Who Was That Lady?

source: Who Was That Lady?

David (Tony Curtis) is a bad husband. You learn this when his wife (in the film and in real life), Ann (Janet Leigh) finds him kissing another woman. It appears their marriage is now over and Michael (Dean Martin) gives David some very bad advice...to tell his wife he is an FBI agent and kissing the girl was just part of his job! Surprisingly, Ann is incredibly gullible and he's eventually able to convince her! Now, the marriage appears to be back on...but David and Michael have no idea how much trouble they are in, as soon the REAL FBI, CIA and enemy spies ALL converge on the dopey pair of carousers when they are out with a couple other women! This is an unsual film, in that you don't like the main characters but it still manages to work. The film is VERY silly and at times a bit too much...but generally provides a few cute laughs. Well worth seeing and a bit better than I expected.

Chemistry professor David Wilson (Tony Curtis) gets caught by his wife Ann (Janet Leigh) kissing one of his students. She vows to divorce him. He is distressed and recruits his TV writer friend Michael Haney (Dean Martin) to come up with a story to tell his wife. Michael tells an outrageous tale and Ann surprisingly buys it all. Times have changed. A cheating husband is no longer so cute. In order to update this, the kiss needs to be shown as all student driven. Only then would anybody root for the couple to reunite. As a comedy of its day, one could see where the fake identity comedy gets its laughs. It works with what it has. Janet Leigh is nowhere near the blonde dimwit that she needs to be. Curtis and Martin are playing it with a wink and a smile. It is a comedy from another time.

source: Who Was That Lady?

What a tremendous idea for a plot! "Who Was That Lady" has one funny scene after another. This is a very good comedy of story and happenings. One doesn't need crisp or witty dialog. Very much of that, and it would begin to compete with and lessen the effect of the antics and hilarious circumstances. Much of the comedy here is in innuendo and rather obvious build-ups. But it's so funny just because it happens as we imagine it will from the build-up. The scenes just give prolonged enjoyment to the hilarious situations. The cast all are OK or better. Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh were real husband and wife at the time, and they sparkle together. Leigh's performance is tops as Ann Wilson, wife of Columbia University professor David Wilson. Dean Martin is Michael Haney, a long-time school chum and Army buddy of David. He has a TV show with access to all kinds of props. David faces a divorce because Ann walked in on a scene in his chemistry lab. A foreign exchange student was showing her appreciation to the professor with a big kiss. Michael comes to the rescue with the most unbelievable story. David was just kissing the student, a foreign agent, in the line of duty – because he and Michael are undercover FBI agents on the side. After Michael has his props man make a realistic FBI card for David, we have a hilarious scene in which the doubting Ann all of a sudden believes the story and then eagerly begins to fantasize over her husband's real identity. When the real FBI get wind of what is going on, the humor increases by leaps and bounds. James Whitmore is Harry Powell, the real FBI agent sent to monitor, harness and reign in the impostor FBI agents. The restaurant scenes in Lee Wong's restaurant left me in stitches. Then, just when new think the plot has run out, it take a turn and another hilarious scene put the duo in the basement of the Empire State Building which they think is a Russian submarine. They decided to sacrifice themselves and take the enemy sub down with them. The humor just keeps rolling. This is the best of situation comedy. Curtis and Martin both had good careers and made some entertaining movies. Martin's singing and recordings were a bigger part of his career. And Curtis, especially, could do dramatic roles. But for the most part, both men played in lighter comedies with less demanding roles. So, this is a pleasant surprise for the amount of humor. We must chalk that up to Norman Krasna who wrote the original play and then the screenplay for this film. One could envision other males, especially, in these roles. A number of other actors in Martin's role might have given the film more of a boost. But, it is very funny and good entertainment as it is.

The movie defines the word "farce." Tony Curtis and Dean Martin are good performers, but the characters they play are pathetic. The FBI "thing" gets tiresome. Janet Leigh looks great, as usual. There are few really funny lines throughout the movie, but the viewer can easily get distracted during "dead zones" of absurd planning and plotting. The highlight of this movie occurs when the Coogle sisters (Barbara Nichols and Joi Lansing) enter the restaurant. The movie is worth watching if only for this one memorable and provocative scene. I have rated this movie a 6, but I almost gave it a 5.

Light-hearted and amusing tale where Martin gets Curtis to pretend he is a member of the FBI to cover up Leigh catching him kissing another girl. Yes, that's about it but its OK, Tony Curtis doesn't put himself out too much, Dean Martin is his usual cool self and coasts easily enough through the proceedings but it is the energetic and likable performance from Janet Leigh that surprises. Same year as Psycho! Worth seeing if you are a fan of any of the three stars. Nothing brilliant but never a dull moment.

A trio of major stars, close to their peak of fame at the time, help to enliven this overdrawn farce based on a moderately successful Broadway play. Curtis is a university scientist who is canoodling with a female student when his wife Leigh walks in and catches him. In no time flat, she is packing for Reno to get a divorce and orders him out of the house by 7:00pm. Curtis's pal Martin, a writer for CBS television, helps to concoct a scheme designed to fool Leigh into calling off the split. He aids Curtis in convincing Leigh that they are FBI agents and that the girl being smooched was just a small part of a much bigger plan. After some deliberation, Leigh falls for the story, but thanks to a loose end from the props department at CBS, the real FBI gets involved and things become more and more convoluted and complicated from there. Curtis is appropriately manic and desperate as he tries to inject a sense of imperativeness to the silly and unrealistic plot. Playing a cheating husband couldn't have been too great a stretch for him as he admitted to fooling around on Leigh many times during their real life marriage and, in fact, would leave her for a younger girl only two years after this. Martin appears to be investing his role with a little more conviction than he would later in his Matt Helm series and tries to add texture to his performance (or is he just trying to steal focus?) by fiddling often with props. He's mostly second fiddle to Curtis, but does get to toss out a few zesty lines now and then. Leigh (saddled with an unflatteringly tousled hairdo) overacts with abandon in order to keep up with the guys' zaniness. She cuts a nice figure in her black cocktail dress, but has a pretty dense role to play. Fortunately for her, "Psycho" would come out the same year as this and immortalize her forever in a more flattering way. Some strong supporting players, notably Whitmore as a beleaguered FBI agent and Nichols and Lansing as a couple of bottle-blonde pickups, give their all in an effort to liven up the film. Whitmore very wisely underplays his role in contrast to the more broadly acted ones. Unfortunately, the play was dated before too long after its run and the film is badly dated now. The stage origins show through frequently despite attempts to move the action around. Curtis's apartment is interestingly laid out, though very artificial in nature. This was made at a time when the big trend was to involve the Russians (see also Leigh's version of "Bye, Bye Birdie") or to throw in a big, sloppy spectacle such as a pie fight or an overflowing washing machine. Here, the Russians make their obligatory appearance and the unlikely flooding of a New York City landmark accents the climax. It wouldn't be so bad if the script didn't take so long to set things up and dwell on so many unnecessary details along the way, but it would hardly matter because the whole enterprise is both inane and distasteful in any case. There's an odd layer of (unintentional?) homoeroticism dispersed throughout as well, with Curtis and Martin contorting their way through the machinations of the plot and Curtis nearly kissing a male Soviet agent. What it's got are three charismatic stars trying their best and some clean black and white photography, but what it's lacking is a compelling premise that is carried out proficiently.

While Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh are considered the stars of this film, Dean Martin is practically a co-star in this Curtis movie doing a lot of the heavy lifting like Jack Lemmon often does in Curtis movies. The film starts with Curtis wife (Leigh) catching him (a college professor) kissing a college coed. From here, comes Dean Martin playing a TV script writer, trying to write Curtis back into his marriage to Leigh before she fly to Reno for a quickie divorce. The cover story is that Curtis is an FBI agent kissing the young girl on assignment. Then it gets complicated when James Whitmore (a real FBI agent) becomes interested in what Curtis & Martin are pulling over. This is screwball comedy done by the writer of Alfred Hitcock's only real screwball comedy (Mr & Mrs. Smith). What is most interesting is that the premise of the film hasn't changed. Today, if you catch your mate kissing (or doing) somebody else, you need an explanation or else you dump them. Usually the dumping is still the first instinct. In the case of this film, Leigh catching Curtis might have predicted the near future as 2 years later, they would divorce. There are at least 2 Martin songs & a special cameo by Jack Benny in this one. An interesting effort though the FBI line does wear a little thin about halfway through. Still, it is a nice diversion & the director has previous experience in this type of movie, so the pace & everything feel right here.

A film that deserves to be better known. Adapted and produced by Norman Krasna from his 1958 Broadway play, as smoothly directed by George Sidney it adroitly transcends it's theatrical origins, with a plot that makes 'North by Northwest' look like Bresson; and a farcical climax that does for the Empire State Building what Hitchcock's film did for Mount Rushmore. Real-life husband & wife Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh make attractive leads (the latter looking even cuter than usual in Jean Louis), while Dean Martin is where he belongs leading the excellent supporting cast (as well as singing the title song), in which James Whitmore is a standout as the bona fide FBI agent whose ulcer is further aggravated by this particular assignment.