilder

Cast
Jack Lemmon - Hildebrand 'Hildy' Johnson
Walter Matthau - Walter Burns
Susan Sarandon - Peggy Grant
Vincent Gardenia - Sheriff "Honest Pete" Hartman
Carol Burnett - Mollie Malloy
Austin Pendleton - Earl Williams
David Wayne - Roy Bensinger
Allen Garfield - Kruger
Charles Durning - Murphy
Herb Edelman - Schwartz
Harold Gould - The Mayor
John Furlong - Duffy
Jon Korkes - Rudy Keppler
Cliff Osmond - Officer Jacobi
Paul Benedict - Plunkett

"Journalists. Bunch of crazy buttinskies with dandruff on their shoulders and holes in their pants. Peeking through keyholes, waking people up in the middle of the night to ask them what they think about Aimee Semple McPherson. Stealing pictures off old ladies of their daughters that get raped in Oak Park. And for what? So a million shop girls and motormen's wives can get their jollies. And the next day, somebody wraps the front page around a dead mackerel." - Hildy Johnson ('The Front Page') 

If "The Odd Couple" is the movie that Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are most remembered for, "The Front Page" should be the second movie they're remembered for. 

I feel like their usual roles are reversed a bit in Billy Wilder's 1974 comedy "The Front Page," the third movie Lemmon and Matthau appear in together. 

In "The Fortune Cookie" and "The Odd Couple," Jack Lemmon's character is somehow at the mercy of Matthau's character. However, in this movie, Matthau's Walter Burns is at Jack Lemmon's Hildy Johnson's mercy. Matthau is the pain in the backside this time. 

"The Front Page" is based on the 1928 play also titled "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.

It's the third film adaptation following "The Front Page" from 1931 and "His Girl Friday" from 1940 with Cary Grant as Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson. 

The movie is set in 1920's Chicago. The twenties, by the way, is my favorite decade as I've mentioned in my commentary of Milos Forman's movie, "Ragtime." So, that's an added perk. The movie as an atmospheric feel similar to the movie "The Sting" which came out the year before. 

Anyways, in this movie Hildy Johnson (Jack Lemmon) is about to quit his news reporting job at the Chicago Examiner as he's getting hitched to his fiancé, Peggy Grant (Susan Sarandon). He's the best reporter the Chicago rag has got. Hildy's departure comes at the great chagrin of his editor, Walter Burns (Walter Matthau). To add salt to Walter's wound, Hildy is taking on a new gig (besides marriage) in advertising. 

"You mean you're going to be writing crap like 'I'd walk a mile for a Camel', or 'Quick, Henry, the Flit'," Burns says at the news. 
Hildy replies, "You bet! For 150 bucks a week!"
"Hildy, you're a newspaper man! Not some faggot writing poetry about brassieres and laxatives," Burns says. 

This departure falls right as a big story involving the hanging of Earl Williams (Austin Pendleton), a scrawny wimp of a leftist dweeb with Communist sympathies, is about to explode. Williams had previously been inserting propaganda demanding the release of murderer anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti into a fortune cookies. 

Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon and Susan Sarandon in "The Front Page."

Well, somewhere in the process, Williams had "accidentally" murdered a police officer. 

Now, he's on death row waiting for his turn at the gallows. 

As Hildy is saying adios to the newswriting business, Earl Williams escapes prison the night before his execution. 

Not only does he escape, but he also secretly makes his way right into the courthouse next door to his jail. Even more specifically, Williams crashes into the courthouse pressroom where Hildy is sitting by himself after he and his old press buddies have one last hurrah! The rest of the reporters scamper off like a pack of hungry wolves to find Williams. 

Hildy can't resist this whopper of a story in the last few moments of his journalism career. 

It's just him and Williams, and a typewriter. 

Well, Williams's romantic fling, Mollie Malloy (Carol Burnett), an "angel of the pavement" to put it nicely who lurks around the press room to yell at the reporters, barges in to find Williams there with Hildy in the pressroom. 

Hildy dials up Burns to tell him what just landed in the palm of his hand (not referring to Mollie, of course). He gets to writing the biggest story he's ever written all while trying to hide Williams from the police as well as trying to make it to the train station with Peggy to catch a train to Philadelphia for their wedding and honeymoon. Peggy, growing more and more ticked, is willing to catch that train on her own if Hildy doesn't shake a leg.  

I'm biased when it comes to my love of this movie as I was once a news reporter for a paper in Junction City, Kan. I had a few reporting stints before then, but the JC paper is where I really fell into place. 

I'm comfortable in a newsroom. There's something about providing people with news and information that appeals to me. So, "The Front Page" is a movie I love. Plus, having Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in it makes it perfectly cast. 

Carol Burnett stars alongside Lemmon and Matthau. As far as I'm concerned, she's one of the best (if not the best) female comedian! And if Lemmon and Matthau had a third member to their unofficial act, it would and should be Carol Burnett.  

In an interview with Conan O'Brien, Burnett said of her performance in this movie, "I was terrible in it. I was just awful." 

Sorry, Carol. Maybe I don't know good acting from bad, but I enjoyed watching you play off Lemmon and Matthau. Maybe there was more your character could have done. Or you could have shared more screen time with them. The chemistry is there. At least it could have been a jumping off point to more projects with them. 

Watching her play against Matthau and Lemmon still feels like a true golden movie moment. She's a perfect addition to Lemmon and Matthau. 

Austin Pendleton and Carol Burnett along with Jack Lemmon. 

Speaking of Matthau, his performance as a gruff editor is spot on. Editors don't care about the personal problems of their writers. A writer could have a story on deadline and wind up comatose in a hospital or unconscious in a ditch. It's in an editor's nature or mindset to hound the writer regardless to get the story done. Don't die now. There's space in the paper that needs filled.

During my stint at the paper, I once had to take a story home to work on it as my wife was heading out for the night and I needed to watch the kids. I still needed to finish a big feature I was working on. I was already passed deadline. So people were waiting for me. Right in the middle of things, my poor wife hit a deer. She was ok. And our newborn who was with her was also ok. But her car wasn't. My editor was sympathetic but frustrated as hell because my feature needed to land on the front page. And the paper needed to be put to bed. 

I finished my story with a lot of sweat on my brow and some choice words muttered under my breath. Mea culpa. 

Anyways, Matthau captures the nature of a newspaper editor wonderfully. They're a bunch of cold, heartless, self-righteous know-it-alls. Cigarettes and booze were invented with news writers in mind first because they work for editors. 

Editors! Their paychecks get them out of bed and the minute hand keeps them going. 

Once, someone pointed out some grammatical errors on this platform. I told this guy "Sorry. I'm a writer. Not an editor."

"Well, why don't you get an editor?"

"What! And take the fun out of blogging?"

The lines and back-n-forth jargon and yelling between Walter and Hildy holds the comedy as Walter schemes to keep his best reporter on. 

"You'd wreck my marriage just to keep me on that crummy paper of yours," Hildy tells Burns.

And the best line Lemmon delivers - "I wouldn't cover the last supper for you if they held it in the pump room of the Ambassador East." 

The supporting cast of news writers are some yellow journalists with a matter of fact, what ya see is what ya get demeanor. News writing is second nature to these clowns, except for Bensinger (David Wayne) who's the dandy storyteller of the bunch. Woo, woo!

You've seen "His Girl Friday" right? Of course you have! I just watched it last night before finishing this post. So, let's compare. 

Vince Gardenia as Sheriff "Honest Pete" Hartman fits the role well. The character is a real stooge for the mayor (Harold Gould). Gardenia matches the kind of character Hartman is - a yes-man who thinks he's a master at hiding his corruption concerned at hiding his corruption and is more concerned at being useful for the mayor than for the taxpayers. 

Gene Lockhart plays the same character in "His Girl Friday", but his depiction is less unlikeable. He isn't as much of a buffoon, though he's still a buffoon, as Gardenia's portrayal. 

"The Front Page" has a lot of humor but with just enough energy to make it entertaining. 

"His Girl Friday" tells a ever-so-slightly different story with Hildy being played by Rosalind Russell, a former wife of Walter Burns and still working as his reporter. So, there's more of a romantic plot. However, "His Girl Friday" has a lot more energy behind it, and just enough humor to hold it up. 

Cary Grant's performance as Walter Burns in "His Girl Friday" goes from his being the jerk of jerks (you know... a typical editor) to likeable (also, typical editor for some fluke reason). 

Matthau in the same role pulls off that same sort of performance with not as much energy as Grant. He makes up for it with hilarious gruffness and a hard exterior. 

Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are just as much of a perfect cast for this story as they are in "The Odd Couple" and their later comedy "Grumpy Old Men." 

The image of Jack Lemmon sitting in front of a Royal manual typewriter pounding out a story with sweat glistening his brow, a cigarette dangling from his lips, liquor bottles staggered in front of him, and his tie and collar undone while Walter Matthau looms over him, saying "atta boy, Hildy" is iconic. Their chemistry carries on in their respective performances as a hard-shelled selfish editor and a reporter who'll get the story any way he can.

Lemmon and Matthau are a raucous version of Laurel and Hardy, sort of, in this newsroom comedy. I could easily see Walter telling Hildy, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." Instead of crying, Hildy would shout back, "Listen, you lousy baboon. You better start wearing cast-iron shorts because the next time I see you, I'm gonna bury my shoe up your ass, so help me."

No one else could fit this scenario as well as these two guys. "The Front Page" is an underrated classic. 

The Out-of-Towners (1970) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"You're not getting away with anything! I got all your names and your addresses!"

Director
Arthur Hiller

Cast
Jack Lemmon - George Kellerman
Sandy Dennis - Gwen Kellerman
Robert Nichols - Man in Airplane
Philip Bruns - Officer Meyers
Johnny Brown - Waiter on Train
Billy Dee Williams - Clifford Robinson
Anne Meara - Woman in Police Station
Sandy Baron - Lenny Moyers

The two best things that the 1970 comedy, "The Out-of-Towners" has going for it is that it's written by comedy playwright, Neil Simon, and it stars Jack Lemmon. Double win! Or is it? 

I think "The Out-of-Towners" story best simplifies Neil Simon's comedic style. 

Comedy happens amidst the most mundane of human activity, and even amidst the frustrations of common activities. 

Traveling encompasses both the mundane and frustrative. The light at the end of that tunnel is the final destination. Everyone can relate to the stress of travelling. And I mean everyone! It's one of those necessary evils where travelers just know before setting out that something is surely going to go wrong. Simon certainly knew that and used the comedy within to write "The Out-of-Towners."  

This movie is the kind of scenario that matches Simon's knack for seeing the comedy in everyday life amidst ordinary and truly relatable characters. As far as I'm concerned, Neil Simon is a titan among comedy writers. I've praised him quite a bit already in previous posts.  

In this movie, George Kellerman (Jack Lemmon) is heading to New York City as his job invited him to interview for a promotion. He takes his wife Gwen (Sandy Dennis) along so they can make the business trip into a getaway for the both of them. 

Beginning with their flight out of Ohio to New York, their trip turns into a situation where issue after issue ruins all their plans. 

Heavy fog causes their flight to JFK Airport to circle around the city for hours before landing at Logan Airport in Boston. That reroute ruins their fancy dinner plans in the city. And, as expected, their luggage gets lost. Of course, the airline is going to lose their luggage! Unfortunately, George's ulcer medication is in his suitcase. 

Regardless, the couple still has to get to New York City. So, they book it to Boston's South Station only to just miss the train. Of course!

They get a cab and try to outrun the train before it gets to the next station. They make it and are able to board. However, the train is overcrowded. George and Gwen have to wait two hours just for a table in the dining car. 

Sandy Dennis and Jack Lemmon as Gwen and George Kellerman in Neil Simon's "The Out-of-Towners."

Once they're able to get a table, all that's left on the menu are peanut butter sandwiches, green olives and crackers. They can't even get a cup of coffee. Their only choices are tonic water and clam juice. And neither of those are served cold. 

With a belly full of peanut butter and an olive pit, they get to Grand Central Station at 2 am. However, they can't get to their reserved room at the Waldorf-Astoria because subway, bus and taxi drivers are all on strike. So are the city's sanitation workers. George and Gwen have to walk eight blocks to get to the hotel in the pouring rain. They don't have an umbrella. Garbage is piled all along the wet city streets, stinking to high heaven. 

They make it to the hotel. Their smelly eight-block trek in the pouring rain is met with the hotel giving their reserved room to someone else. The reservation was guaranteed until 10 pm. It's now 3 am. And on top of that, the hotel is booked solid thanks to all the strikes in New York. 

Nothing continues to go as planned through the night. It's the worst luck New York has to offer versus George and Gwen Kellerman of Twin Oaks, Ohio. 

The comedy in this movie is running on rinse and repeat. Travel plans are thwarted by unforeseen issues that can't be helped, as Gwen often puts it.

Each mishap has the same pay off. George flies off the handle as only Jack Lemmon knows how, swearing with more and more sincerity that he's not going to take it anymore, until the next mishap falls in his path. And his wife Gwen is there to just take it and be the voice of reason that her husband can't hear because he's too busy not taking it anymore. It does become too monotonous by the final act.  

He's even kicked out of a church by a camera crew setting up to film some upcoming Easter services just after his wife suggests he go in to pray for relief. 

The laughs are there. And the premise isn't unreasonable. What is unrelatable are the bad decisions of Jack Lemmon, such as refusing to stick around the lobby of the Waldorf when his room is given away, after the clerk offers him a room that won't be available until 7 am. But then again, good and logical decisions don't get the laughs. 

The movie is a sophisticated slapstick comedy. It's good for a laugh and some reassurance that no matter how bad our travel plans go, or any of our plans for any situation, at least we're not that guy! 

I think Lemmon's performance is hilarious and it's really easy to garner a lot of sympathy for George Kellerman. It's impossible not to connect to these two characters. All they want is a nice trip together while George's situation is about change for the better. We've all been there. We can all laugh. 

It gets to the point where Jack Lemmon's character anticipates something to go wrong, which it does. Expectations are met. 

The comedy ends with it continuing on when he, like the audience, thinks all that bad luck has got to have run out by now. 

So, it shows that travelling can actually be a form of eternal punishment. Just ask the staff at Frontier Airlines. They won't hesitate to tell you how the experience of travelling can be a veritable hell, all while arguing with you and charging you multiple fees along the way unsympathetic of the obstacles airlines like Frontier callously toss into your travel plans. 

Director Arthur Hiller has some truly notable titles on his resume, including one film titled "W. C. Fields and Me" (1976) which is something I'm interested in finding. 

He's also directed other comedies such as Disney's "Miracle of the White Stallions" (1963), "Love Story" (1970) for which he was nominated for best director, "Man of La Mancha" (1972), and "Silver Streak" (1976) with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. 

Hiller also directed Pryor and Wilder in their 1989 comedy, "See No Evil, Hear No Evil." 

Lastly, he also directed John Goodman in the 1992 Babe Ruth biopic, "Babe." 

"The Out-of-Towners" managed to get a remake in 1999 with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. I haven't seen it, but reading the synopsis on Wikipedia, it sounds like the remake makes one or two more logically outcomes when compared to those in this movie. For instance, in the remake, the couple are kicked out of the hotel instead of leaving and venturing back out onto the stinky and wet city streets because of George's principle. The remake also has John Cleese in a supporting role. I might have to check it out despite its poor reception. 

Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis are perfectly cast in their respective roles. Both are fantastic and entertaining actors. Their chemistry together, though, is faint. That is, it's not solid enough. But that's not to say their performances are terrible. I will say that Dennis struggles to keep up with Lemmon's energetic performance. Sometimes, her comedic performance doesn't match well enough against Lemmon's. It feels a tad mismatched. Even so, their collective pain is keenly felt with the audience. 

I still manage to find this movie entertaining, and it gives me just enough laughs. Still, perhaps it's a victim of its own repetitious humor. 

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"There's no way you can get away with this. You are underground in a tunnel."

Director
Joseph Sargent

Cast
Walter Matthau - Lt. Zachary Garber
Robert Shaw - Mr. Blue
Martin Balsam - Mr. Green
Héctor Elizondo - Mr. Grey
Earl Hindman - Mr. Brown
James Broderick - Denny Doyle
Dick O'Neill - Correll
Lee Wallace - the Mayor
Tony Roberts - Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle
Jerry Stiller - Lt. Rico Patrone
Tom Pedi - Caz Dolowicz

I'm shifting my attention from comedy films starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other, and watching a thriller crime movie starring Walter Matthau. Maybe I'll find one with Jack Lemmon. 

The crime drama "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" stars Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Héctor Elizondo, Earl Hindman, and Jerry Stiller, and is based on the novel by John Godey. 

It's a somewhat underrated movie but still garnered two remakes. 

The movie begins as four shady guys trying to appear inconspicuous but certainly failing at it board a six-car New York City subway train, Pelham 1-2-3, as it stops at different platforms. They're carrying guns despite any New York gun laws that may have existed in 1974. 

Each of these guys are using code names. Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) seems to be the ringleader of this clique of miscreants.
Mr. Green (Martin Balsam), Mr. Grey (Hector Elizondo) and Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman) make up the rest of the hijackers.

They take over the subway train and hold several people hostage all in one car. There happens to be an undercover cop among these hostages. 

The subway dispatch crew and everyone else involved in subway operations don't know at first why this train has suddenly stopped. 

Mr. Blue makes radio contact with New York City Transit Police lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) to let authorities know what they're planning and demand a ransom of $1 million. Mr. Blue demands that money be hand-delivered in exactly one-hour or else he will kill one hostage for every minute past that hour. 
Things go from dangerous to deadly as Mr. Grey shoots and murders transit supervisor Caz Dolowicz (Tom Pedi) as he approaches the stalled train unaware of the seriousness of the situation. 

The movie does a great job building the intensity and threat right from the beginning. The idea of four terrorists taking over a subway train seems ridiculous and unusual.  Where will these guys go? How can the possibly escape an underground tunnel? How can this possibly work. 

The story makes it work. It makes the entire insane scheme work! 

These guys separate the car with the 18 hostages from the train. 

Robert Shaw (left) as 'Mr. Blue' in 'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Then they keep in contact via radio with the subway dispatch along with Garber.

Matthau plays it rough and unshaken as Robert Shaw's character cooly but angrily tries to get what he wants while threatening the lives of the innocent people on the train. 

The movie is both realistic without feeling forced in the least. The movie pulls it off amazingly. 

On top of that, I took interest in what was happening or going to happen to the characters. I was glued. 

There was quite a handful of danger films set in all manner of transportation - The Poseidon Adventure, the Airport movies, even the elevator in Towering Inferno. 

The movie does follow a bit of a formula, but as I mentioned, it pulls off the scenario with much believability and interest. Though the characters seem a bit too cut-out and typical, they still manage to be believable as well, representing a different faction of New York City (authority, government, and pedestrians) and how they would react in such a situation. 

The hostage situation is only part of the premise. The story is just as much about their plan to hold a subway train, underground, with not much of a way out, and how they plan on pulling it off and escaping. It's a far-fetched plan, but the genius is that they're able to make it work and not appear so far-fetched after all. 

It's pulled off masterfully, with intensity that snowballs logically. 

I get the impression this movie is saying something about the leadership of New York City at the time, and how inept and impulsive it is. So much so, that it takes hardly any effort for four thugs with guns to hold a subway car of all things for ransom. Based on how the movie depicts the New York City mayor and even NYPD, these guys could just as easily hold an elevator car for ransom and get away with. Well, in this movie everyone wants something from the ordeal. 

Even the mayor's wife tells him, “If you ransom those hostages, you’ve got 18 sure votes.” 

Walter Matthau doesn't strike me as a leading man, though he's been a leading man in several movies. It's not that he couldn't pull off being a leading man. Far be it from me to dare suggest such a thing about Walter John Matthau.

It's that Matthau has a common man persona in this role. I was hoping to see Matthau's character really let the criminals have it, at least verbally and really grind his anger and frustration into these hostage takers. He does put of a no-nonsense, matter-of-fact performance. And he's perfectly suited for this role. 

I didn't dislike his performance. However, kept thinking he was about to tap into his role as Oscar Madison from "The Odd Couple" and that his comedic self would appear unwillingly through the slits. But shame on me for questioning Matthau's acting know-how and not giving him the respect he deserves.

Matthau is the ordinary man. He looks ordinary. He talks ordinarily. He still has some charm despite all that. He's relatable. He loves women! I love women, too, so I can relate. 

Dick O'Neill (left) and Walter Matthau. 

He's the guy you'd see on the bus or subway in the morning or at the end of the day, reading a paper and just waiting to be through with tomorrow, too. Seeing a guy like that makes me wonder what his ambitions are. What are his worries? What are his likes and interests? What mistakes has he made? What's motivating this guy? What has this man seen in his past? What has he accomplished? Where did he fail? What do his friends, his wife, his children think of him? Who did he piss off? This fellow looks ordinary, but he could be a king in exile for all I know. That wouldn't surprise you because there's something under that drab and callous looking exterior that's likeable. It's maybe even admirable. That stranger doesn't want to be bothered, though. But unlike that guy on the bus heading to work or heading home just like he does every day, Monday through Friday, Walter entered a field where he wants to be, and he's still bothered. Walter is a favorite actor of mine; in case you missed my previous Walter Matthau (and Jack Lemmon) reviews. 

All in all, I enjoyed his performance in "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" but I wouldn't mark it among my favorite roles of his, nor would I include it in, say, my top five Matthau performances. 

As for the movie itself, it's fantastic. It stands out to me among other disaster movies of the period, which seemed to be the trend of the time, each one seemingly trying to out-disaster the other disaster movies. "The Towering Inferno" (1974), "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), "Earthquake" (1974) "Rollercoaster" (1977), "Avalanche" (1978) and those Airport movies starting with 1970's "Airport." Jack Lemmon, by the way, stars in the second film of that series, "Airport '77." 

By the way, since I previously mentioned it, "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" got a remake in 2009 with Denzel Washington and John Travolta, which I haven't seen, but hopefully will at some point. It received rather mediocre reviews.

There's also a 1998 made-for-tv remake starring Edward James Olmos, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Donnie Wahlberg.