The Notorious Landlady

source: The Notorious Landlady

I was going to give this film kudos for doing something well that is typically botched by Hollywood. There are dramas with humor. There are comedies with drama. But rarely is a comedy/drama film very successful in mixing the two genres. This film did up till the last 15 minutes, when, in my view, it blew it all with slapstick. Shame, shame. In the early part of the film it seems like a light comedy as US embassy rep in London, Jack Lemmon, rents a flat and falls in love with a landlady (Kim Novak) whom he doesn't know has a notorious reputation of murdering her husband. Throughout most of the film there's a fine element of suspense, and it becomes a fine whodunit for a while...until the slapstick at the end when it just gets silly. The slapstick would have worked fine in a Red Skelton flick, but not here. The other problem with this film is the presence of Fred Astaire. Now I like Fred Astaire, and have enjoyed him in many musicals. But in this straight role (sort of), well it just doesn't quite work. Oh, it doesn't ruin the film by any means, but I didn't find him particularly believable as the head of the American embassy. I noted in the message boards that one of our reviewers felt Astaire stole every scene he was in. With all due respect, that's just an Astaire fan's viewpoint. I did tire of the background music throughout the film being almost exclusively "A Foggy Day In London Town". Too cheap for a real score? And, by the way...one thing that is never answered is who was the body being dragged into the basement early in the film. Despite all that criticism, this is mostly a pretty enjoyable film, nicely done for the most part, and quite entertaining. There's no question that Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon have film chemistry. Lionel Jeffries is good as a Scotland Yard inspector. Good film, but the foolish slapstick kept it from being a notch above.

This movie is not bad at all,not one of Lemmon's best by any stretch of the imagination but it has some funny situations and its likable for the most part.Near the ending it gets completely out of hand and instead of comedy-mystery which is the most part,it becomes mad slapstick for no apparent reason.Is like someone told the scriptwriter that a Lemmon movie should be crazier than what they had up to that point.Anyway,its kinda weird this way from that point on but you get to smile and the stars are all likable.Novak is at her sexiest, even in B&W!!Funny role for Astaire who was at his second career by that time,plays a manipulating official at the American Embassy in London with an eye for Novak.

This is an entertaining spoof on Hitchcock style,long before Mel Brooks' "high anxiety" (1978),and much more subtile at that.Diplomat Lemmon rents a room in a mansion whose owner(Novak) might be a man-eater.After a slow start,the movie quickly reaches its cruising speed and will keep it till the end. Many scenes in Novak's desirable mansion are nods in the direction of "rear window".All the neighbors are looking out their windows,secretly waiting for something to happen.A kid warns Lemmon:"My mother says you're next",and he later adds "And my father says so too".And the final is some kind of cross between the chase movies like" north by norwest" and the "symphonic" scenes of a " man who knew too much"(1956) in miniature,as the characters are in search for an old lady among many wheelchairs,during an outdoor concert .Jack Lemmon is wonderful,his comical expressions have influenced a lot of actors,Jim Carrey owes him a lot.Richard Quine's final crazy chase is much more successful than that of "sex and the single girl" ,two years later. POSSIBLE SPOILER********************Possible spoiler A small flaw:the scene between Kim Novak and her husband is so dramatic that it jars with the light tongue-in -cheek atmosphere of the rest of the show.The same goes for the pawnbroker's scene.

Jack Lemon is a newcomer to the Ambassador's staff in London. His boss is Fred Astaire. He rents half a house from the impecunious Kim Novak, an American whose husband has mysteriously disappeared. It's widely suspected that she poisoned hubby, using kidney pies that were so good that he asked for seconds. "It was the seconds that done him in," remarks a police officer. Lemon begins to wonder if she's going to poison him and is hypervigilant. The fact that Lemon and Novak are "living together" becomes a scandal. He's advised for the sake of his career to avoid being seen with Novak in public but when she tries to barbecue his dinner the burst of flame sets fire to the tarpaulin, screams break out, windows fly open, bells clang, and the fire department arrives -- that sort of thing. I didn't find it very funny, or very suspenseful either. Lemon tip toes from room to room, examining the contents of drawers, while Novak goes about her business in the kitchen. Lemon and Novak are competent enough. Fred Astaire is miscast in the role of the sarcastic boss who should be threatening instead of charming. Lionel Jeffries and Henry Daniell are both memorable in their brief appearances as a Scotland Yard official and a vicar. The film does the job it set out to do, but what it set out to do is only barely worth doing.

The opening scenes of this movie have, as background music, the melody of the Gershwin song, A Foggy Day in London Town. This, despite the fact that there is no fog in those scenes. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire -- who plays a supporting role in this flick -- in his 1937 movie Damsel in Distress. SPOILER: The concluding scenes, which include a chase on the beach at Penzance, has background music from the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, The Pirates of Penzance (which was also made into two movies in 1982 and 1983), with a coda from a melody in Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. One other mystery movie in which music from the Pirates of Penzance was significant was The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.

For a '62 film, it's a great parady of detective films,as well as the great wheelchair scene at the end.Great mystery,Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon had paired before and did well.

I saw this film for one reason--it starred Jack Lemmon. Lemmon was a very fine actor and I'd see him in just about anything. "The Notorious Landlady" must surely qualify as 'in just about anything'! The movie starts off very well but then just seems to drag on and on--becoming quite dull. Frankly, by the time it was over, I was more than ready. The film begins with a low-level American diplomat in London looking for an apartment. He happens upon a flat owned by an American--and it's odd, because practically EVERYONE in London seems to be an American in this film. Lemmon is thrilled to move in, as the landlady (Kim Novak) is very sexy. Soon they fall in love. However, things do NOT go smoothly, as he then is informed by his boss and Scotland Yard that she is suspected in the murder of her husband! What's to happen next? Well, although the film was very good at this point, the exact solution to the problem just never hit home for me. I wish that instead they had kept the film a romance--as the mystery and comedy seemed a bit thin. Overall, the actors tried but the script just wasn't very interesting.

Jack Lemmon, rising young man in the United States State Department hasn't a clue when he rents a room from Kim Novak who turns out to be a fellow American in London. He also doesn't know she's The Notorious Landlady whose husband has gone missing and Scotland Yard thinks she did him in. Americans in the diplomatic corps are supposed to be scandal free, even more so back in 1962 so poor Lemmon doesn't know what he's walked into. But his supervisor Fred Astaire does and he wants him to leave. But Lionel Jeffries of Scotland Yard thinks he'd make one great unofficial undercover man. So in the spirit of the alliance that defeated Hitler, Astaire agrees. Later on after a hilarious barbecue scene nearly burns Novak's place down and gets the State Department unwanted publicity, Astaire wants to transfer Lemmon to Tierra Del Fuego, but Novak actually comes up and charms him into letting him stay. So much so that Astaire now wants to play Sherlock Holmes and solve the case himself or at least be Watson to Lemmon's Holmes. Jack and Kim make a lovely couple in danger, 25 years earlier I could have seen Cary Grant and Carole Lombard in their parts. But when you set out to make a stylish comedy, casting Fred Astaire is always a stroke of genius. Director Richard Quine even had the good sense to acquire Astaire's classic, A Foggy Day from the defunct RKO studio where he introduced it in Damsel In Distress to use as background music. It's used to great affect on one of those foggy London nights where both of them are trailing Novak. In the last half hour their sleuthing pays off and a rather intricate mystery is solved. Lionel Jeffries makes a dogged and determined Inspector Lestrade like Scotland Yard man, who if truth be told is one of the sleazier members of that organization ever portrayed on screen. The joint creative hands who wrote The Notorious Landlady were Blake Edwards and Larry Gelbart. Can't do better than that for style and wit.

I just bought this video from a reputable company. I was quite surprised to see that it was available - it has been out of circulation for years. One person told me long ago that it had never been put on video. That person was obviously misinformed. The video itself is not in the best condition. The film is in black and white and there are several moments of white glare, followed by excessive darkness. There are some breaks and pops, just like my old LP's. These visual defects, strangely enough, added to my enjoyment, for they gave the movie a vintage quality. Indeed, one has the feeling that this movie could have been made in the 1930's or 1940's. This film is a direct descendant of earlier screwball comedies and screwball mysteries such as the Thin Man. Kim Novak looks at times like Jean Harlow and the scenes of London are a wistful reminder of how very British the city once was. The clever plot revolves around the question of Mrs. Hardwicke played by Kim Novak. Is she or is she not guilty of murder? Briefly Bill Gridley wrestles with himself over this issue, but his attraction to her gets the upper hand. Hey, what's one dead husband when you're in love? An unexpected event leads to a zany trial and last but not least to a madcap chase straight out of a Buster Keaton comedy. Lovely Kim really has trouble keeping her hat on as she tears through the fields in pursuit of poor Estelle Winwood. I found Jack Lemmon in top form, contrary to one commentary posted here. He is completely natural, without the slightest hint of effort. But he usually is this way. Casting Fred Astaire was a stroke of genius - his presence adds even more vintage, and I mean vintage in the most complimentary sense. He is a real asset and I wish he had just danced a little. All in all, great fun.