''Phffft'' is a 1954 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

starring

Judy Holliday Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian and singer.Obituary '' Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71. She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and mus ...

, Jack Lemmon, and

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

and featuring

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

in a supporting role. The picture was written by

George Axelrod George Axelrod (June 9, 1922 – June 21, 2003) was an American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director, best known for his play ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1952), which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Marilyn Mon ...

and directed by Mark Robson. It was the second film starring Holliday and Lemmon that year, after '' It Should Happen to You''.

Plot

Nina and Robert Tracey (Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon), married for eight years, suffer marital problems and divorce. Robert shares the home of his womanizing Navy buddy Charlie Nelson (Jack Carson) while Nina looks to her interfering mother for guidance. Robert spends an evening with Janis (Kim Novak), who finds the dashing Robert "real cute", but he feels uncomfortable with Janis and other girls he dates. Nina also tries to date other men. Although they try to ignore each other when they accidentally meet, it is obvious that the past is not dead. Then one night, they find themselves in a nightclub, dancing the mambo together; they had both learned to dance since their divorce. Later, after a disastrous meeting at her home with Charlie, Nina tells her mother on the phone that she is still in love with Robert. He accidentally overhears the conversation, having dashed to her home because of his friend's reputation. Nina and Robert reconcile and remarry.

Cast

as Nina Tracey (née Chapman) * Jack Lemmon as Robert Tracey *

as Charlie Nelson *

as Janis * Luella Gear as Mrs. Edith Chapman *

Donald Randolph Donald Randolph (January 5, 1906 – March 16, 1993) was a film, television, and radio actor. The actor, who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Topaz'' (1969), acted in dozens of radio dramas, television programs and over thirty films. Randolph ...

as Dr. Van Kessel *

Donald Curtis Donald Curtis (born Curtis D. Rudolf; February 27, 1915 – May 22, 1997) was an American actor who had roles in dozens of films and television series. Biography Curtis was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Rudol ...

as Rick Vidal * Arny Freeman as Nina's language teacher * Eddie Searles as Tommy *

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress and model who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Ander ...

as Marsha * Mylee Andreason as Robert's dance teacher * Sally Mansfield as Miss Comstock *

Joyce Jameson Joyce Jameson (born Joyce Beverly Kingsley; September 26, 1932 – January 16, 1987) was an American actress, known for many television roles, including recurring guest appearances as Skippy, one of the "fun girls" in the 1960s television seri ...

as Secretary *

Bess Flowers Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress best known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films. She was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in more than 350 feature films and numerou ...

as Nightclub Dance Extra *

Jimmie Dodd James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as the master of ceremonies for the popular 1950s Walt Disney television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' as well as the write ...

as Cab Driver * Shirlee Allard as Secretary * Wendy Howard as Artist's Model * Charlotte Lawrence as Radio actress as Cynthia

Production

The script was based on a play by George Axelrod, his follow up to ''The Seven Year Itch''. The play was going to be tried out in late 1953 but Axelrod withdrew it on the eve of production. The writer later recalled:

At the time I was in the process of getting a divorce from my first wife. The whole thing was just too ugly and I wanted to get out of town; so, although we had the money raised, I said the play wasn't good enough and called it off. On the day this was announced, Harry Cohn, head of Columbia, called to say it would make a great movie for Judy Holliday.

Columbia bought the screen rights from him for $80,000. Axelrod went out to Hollywood for the first time to write the script - "I just loved it" - although he went back to New York for production, later saying, "At that time I regarded movies as a second career, and had that terrible New York writer's snobbery about it; take the loot and scoot was the idea." * During filming, Jack Lemmon left the set as his first wife, actress/model Cynthia Stone gave birth to their son, Chris Lemmon. * This was the second film in which Jack Lemmon appeared with Judy Holliday. Lemmon's debut feature film '' It Should Happen to You'' also starred Holliday. * The title "Phffft" comes from

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...

's column, which was widely syndicated during the 1950s. When a celebrity couple's marriage broke up, Winchell would describe the break-up as "phffft". * Columbia Pictures approached George Axelrod to produce a

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of his popular play, ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage role. ...

'', but the film rights were tied up as long as it was running on Broadway. He instead offered them ''Phffft!'' - an earlier play of his dealing with a similar subject. The original intention was to borrow

Sheree North Sheree North (born Dawn Shirley Crang; January 17, 1932 – November 5, 2005) was an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for being one of 20th Century-Fox's intended successors to Marilyn Monroe. Early life North was born Dawn Shirley ...

from 20th Century Fox to play the role of Janis but Harry Cohn decided to use Kim Novak after seeing her in ''Pushover''. He told

Garson Kanin Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended ...

, "I figured workin' alongside of Judy some of the talent, some of the magic might rub off, right? Nothing." Jack Lemmon called it " a good film — almost a very good film." According to

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of ...

"The prospect of making" the movie sent Judy Holliday "into a fit (or phffftl) of terror, because for nearly ten years every word she had uttered on the screen had been written by the Kanins and directed by Cukor. But George Axelrod and Mark Robson turned out to be admirable replacements, and her first solo flight was a reassuring success. The nervous laugh, the fugitive smile and the divine innocence were as peerless as ever." George Axelrod later reflected:

I had a sweet, dear, darling man, Mark Robson, who hadn't a clue how to do comedy. Not a clue. I had Judy Holliday, one of the finest comedy technicians in the world, and Jack Carson, another great comedy technician, and Jack Lemmon too, but the director was miscast. Judy had a terrible time. She understood how to do the material, but Mark crushed the scenes up all the time. We were fighting the director and censorship. The seduction scene with Judy and Jack Carson—a brilliantly funny scene with these two masters—and Jack made it so erotic... Afterwards, they cut the shit out of it. The censorship destroyed it, so it wasn't even funny. Mark was an editor. He didn't understand his own limitations. Good directors come in various ways, but editors are the worst because they are interested in editing. They don't know about story. They don't know about comedy. Or even acting. They only know about having a "match."... I knew pretty much from the time we started that he was inept at comedy, that he didn't quite understand what was funny, but he was so sweet, and I didn't have any control over what we were doing.

Awards and honors

* Judy Holliday was nominated for "Best Foreign Actress" at the BAFTA Awards in 1955. * The film was also nominated for "Best Written American Comedy" at the Writers Guild of America.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Mark Robson 1954 films 1954 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films American films based on plays American romantic comedy films Columbia Pictures films Comedy of remarriage films Films about divorce Films directed by Mark Robson Films scored by Friedrich Hollaender Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by George Axelrod 1950s English-language films 1950s American films