Boeing, Boeing

source: Boeing Boeing

Trailer—Boeing, Boeing

Slickly produced but unfunny, stagy, and cringingly, embarrassingly sexist door-slamming farce, set in Paris (but mostly shot in a studio set apartment). Jerry Lewis plays it rather low-key and comes off better than Tony Curtis; in supporting roles, the statuesque Christiane Schmidtmer and the sarcastic Thelma Ritter try to breathe some life into the non-story, with only moderate success. ** out of 4.

A prime example of cookie-cutter 60's sex comedy. Tired, banal, limp, lukewarm, strenuously forced drivel who's only source of real humor is the wonderful Thelma Ritter, and the laughs she gets come much more from her persona than from the dry well of the script she had to work with. Curtis tries, but his efforts are in vain. Lewis is actually quite good in a very restrained performance, which is a shame in that it's wasted in this wasteland. None of the characters, save Ritter's, behave in a fashion even beginning to resemble a human being, let alone an intelligent human being. The resulting "humor" is numbingly artificial and contrived. In an outlandish situation genuine humor comes from realistic reactions and behavior. Something you need not expect from the cartoons that populate this sad, inane excuse for comedy.

How long can you allow Tony Curtis, to play a swinging bachelor in Paris attempting to juggle his charade of having 3 airline stewardesses as his fiances at one time? You know from the very beginning that the fireworks will have to start once a takeoff will have to be canceled and the stewardesses will all converge on the apartment they share with Curtis. Jerry Lewis plays it straight to Curtis. Jerry needs those funny lines which he is so capable of delivering. Unfortunately, the writing for him is totally inadequate here. Of course, as always, Thelma Ritter, steals the show as Curtis's maid who has to juggle all these women in her schedule without revealing what is going on. Ritter looked very bad in this film and it's no surprise that she died 4 years later.

This Tony Curtis-Jerry Lewis combination, adapted from a play by Marc Camoletti, is yet another bedroom comedy without anything actually happening in the bedroom. Curtis plays an American in Paris juggling the affections of different sexy stewardesses. Director John Rich is faced with staging slapstick he has no intrinsic feeling or affection for; instead of a spirited good time, he has his cast running around crazily hoping it will translate into laughs. Perky Dany Saval (as "Air France") is the stand-out amongst the lovely ladies, none of whom gets an actual character to play. Curtis and Lewis might have been an interesting duo under better circumstances (and with snappier dialogue), but this material is beneath them. *1/2 from ****

In my mind Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis are two of the best actors of that era, and they both bring to this film a star quality, which I don't think the film could do without. Jerry Lewis proving himself to actually be a good actor without having to resort to over the top slapstick. And I really don't think I need to say anything about the greatness that Tony brings. The plot though kind of cute isn't all that, and I suppose nowadays is considered to be quite politically incorrect. However the plot is secondary to the interactions between the two main characters and the housekeeper which is really what the film is about. I used to watch this film on a very regular basis, and I would encourage everyone else to do the same!

When the opening credits run, and the supporting female cast members ‘measurements' are shown beneath their names, you have no doubt you're in the 60's, bedroom farce, defined. In a role reversal of sorts Jerry Lewis plays straight man to Tony Curtis this time around . Bernie Lawrence (Curtis) is an American newspaper man stationed in Paris, the man for whom there is never too many airline hostesses, just too little time. His delicately balanced, and timed to the minute, 4-way love life comes totally unwound when old pal Robert Reed (Lewis) arrives for an unexpected stay. Cliché after cliché, time stamped in most every shot, Boeing Boeing is a tribute to a different type of filmmaking than we see today, a different morality, a different approach to comedy. Wonderful Paris sights are an added treat. Recommended.

Boeing Boeing is a great 1960's comedy about a reporter called Bernard Lawrence, played by Tony Curtis, who has three fiancees. They all are air hostesses, one is working for Luftansa, one for Air France and one for British United.Bernard has to keep looking the air schedules very often, that the ladies won't be at Bernard's Paris apartment at the same time.Bernard has a little helper in the house called Bertha (Thelma Ritter), so Bernard's doesn't have to do all the work.But everything starts going wrong when Bernard's reporter buddy Robert Reed ,played by the great Jerry Lewis, comes to stay at Bernard's place.And everything goes even worse when the air schedules change. Bernard's perfect plan starts to fail. It is very funny to watch Bernard and Robert try to hide the ladies from each others.Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis are great comedy actors and they do a great acting job in this 1965 comedy called Boeing Boeing.

A lot of fun. BOEING BOEING is not exactly a jewel in the Jerry Lewis canon, but it's still highly enjoyable. Tony Curtis stars as a crafty foreign correspondent in Paris juggling three fiancés. His troubles go from big to huge when rival newspaper man Lewis shows up to cause even more chaos. Curtis is very funny and Lewis is remarkably restrained, playing what is essentially the straight-man. The three woman playing Curtis's harem are quite fetching and Christiane Schmidtmer, as the German stewardess, is really funny. It's all silly, very glossy and totally entertaining. Thelma Ritter is a big plus as Curtis's not so patient housekeeper.