Irma la Douce

directed by Billy Wilder
Category: "Comedy"
Year of Release:1963
Date Added:06/01/2024
Date Watched:06/01/2024
Description:Straight-laced Paris policeman Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon) is assigned the red-light district. Shocked by what he finds, he raids a brothel and arrests everyone, including streetwalker Irma (Shirley MacLaine). Nestor is fired by his corrupt captain and finds himself unemployed. When he defends Irma from her pimp, she invites him up to her room and they begin living together. but Nestor can't stand her seeing other men. He puts on a disguise as the Englishman Lord X and visits Irma twice a week—paying her enough money that she doesn't have to see anyone else. But to pay for Lord X's visits, Nestor has to work several jobs in the nearby food market. He gets so tired that Irma figures he's cheating on her. She makes plans to go off with another man—Lord X. Nestor gets jealous (of himself in disguise) and does away with Lord X by throwing the disguise in the Seine. The police arrest him for murder and throw him in jail. He escapes when he finds out Irma is pregnant. He wants to marry her, but he has to be cleared for the murder—so he puts on the Lord X disguise and rises out of the Seine, nine months after supposedly being killed, and claims he has no idea where he was (but it was wet). Nestor shows up at the church and marries Irma just before she has the baby. And he's rehired by the police and ordered to investigate the Lord X situation.
My Rating:6

Reviews for Irma la Douce

Review - Irma la Douce

Clever, and funny in spots. But, there's the whole prostitution thing, plus it went on for at least a half hour too long. One funny scene is when the police go to Irma's apartment to find Nestor, so he puts on his old police uniform and helps them look for himself.

Reviewed by Roger on 2024-06-01 18:02:07

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