THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966)
60TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION
Teamwork was the driving force behind this satirical comedy. It was the fourth of seven films in which German immigrant Billy Wilder directed his ideal leading man, Jack Lemmon, the seventh of twelve films Wilder co-wrote with Romanian-born I.A.L. Diamond, and the first of multiple pictures Lemmon with his perfect foil, Walter Matthau. Wilder had wanted to give Matthau the lead in The Seven Year Itch (1955), but the studio wanted a name who had worked in film before. When the writer-director started working on a script about a crooked lawyer trying to make a fortune out of his brother-in-law’s injury at a football game, he wrote the role of “Whiplash” Willie Gingrich for Matthau. The actor was astonished to be handed such a plum assignment after years of supporting work. Matthau’s stolid, gruff persona was the perfect match for Lemmon’s neurotic everyman, brought him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and made him a star.
d. Billy Wilder, 126m, DCP
World premiere of new DCP courtesy of Amazon Studios and Park Circus.