The Notorious Landlady
The Notorious Landlady | |
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Directed by | Richard Quine |
Written by | Blake Edwards Larry Gelbart |
Based on | The Notorious Tenant 1956 Collier's by Margery Sharp[1][2] |
Produced by | Fred Kohlmar Richard Quine |
Starring | Kim Novak Jack Lemmon Fred Astaire Lionel Jeffries Estelle Winwood |
Cinematography | Arthur E. Arling |
Edited by | Charles Nelson |
Music by | George Duning |
Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Notorious Landlady is a 1962 American comedy mystery film starring Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, and Fred Astaire.[3][4] The film was directed by Richard Quine, with a script by Blake Edwards and Larry Gelbart.
Plot
When American diplomat William Gridley arrives in London, he rents the second floor of Carly Hardwicke's townhouse and promptly falls in love with his sexy new landlady. But Gridley doesn't know what many people suspect -- that Carly murdered her husband Miles. However, since there was no body, Carly cannot be prosecuted. To complicate matters further, Gridley's boss, Franklyn Ambruster, doesn't take Gridley's "lapse of judgment" lightly. A Scotland Yard inspector, Oliphant, visits the embassy and convinces Gridley to spy on her. However, that evening, a fire erupts as he and Carly grill steaks in her back yard. The fire makes Fleet Street headlines, and a scandal results. But since Carly is an American, she goes to the embassy to plead Gridley's case. She tells Ambruster that Gridley is a good man and not to transfer him out of the country. Ambruster is touched. He takes Carly to lunch, becomes smitten with her, and proclaims her innocence in the murder affair.
One evening, Miles appears in the townhouse, alive and well. The uneasy reunion between Carly and hubby degenerates into acrimony. Then when Miles attempts to strangle her, Carly shoots and kills him. The fatal report is heard by Gridley while on the phone with Inspector Oliphant. But at the coroner's inquest, Carly is exonerated by eyewitness testimony of her crippled neighbor's private nurse who testifies that Miles assaulted Carly. Ultimately Carly tells Gridley she is being blackmailed by the nurse who wants the pawn ticket to a candelabra that Carly recently pawned. The pawn ticket was actually the cause of the argument between Carly and Miles, who had stuffed it with stolen jewels. When Gridley and Carly go to retrieve the candelabra, they find the pawnbroker murdered. A chase sequence ensues, and Gridley and Carly locate the nurse in a Penzance retirement community. They catch her in the act of pushing her elderly patient off a cliff to silence her. (It was, in fact, the elderly patient who witnessed Miles and Carly fighting, not the nurse.) Gridley and Carly save the elderly lady as Ambruster and Oliphant arrive by helicopter. The crooked nurse is arrested and led away in cuffs.
Cast
- Kim Novak as Carlyle 'Carly' Hardwicke
- Jack Lemmon as William 'Bill' Gridley
- Fred Astaire as Franklyn Ambruster
- Lionel Jeffries as Inspector Oliphant
- Estelle Winwood as Mrs Dunhill
- Maxwell Reed as Miles Hardwicke
- Philippa Bevans as Mrs Agatha Brown
- Doris Lloyd as Lady Fallott
- Henry Daniell as the Stranger
- Ronald Long as Coroner
- Richard Peel as Sergeant Dillings
- Dick Crockett as Detective Carstairs
- Ottola Nesmith as Flower Woman
- Bess Flowers as Courtroom Spectator
- Scott Davey as Henry
- Ross Brown as Boy
- Mary O'Brady as Mrs Oliphant
Notes
Lemmon and Novak had appeared together on screen twice previously, in Phffft! (1954) and in Bell, Book and Candle (1958). In both later films, Novak portrayed a landlady.
The song "A Foggy Day (in London Town)" by George and Ira Gershwin serves as the main theme for the movie and was introduced in the 1937 Fred Astaire film A Damsel in Distress.
Nominations
- Nominated for Best Written American Comedy in 1963 at the WGA Awards.[5]
See also
References
- ^ ""Notorious Tenant" by Margery Sharp, Collier's Weekly, Friday, February 3rd, 1956".
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(help) - ^ "The Notorious Landlady (1962) - Articles - TCM.com". Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Variety film review; June 27, 1962, page 6.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; June 30, 1962, page 98.
- ^ "The Notorious Landlady". 1 April 1962. Retrieved 16 April 2017 – via IMDb.
External links
- 1962 films
- 1960s comedy mystery films
- American films
- American comedy mystery films
- American black-and-white films
- Columbia Pictures films
- 1960s English-language films
- Films scored by George Duning
- Films based on short fiction
- Films based on works by Margery Sharp
- Films directed by Richard Quine
- Films set in London
- Films with screenplays by Larry Gelbart
- 1962 comedy films