After reading your review linked here the other day i noticed that Billy Wilder’s *The Fortune Cookie*, a dud, was on TCM, and was thinking about what’s wrong with that movie, and it’s basically that the “witty” part of Coward’s formula is missing. The Sandy Hinkle character (Judi West as estranged wife of Jack Lemmon’s Harry Hinkle) is not the only problem with the movie, but she’s kind of a distillation of it. Start with a Noel Coward character, “witty and heartless…ruthless, gorgeous”, and take out the “witty”. Boy does that make for a stinker.
Anyway, sorry to change the subject, but your description of how a Noel Coward script works struck me as perfectly apt, then later in the day it also explained exactly what’s wrong with someone else script. Bravo!
(I’ve only ever seen the Lean/Harrison/Rutherford film version of *Blithe Spirit*, and loved it. Need to look out for a chance to catch it onstage.)
(Also, not intending to throw any shade at Judi West here. Far as I can tell, everything wrong with the Wilder picture, is wrong with the script.)
Mike – hey! sorry it took me a while to get back to you.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting! You’re not changing the subject at all – it’s very relevant!
// it’s basically that the “witty” part of Coward’s formula is missing. //
yes! it may be the hardest part but … you need it. Without the wit … you’ve got nothing. Empty … bitchery? attitude? It’s unpleasant to watch.
and yeah – the David Lean version is much closer to the original – even though the ending was changed. The ending is changed in the new one too. What is wrong with Coward’s original ending?? I don’t get it! The way it really ends is Charles – tormented by the feuding ghosts of his two wives – basically tiptoes out of the house, leaving the ghosts to tear themselves apart. It’s so funny!
After reading your review linked here the other day i noticed that Billy Wilder’s *The Fortune Cookie*, a dud, was on TCM, and was thinking about what’s wrong with that movie, and it’s basically that the “witty” part of Coward’s formula is missing. The Sandy Hinkle character (Judi West as estranged wife of Jack Lemmon’s Harry Hinkle) is not the only problem with the movie, but she’s kind of a distillation of it. Start with a Noel Coward character, “witty and heartless…ruthless, gorgeous”, and take out the “witty”. Boy does that make for a stinker.
Anyway, sorry to change the subject, but your description of how a Noel Coward script works struck me as perfectly apt, then later in the day it also explained exactly what’s wrong with someone else script. Bravo!
(I’ve only ever seen the Lean/Harrison/Rutherford film version of *Blithe Spirit*, and loved it. Need to look out for a chance to catch it onstage.)
(Also, not intending to throw any shade at Judi West here. Far as I can tell, everything wrong with the Wilder picture, is wrong with the script.)
Mike – hey! sorry it took me a while to get back to you.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting! You’re not changing the subject at all – it’s very relevant!
// it’s basically that the “witty” part of Coward’s formula is missing. //
yes! it may be the hardest part but … you need it. Without the wit … you’ve got nothing. Empty … bitchery? attitude? It’s unpleasant to watch.
and yeah – the David Lean version is much closer to the original – even though the ending was changed. The ending is changed in the new one too. What is wrong with Coward’s original ending?? I don’t get it! The way it really ends is Charles – tormented by the feuding ghosts of his two wives – basically tiptoes out of the house, leaving the ghosts to tear themselves apart. It’s so funny!