The Odd Couple is a 1968 film written by Neil Simon, based on his
play of the same name, and directed by Gene Saks. It
is the story of two divorced men -- Felix Ungar, the neurotic neatfreak, and Oscar Madison, the fun-loving slob -- who decide to
live together, even though their personalities cause distinctive clashes.
History
The Odd Couple was originally produced for Broadway and the original cast
starred Art Carney as Felix and Walter Matthau as
Oscar. For the film version, Matthau reprised his role as Oscar, but Carney turned the film down. Felix was played by
Jack Lemmon who had not played the character before. Most of the script from the play is the
same, although the setting is expanded: instead of taking place entirely in Oscar's apartment, Simon also wrote some scenes that
take place at various outdoor New York City locations (most notably one at
Shea Stadium in Queens, New York).
Oscar's poker player friends also made up the cast, they were Roy (David Sheiner), Vinnie
(John Fiedler), Speed (Larry Haines) and Murray the
Cop (Herb Edelman). The plot of the film is simply having to deal with Felix, who was just
thrown out of his house by his wife Frances, having nowhere to turn but to his good friend Oscar's house. Oscar asks Felix to
stay with him for awhile, as Felix was near suicide at his plight with his crumbling marriage. It would soon comedically be a
decision that Oscar would regret.
The film made its debut at Radio City Music Hall in 1968. The critics were
divided, most had positive things to say about Matthau's performance, they were less amicable about Lemmon.[citation needed] The film nonetheless was a hit and
earned Neil Simon a nomination for the Academy Award for Writing
Adapted Screenplay. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or
Comedy and Lemmon and Matthau were both nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical
or Comedy.
The film also eventually spawned a television series spinoff in 1970, also titled The Odd Couple. A sequel, The Odd Couple II was released 30 years later.
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in a scene from the film
Plot
The film starts in sportswriter Oscar Madison's Upper-West Side New York apartment on a hot evening. The apartment is a
testament to a man who is separated; the place is a pig sty, and Oscar doesn't mind at all. Oscar and his buddies Speed, Roy,
Vinnie, and Murray the cop are playing poker and discussing their friend, Felix Unger, who is unusually late to the game.
Murray's wife calls and tells him that Felix and his wife Frances have split up. As they are discussing what to do, and worried
that Felix might try to commit suicide, Felix arrives not knowing that his friends already know that his wife has kicked him out
of the house. Felix had spent most of the night wandering around, going to a bar to get drunk (he pinches his neck trying to down
a drink), and then trying to commit suicide by throwing himself out of a hotel window (he throws out his back trying to open the
window).
Felix eventually breaks down crying and his friends try to console him. Oscar then suggests that Felix move in with him, since
Oscar has lived alone since he split up with his own wife, Blanche, several months earlier. Felix agrees, and urges Oscar to not
be shy about letting him know if he gets on Oscar's nerves.
Within a week, Oscar is going nuts. Felix is a neurotic, obsessive-compulsive nut, who runs around the apartment cleaning,
picking up after Oscar, and berating him for being such a slob. He also refuses to have any fun, spending most of his time
thinking about Frances. Finally, after Felix drives everyone at the weekly poker game crazy, Oscar convinces Felix to lighten up
and join him on a double-date with two English girls (the Pigeon sisters, who actually "coo" when they laugh!) who live in the
building. Felix reluctantly agrees.
As the date commences, Oscar tries to get Felix to loosen up by leaving him alone for a while with the two attractive, and
somewhat frisky, sisters. Instead, he winds up talking about Frances, and breaks down weeping. When Oscar returns, the Pigeon
sisters, one a divorcee, the other widowed, are sobbing as uncontrollably as Felix. Oscar cheers them up and they invite the boys
upstairs for what should be a wild night. Instead, Felix, who realizes that he is still too attached to his wife, refuses to go,
opting to wash his hair instead. Oscar joins the sisters in their apartment, but winds up spending the night telling them all
about Felix.
Furious about ruining the date, Oscar resorts to giving Felix the silent treatment and torturing him by messing up the
apartment as much as possible. Felix retaliates by just being himself, driving Oscar insane with his endless cleaning and
neurotic behavior. Eventually, the tension explodes into an argument that results in Oscar demanding that Felix move out. Felix
complies, but leaves Oscar with a major-league guilt trip for having abandoned his still-in-need friend.
Feeling awful about throwing Felix out, and not knowing where he has gone, Oscar assembles his poker buddies to search New
York City for Felix in Murray's police car. After searching for hours, they return to Oscar's apartment to find out that Felix
has moved in with the Pigeon sisters. Oscar and Felix apologize to each other, and realize that a bit of each has rubbed off on
the other, with each being a better person for it.
Cast
Trivia
- Based on the experiences of Neil Simon's brother when he got divorced.
- The play starred Walter Matthau as Oscar, and Art Carney playing Felix. When they were
making it into a movie, they felt Carney didn't have enough box office punch, so they cast Jack Lemmon instead.
- Despite the fact that a number of key scenes involve poker games, and the fact that the five male lead characters are all
poker buddies, Felix is never seen actually playing poker.
Theme music
The award-winning jazz instrumental theme was composed by Neal Hefti. The theme was
adapted for the TV series, again used over the opening credits. The song also has seldom-heard lyrics, written by
Sammy Cahn.[1]
Production notes
The scene at Shea Stadium was filmed right before a real game between the
New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates on
June 27, 1967. Roberto
Clemente was asked to hit into the triple play that Oscar misses. But he refused to
do it and Bill Mazeroski took his place.
One of the outside scenes in the film involves Felix shopping at a supermarket called Bohack.
Bohack was a Maspeth, Queens based supermarket chain, ubiquitous in the New York City area during the mid-20th century. The last Bohack
supermarket closed in 1977.[2]
References
- ^ http://www.cfhf.net/lyrics/odd.htm
- ^ http://www.groceteria.com/stores/bohack.html
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
