Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Prof Popinjay

I’ll get right into the plot. It’s a little complicated but funny. Jack is a visionary working and not making much progress in an advertising firm. Edward G. Robinson, in an unusual casting, is a clean upstanding moral family man and dairy farmer seeking an advertising campaign but Jack’s firm is floundering due to their inability to advertise without sexually exploitative imagery. Jack is regarded as a moral family man himself and makes a good impression on Robinson, securing the deal and meriting a promotion. 

——Meanwhile, Jack Lemmon’s wife has a friend from France who moves in next door after her divorce which is not technically final. French friend learns she has a rich uncle who passed away and left her 18 million dollar bucks provided she is still married or the money goes to the closest living relative. The closest living relatives are her aunt and aunt’s husband and naturally they immediately show up and start snooping. Having been caught unawares by the relatives, French friend panics and inadvertently involves Jack in a plot to make the relatives believe he is her husband. This charade is at first endorsed by Jack’s wife but as things become more complicated a bit of jealousy flares up.

——Enter French friend’s actual soon-to-be-divorced husband who knows nothing of the money and wants to fix their marriage, bless his heart. All this combined with the need to keep up the appearance of the upstanding moral family man makes for quite the hilarious scenario.

Yes, this is a complicated plot and yet, the execution is well organized and easy to follow. The cast works well together. The scenarios even seem only random events, all coincide with the plot and nothing seems tacked on. With the exception of the serendipitous combination of French friend moving next door at the same time she receives news of her uncle’s passing, this story is well written and is not simply comedy for comedy’s sake.

The only part that was a bit gratuitous comedy-wise was the opening title sequence which featured Jack Lemmon sleeping with his wife and being unconsciously annoying in the process. I thought this might be pertinent to the plot but they both wake up and are perfectly happy expressing no annoyance at the tumultuous sleep patterns whatsoever and it never comes up again. For a well thought out movie without any tacked on scenes or comedy, this was very tacked on. Honestly, the whole duration of the film I kept thinking “when are they going to address his sleep disorder?”

Sometimes it’s hard to start a story and get everyone in the proper mood for the rest of the story, especially back then when they’re required to start with ALL the credits. Glad they started putting those at the end. That’s why I like after credit scenes.

Anywho, great movie. I definitely recommend it.