Product Description

This film has it all -- romance, comedy and mystery. Jack Lemmon turns in his usual sparkling performance as William Gridley, an American diplomat in London who gets mixed up with his beautiful landlady Carlye Hardwicke (Kim Novak). Gridley discovers that she is suspected of mudering her husband, and fears he may be next although in the meantime he has fallen in love with her. Mayhem ensues when Caryle's estranged husband suddenly shows up looking for a fortune in jewels hidden in the Hardwicke house. Then, during an argument, Carlye accidently makes her husband as dead as everyone thought. But a witness, who also has designs on the loot, gets her acquitted. Who will win the fortune?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62185 in DVD
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: NTSC, Black & White, Full Screen
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 122 minutes

Customer Reviews

Fun Family Fare
I saw The Notorius Landlady for the first time December 2008.It's a breezy,even-paced,smart little funny film with Fred Astaire,Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon, and a host of English stars comprising a wonderful cast. The film takes place in England. It begins like a Hitchcock film with people going about their business when a shot rings out in a house,and next we see a body being dragged into a garage and a car with the body in it emerges and speeds away.The main protagonists are Kim Novak as a landlady(zingingly gorgeous throughout the movie) who is suspected of killing her husband,but no body can be found;Jack Lemmon as a State Department lackey and sometimes angstful bumbler(as some of his roles were) who immediately falls in love with the landlady; and Fred Astaire as the State Department boss(straight actor,sans dancing.)The film then proceeds to establish a quickly developed romantic relationship between Kim and Jack although he is warned by his boss not to get involved with her because of her reputation as a suspected murderer.Then the film develops an air of mystery with weird organ music in the house at night,suspicious meetings in the London Fog,pesky neighbors who peer through windows and over balconies,listen, and spy on the couple's every movement within the rooms/house that Kim has rented to Jack,Scotland yard visiting the State department,creepy noises in the house,strange notes under the door and all kinds of twist and turns in the plot that will keep you guessing about what's going on and how things will turn out.Blake Edwards wrote the script and you kind of get a sense of what will come later in his PINK PANTHER films because slapstick is embedded throughout and appears unexpectedly amidst moments that should be suspenseful or as people try to solve the murder. The film kept my interest because I am a big fan of all three stars. Novak is delightful throughout to watch as she has to express a wide gamut of emotions.Lemmon is a bit cloying as a romantic lead. He is better when he plays it straight.Fred Astaire dresses classy and and acts classy with some funny moments for him thrown in.Overall I like the film. It is filled with hijinks and fun.

Delightful comedy, horrible copy
I bought this copy of "The Notorious Landlady", which is one of my favourite movies, fully conscious it would probably have been totally unwatchable and unlistenable and I must admit I wasn't disappointed.
It is unwatchable and unlistenable.
I waited ten years (ever since I bought my first DVD) hoping sooner or later the production company would publish a remastered version of this film, starring Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon (at the peak of their careers) and Fred Astaire, but to no avail.
For some obscure reason they don't seem interested, so the only way to finally see it, after the first time at the theatre, 46 years ago, was to buy this copy, by Hollywood's Attic...
Nothing wrong with that, but the problem is that whoever mastered this version had serious problems with his declining eyesight, since the black and white images are so blindingly brilliant and lacking contrast that I had to reduce brightness on my Sony Bravia TV to 0 (zero) to watch it!!!
Of course, this didn't help in any way the dirt, scratches and assorted defects of the copy used for mastering the DVD.
Audio quality is on a par with video quality, that is, horrible.
At times, especially at the start, when Ms.Novak attempts a fake-sounding British accent, you have to strain your ears to try and catch the words.
A real pity, because even after all these years, the film is still very funny, romantic and pleasing, thanks to the beauty of Kim Novak, the acting skills of Jack Lemmon and the sophisticated humour of the master of modern slapstick comedy, Blake Edwards, who wrote the script and fine direction by Richard Quine (Bell, Book and Candle).
Extras and subtitles are totally absent and the screen is slightly cut at the sides, like a partial pan and scan.
Do I need say more?

COMEDY DELIGHT
No comment on the quality of the disc since I watched on equipment hardly designed to reflect contemporary expectations.The film dates from a time when we were trying to get accustomed to a Fred Astaire film without singing or dancing; it must have also have been one of the early Blake Edwards scripts, as well. Add in Jack Lemmon that fine comic actor and Kim Novak, that fine looking woman, and you have a delicious stew. There is a certain piquancy to the story-line which maintains our interest, a woman with a husband who simply vanished, her tenant, a diplomat newly arrived in the country- on his best behavior to hold his job at the American Embassy, and his boss who wants no trouble. Most of the fun comes, however, from Lemmon, for whom the other two are second bananas against whom he bounces his often physical but usually funny, responses. Looking at the film now, I am somewhat surprised to see how well Astaire handles the switch from song and dance man to straight actor.
All-in-all, this film which I enjoyed so much 45 years ago still has plenty to offer. In that sense, it is timeless fun.