The Odd Couple (Style)

Style

Conflict

In November of 1963, Simon sold the screen-rights for The Odd Couple to Paramount Pictures before he had even written a single word of the play upon which the movie was eventually based. In his memoir, Rewrites, Simon quotes the single sentence he and his agent used to close the deal: “‘Well, it’s about two men who are divorced, move in together to save money to pay their alimony, and have the same fights with each other as they did with their wives.’”

This anecdote illustrates the effectiveness of the play’s main dramatic conflict. One sentence was all Paramount needed to know that Neil Simon could deliver another hit. The inherently funny conflict between the fussy Felix Ungar and the messy Oscar Madison is subtly established by the end of Act I, is effectively intensified in Act II and the beginning of Act III, and then finally is resolved by their separation and small changes in personality at the end of the play. The conflict is comically ironic because the solution the two men come up with for their separate divorces ends up creating yet another kind of divorce.

In Simon’s memoir he recounts that the most difficult part of writing the play was writing the resolution of the conflict in Act III. From the beginning of the rehearsal period, it was clear that the first two acts were effective but that the third act was a disastrous failure. This last act did not get a satisfactory rewrite until well after the first out-of-town performances had begun and Simon had realized that the key to resolving the conflict was bringing the Pigeon sisters back into Act III.

Character

What was not obvious in Simon’s one-sentence synopsis for Paramount is that the conflict was based on the clash of extremely different personality types. Ultimately, it is the creation of Oscar and Felix as an “oil and water” mix that makes it possible for The Odd Couple to be tremendously funny.

Simon creates these contrasting character types with the effective use of theatrical detail, most notably with carefully crafted dialogue. Sometimes it is the words of the character himself that establishes the “type” as when when Oscar enters hurriedly in Act I carrying a tray with beer, sandwiches, a can of peanuts, and already opened bags of pretzels and chips. In the visual context of the slovenly apartment, Oscar’s balancing act with the snacks already characterizes him as the probable source of the living room mess but his opening words very subtly reinforce this impression. The impatient poker players ask Oscar if he’s “in” or “out,” that is, whether or not he plans to play this hand. “I’m in! I’m in!” Oscar says, “Go ahead. Deal!” Vinnie asks,“Aren’t you going to look at your cards?” and Oscar answers, “What for? I’m gonna bluff anyway.” The messy condition of Oscar’s apartment has prepared the audience to understand his carefree type immediately, and his opening words characterize him perfectly with elegant economy.

Sometimes Felix and Oscar are effectively characterized by what others say about them. The third line of the play, for example, is Roy’s “Geez, it stinks in here,” a line that is quickly followed by Vinnie’s,“What time is it?” Roy’s line implies that the yet-to-appear host is the main cause of the mess they find themselves in, an impression he solidifies with a later line, “You know, it’s the same garbage from last week’s game. I’m beginning to recognize things.” Felix doesn’t enter until nearly half-way through the first act, but when he does the following comment from Murray has already characterized Felix as one who organizes his life in a way very unlike Oscar — “Hey, maybe he’s in his office locked in the john again. Did you know Felix was once locked in the john overnight. He wrote out his entire will on a half a roll of toilet paper! Heee, what a nut!”

As fictional creations, Oscar and Felix, like the other characters in the play, are “types” rather than multifaceted characters. They mostly embody single, predominating traits — as in Oscar the carefree, irresponsible, and sloppy type and Felix the precise, uptight, and extremely orderly type. Multifaceted characters are generally considered more artistically sophisticated, but character “types” can be used to great artistic purpose, as in the novels of Charles Dickens for example. Simon draws his character types precisely, using carefully crafted dialogue to reveal their characteristics.

Comedy

When one thinks of comedy one thinks first of laughter, and the The Odd Couple generates belly laughs, mainly because of the verbal cleverness captured in its “one-liners.” The “one-liner” is a short response in which the character’s retort surprises because of exaggeration or incongruity. For example, when Murray agrees to eat the “brown” sandwich that Oscar brings out of the kitchen, Roy says, “are you crazy? His refrigerator’s been broken for two weeks. I saw milk standing in there that wasn’t even in the bottle.” The laugh comes from the surprising and exaggerated image of milk so sour it has become a solid substance. Simon perfected his skill at one-liners writing for television shows in the 1950s and no dramatist has ever been more adept at this skill. It has, however, been something of a hindrance to his reputation as a serious artist. Though audiences have been enthusiastic in their response to Simon’s comedies, critics have generally been less admiring, often citing the reliance on “one-liners” as a cheap trick more appropriate to the world of sitcom entertainment than the world of art.