Search - The Odd Couple on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Adult Humor Movie Release: 1968 DVD Release: 12/12/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 45 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 2 Genres: Comedy, Buddy Film, Odd Couple Film See Also: The Odd Couple [Paramount Centennial Collection]

Compulsive neatnik Felix Unger (Jack Lemmon) is thrown out of his house by his divorce-bound wife. He wanders aimlessly through the streets of New York, toying with the idea of suicide, before gravitating to the apartment of his best friend, incorrigibly sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau). Worried that Felix will try something desperate, Oscar, himself in the process of being divorced by his wife, invites Felix to move in with him. Within a few days, this mismatched pair is on the verge of mutual murder: Felix cannot abide Oscar's slovenliness, while Oscar is driven insane by Felix's obsession with cleanliness. A potentially passionate evening with Oscar's neighbors, the "coo-coo" Pigeon sisters (Monica Evans and Carole Shelley) is ruined when Felix, ruminating over his wife and children, reduces the two ladies to remorseful tears. Pushed to the brink, Oscar stalks around the apartment making as big a mess as possible. Comes the next week's poker game, and the previously vengeful Oscar is worried that Felix might have attempted to do away with himself again. Instead, a surprisingly self-confident Felix shows up to collect his belongings, then announces that he's temporarily moving upstairs with the toothsome Pigeon sisters! There's a laugh a second in this faithful movie adaptation of Neil Simon's hit Broadway play. A foolproof comic situation (allegedly based on a chapter in the life of Simon's brother Danny) is kept alive and healthy by some of the funniest dialogue ever written. The Odd Couple was later adapted into a long-running TV sitcom starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Lemmon - Felix Unger
Walter Matthau - Oscar Madison
John Fiedler - Vinnie
Herb Edelman - Murray
David Sheiner - Roy

Gene Saks' The Odd Couple (1967) wasn't, on its face, a likely film to be shot in Panavision, A character-driven comedy that was a hit on Broadway with Art Carney and Walter Matthau, the anamorphic lens would seem to destroy any intimacy that one might be able to develop with those characters. But Saks wisely chose to open up the play and turn New York City into a co-star, giving us a theatrical framing for the apartment where a good chunk of the action does take place. For all of those reasons, the DVD of The Odd Couple, which is fully letterboxed at 2.35:1, is essentially like seeing the movie for the first time. The restoration of the image also gives a glowing, glistening look at New York City of the era, the exterior shots possessing a new allure that no full-frame presentation could possibly equal -- from the silken darkness surrounding Felix's lonely walk by the river to the bright morning on Riverside Drive as he runs to catch the M-5 bus, the movie contains myriad images of the city at its most distinctive. Much more important, the movie is genuinely funnier when seen this way. In the scene at Oscar's apartment with the poker-playing buddies, it's a revelation to see all five of the players and their reactions and interactions in one shot, or to watch them chasing Jack Lemmon around the apartment. Not only do we see the care and skill with which Saks directed every corner of the scene, but we see it all amid the squalor of the Oscar Madison apartment. A lot of care was spent in decorating that set and it pays off when you can actually see it; and when Lemmon's Felix is clearing his ears in the luncheonette, it's three times funnier to see the entire row of customers turn from the counter in his direction to see what the honking is about. The other amazing element of the disc is the sheer beauty of the transfer and the source print, which is extraordinary; the image is gorgeous, even in its depiction of the horrendous condition of Oscar's apartment. The 16 chapters are well chosen and labeled in terms of breaking down the plot. The only disappointment is the sound, which is mastered at a fairly low volume but pumps up nicely and does justice to Neal Hefti's score. English subtitles and a French audio track are also available, accessible through a two-layer menu that also offers the original trailer. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide