A man ( Jack Lemmon ) intending to commit suicide books into a seedy hotel room. His name is Felix Ungar. After straining his back trying to open a window, he goes to a strip club, and from there on to the apartment of his friend Oscar Madison ( Walter Matthau ). A poker game is in session. Oscar and his friends have heard that Felix's wife Frances threw him out, and try to prevent him from doing away with himself. Felix moves in and the two men - who are of diametrically opposed personalities - drive each other nuts. Oscar is one of Nature's slobs, while Felix is tidy to the point of obsession. He is also a hypochondriac, forever complaining of sinus trouble. They are bound to drive one another mad in the end, and do...
Based on the stage play by Neil Simon, 'The Odd Couple' has not been opened out much for the big screen, and that's one of its strengths. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are brilliant as Oscar and Felix, and the supporting cast are wonderful, particularly John Fielder as 'Vinnie'. Cute Monica Evans and Carole Shelley giggle their way through the film as 'Cecily and 'Gwendolyn' - the cuckoo 'Pigeon' sisters who live upstairs, and whom Felix later moves in with ( lucky guy ).
Even now after all these years, certain moments can reduce me to tears of laughter - Felix interrupting Oscar in the middle of a ball game with a dinner request, Oscar cracking up and chasing Felix around the apartment, the Pigeon Sisters brought low by Felix's sob stories, and of course, the legendary cafeteria scene ( later ripped off by Nora Ephron's 'When Harry Met Sally' ). Razor-sharp dialogue too. When the boys think Felix has taken an overdose, Oscar says: "They could be vitamins! He could be the healthiest one in the room!".
Neal Hefti's theme will be going round in her head for days after you see this.
Later spun off into a long-running television series starring Tony Randall as 'Felix' and Jack Klugman as 'Oscar', with Evans and Shelley reprising their movie roles.
In 1998, 'The Odd Couple 2' appeared. It had its moments but could not compete with the original.
Based on the stage play by Neil Simon, 'The Odd Couple' has not been opened out much for the big screen, and that's one of its strengths. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are brilliant as Oscar and Felix, and the supporting cast are wonderful, particularly John Fielder as 'Vinnie'. Cute Monica Evans and Carole Shelley giggle their way through the film as 'Cecily and 'Gwendolyn' - the cuckoo 'Pigeon' sisters who live upstairs, and whom Felix later moves in with ( lucky guy ).
Even now after all these years, certain moments can reduce me to tears of laughter - Felix interrupting Oscar in the middle of a ball game with a dinner request, Oscar cracking up and chasing Felix around the apartment, the Pigeon Sisters brought low by Felix's sob stories, and of course, the legendary cafeteria scene ( later ripped off by Nora Ephron's 'When Harry Met Sally' ). Razor-sharp dialogue too. When the boys think Felix has taken an overdose, Oscar says: "They could be vitamins! He could be the healthiest one in the room!".
Neal Hefti's theme will be going round in her head for days after you see this.
Later spun off into a long-running television series starring Tony Randall as 'Felix' and Jack Klugman as 'Oscar', with Evans and Shelley reprising their movie roles.
In 1998, 'The Odd Couple 2' appeared. It had its moments but could not compete with the original.