This had been remade brilliantly as His Girl Friday so why go back to the original and do it again? Well, I guess they had colour and the team of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau - and Billy Wilder needed a hit. I think it was. Well, ish.
It's nice that Wilder had such affection for the play and his writing but his love of its dialogue slows the pace... we hear every line when overlapping would've given it more pace. I mean, the play is good, not the Holy writ.
It's slow. Homophobic (the f word, David Wayne's prissy reporter), doesn't feel real - Walter Matthau yes Jack Lemmon no. Carol Burnett overacts, Susan Sarandon seems too young for Lemmon,. Austin Pendleton is good as Earl.
Howard Hawks cracked this there was no point to making this. I should add though that the set and costumes are first rate. Universal movies often look ugly but not this one.
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