The ultimate everyman

Lemmon was always on the move, running not walking, screaming and getting himself into impossible situations. His was the kind of comedy that was hectic, relying on bizarre situations and a bit of exaggerated acting, reminisces V. GANGADHAR.

ON the night of Friday, June 29, the TCM channel sprang a surprise and screened the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau movie, "Buddy, Buddy". Lemmon, as usual, ran around creating impossible situations as the husband-under-pressure whose wife was unfaithful to him and finally landing up in the company of a professional assassin. Like all Billy Wilder ( director) movies, "Buddy, Buddy" was a non-stop laugh riot.

The TCM channel was paying a tribute to 76-year old Lemmon, who had died earlier in the day at a Los Angeles hospital. And watching "Buddy, Buddy" memories came back in a rush. In most of his comedies, Lemmon was always on the move, running not walking, screaming and getting himself into impossible situations. His was not the suave, sophisticated comedy of a Cary Grant. It was more hectic, relying on bizarre situations and a bit of exaggerated acting.

Oh, how much we used to laugh at his antics as a mad scientist in "The Great Race" where he also played a double role as an eccentric king, drunk most of the time and surrounded by a pack of dogs. I can still recall the hilarious comic situations including the final pie throwing scene and the high pitched, near-hysterical laughter of the king. As the mad scientist whose bizarre inventions tended to boomerang, Lemmon competed with hero Tony Curtis in the famous car race from New York to Paris. The result? Non stop laughter.

If "The Great Race" was good, "Some Like it Hot" was even better because it had the Billy Wilder (director) touch and a pungent screen play by I.A.L.Diamond, Wilder's favourite writer. Lemmon and Curtis played two musicians running away from Mafia goons after witnessing a murder committed by them. The scene was Chicago of the 1930's. Both the actors, to escape from the goons, adopted female disguises and joined an all women's musical group of which luscious Marilyn Monroe was a member. While Curtis played a straight role and could switch off his disguise to romance Marilyn, Lemmon was stuck with it and had to contend with a male suitor who was captivated by his "feminine" charms. I would rate "Some Like it Hot" as one of the best comedies ever made.

Searching my memory, I cannot remember Jack Lemmon in some of his very early films like "Fire Down Below" and "Bell, Book and Candle", but who can forget his outstanding performance as Ensign Pulver in the 1955 classic, "Mr Roberts" which fetched him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Later he won the Best Actor award for his role in the 1973 movie, "Save the Tiger", becoming the only actor to win Oscars in both these categories. In "Mr. Roberts", Lemmon was put through his paces by the leading man, Henry Fonda. Lemmon never sought individual glory but always seemed to perform better in the company of equally good actors. I think he was a "give and take" actor.

Look at the associations with Tony Curtis and then with the inimitable Walter Matthau with whom he made four hit comedies. He worked in seven Billy Wilder films, each one being a hit.

If Jack Lemmon was no prima donna, what was he? Wellknown American movie critics dubbed him, the "Everyman American" who tackled the frustrations, anxieties, and small triumphs of the urban, post-war average guy. Watch his performance in the Neil Simon classic, "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" where he effortlessly brought out the frustrations of an ad executive. Or even, "Buddy, Buddy" where he was the average American husband driven to suicide because of domestic problems. These were the problems experienced by millions of middle class Americans.

In fact, Lemmon was not even good looking and lacked the personal charisma of a Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda or James Stewart. But this was never a handicap because he was able to play the average American even better. Lemmon was the "guy with suits and ties and an office to go to", grappling with problems faced by the middle class Americans. He would have been embarrassed had he looked like a Greek god!

Looks or no looks, Lemmon amazed everyone with his versatility. Perhaps, this had something to do with his upbringing where he excelled in everything he touched. Taking up cross country running to improve his fragile health, Lemmon broke the record for the two-mile event. He was enthralled by the piano and learnt to play it by the ear. At school in Andover and later in Harvard, he excelled in dramatics, winning the prestigious Hasty Pudding Club presidency at the university.

The versatile trait continued in his professional career. Lemmon tried radio, television, stage and of course the movies and was brilliant in all these. Even at the height of his movie career, he periodically returned to the stage. His role in Eugene O'Neill's classic, "Long Day's Journey into the Night" was much acclaimed and the play ran to packed houses for several moths both in the US and London. I guess the periodic returns to the stage fuelled his acting talents. A major high point on the stage was his playing Scottie Templeton, a cancer-ridden press agent trying to clear up his conflicts with his ex-wife and son in the 1978 Broadway production, "Tribute". The role fetched Lemmon the Broadway Guild Award and a Tony award nomination. He played the same role in the film version of the play and was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.

I think Lemmon liked playing the roles of honest Americans with a commitment towards building a better world and not given to deceit. That was why he was so good in "China Syndrome" where he played a nuclear plant executive who refused to go along with the cover up of an accident in the plant. The role embodied the image of an ordinary man showing courage in an extraordinary situation.

Naturally, American show business had to honour Jack Lemmon with the Lifetime Achievement Award, calling him an "icon, an American legend". No one deserved these epithets better. People of my generation had not seen a more versatile actor. From rumbustious comedy he switched over to sensitive, electrifying performances in films like "Missing", "Days of Wine and Roses", "China Syndrome" "Irma la Douce" and so on.

More than these awards, Jack Lemmon would have cherished the tribute from American movie critic, Richard Schickel who said, "Jack was the ultimate everyman. Who better to cast in that part?"

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Section  : Entertainment