‘Twist of Lemmon’ Is a Son’s Tribute to a Legend

• Longtime Malibuite Was Quintessential Actor and Family Man

BY FRANCINE BROKAW

June 27 marks the eighth anniversary of the passing of Hollywood legend Jack Lemmon. To honor his life and career, Sony Home Entertainment has compiled a collection of five new-to-DVD films by the legendary performer who could perform both comedy and drama to perfection. “He never could understand why there had to be delineation between comedy and drama,” his son Chris Lemmon explained. “He really felt that they should be able to go hand in land.”
Chris Lemmon, who wrote the book “A Twist of Lemmon: A Tribute to My Father,” added, “It’s very well reflected in this collection, too. But he really felt that the two should be able to go hand in hand, and it’s something that he did, I think, seamlessly. If I had to give you an example of that, the first film that comes to mind would be ‘The Apartment,’ where he was able to weave comedy and drama. Now obviously I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder don’t stink as writers, and Billy’s not a lousy director either. It really was one of the most important films ever made, and one of his greatest performances. But I don’t see anybody else playing that part but Jack Lemmon. ”
Without hesitation the younger Lemmon stated, “The most dramatic film would have to be ‘Save the Tiger,’ by all means. And I think that he would agree with me on that choice. The most comedic film would have to be one of my very favorites of his which would be ‘The Great Race.’ I thought he was absolutely brilliant and I will defend that choice all day long. I think it’s a truly classic great comedy.”
Malibuite Jack Lemmon loved his beach house because, as Chris explained, “It was the escape.” Jack Lemmon handled a high-powered career with grace, but often that would take a toll on the man. “It takes a lot of concentration to go what he did and to run a career like his. And I think that he liked to get away from it. And I think that (the beach) was the place where he went where he could get away from it.” The younger Lemmon emphasized the fact that his father was happy when he was working. “He loved to work,” but, “that’s not all there is to running a career. There’s a lot more to it than that. And it takes an enormous amount of concentration, work, effort, all the above, and every once in awhile, man, you just really need to get away, and so I think that's what the beach house was for him.”
Recently this journalist wrote that Tom Hanks comes the closest to the abilities of Jack Lemmon in that he also has a great talent for both comedy and drama. “I completely concur,” said Chris Lemmon, who said another actor who is in the same category is Kevin Spacey.
“I think Tom would be a worthy successor. And I’ll tell you, off camera as well he has the same dignity that pop had and the same emotional generosity.” Chris Lemmon said that at a tribute for his father, or as he calls him, Pop, Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson sat and talked with the younger Lemmon and his wife Gina for two hours. “They just sat and chatted and shot the breeze. And not only were they just delightful and we hit it off famously and had a great time speaking with them and got along marvelously, but the whole time in the back of my head I was thinking, ‘this guy doesn’t need to do this.’He’s just basically a really good guy, and that’s what Pop was, of course. So I would say that he would be a worthy successor not only on screen but off.”
The Jack Lemmon Film Collection contains the films “Phffft” from 1954, “Operation Mad Ball” from 1957, “The Notorious Lady” from 1962, “Under the Yum, Yum Tree” from 1963, and “Good Neighbor Sam” from 1964, encompassing 10 years of his incredible career which spanned over half a century. Sony heard that Chris wanted to do something new and different, and they got together for this project. Originally Chris Lemmon thought about putting all the big films into one collection, but explained, “You can’t cross collateralize the studios anymore.” He also said about putting all the biggies together,”It would have been a mistake because it would have lacked personality and originality.”
“These are all first releases of this type for these films, and to take these wonderful old gems and clean them up and give them immortality on DVD made a lot of sense. But then I thought about it a little more and I thought there’s a much better reason that this marriage works well, and that’s because these five films actually represent a cross section of Pop’s career.
“They really reflect a great deal of growth in him as an actor, almost a blossoming from a rising superstar to box office number one guy, by the time he finished doing ‘Good Neighbor Sam,’ so you see a great progression in him, not only artistically but personally because he was the everyman, because he did imbue so much of his performances with so much of himself and utilize so much of his personality in his performances.”
The bonus documentary in the collection is basically an overview of Chris book, which is both an autobiography of his own life combined with a biography of his dad’s life. The book is a fun read. It tells the tales of the father/son fishing trips, the continuous attempts of the elder Lemmon to make the cut at Pebble Beach, his love of cars and bad driving, and more fun snippets from the Lemmons.
“I think one of the great regrets, maybe the only one that he had was— and I laugh about it every time I think about it because it’s just so typically Lemmon—the fact that for 35 years he played the AT&T Pebble Beach Golf Tournament with one goal in mind, which was to make the cut and play on Sunday. He didn’t care if he won it or even placed. He just wanted to play on Sunday. All he wanted to do was to make the cut, and in 35 stinking years, he never did.”
Originally Chris Lemmon wrote the book because his daughter came to him in tears one day because she felt other people knew her grandfather better than she did. That broke his heart so he put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and wrote about his dad and their time together. The book is still a success, having been originally published three years ago with the paperback coming out last year, and the author still goes on book tours. Now the book and the DVD collection are combining to provide the public with a closer look at the life and career of Jack Lemmon.
Would Chris Lemmon, who looks and sounds like his father and is also an actor, ever want to play his dad on screen or on the stage? He thinks for a few seconds before saying that he’s thought about it and he feels Kevin Spacey would be a better choice. But Chris Lemmon would take the part of Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon’s pal and co-star on many occasions. He does a fabulous impression of Matthau.
Chris joined his father in the acting business, and his daughter is planning on following her dad and grandfather. Chris Lemmonproudly claims, “She’s going to be a big star. Oh man, she’s good.”
There are only a few actors who could hope to measure up to the caliber of Jack Lemmon. He was unique. “He was truly the icon of acting. He was the smiley and the sad face. He was able to walk that tight line. He was able to seamlessly weave the comedy and the drama - the pathos and the exultation.” Chris Lrmmon said the greatest gift his father ever gave him “was just magic, because he was magic. Why do you think he said ‘Magic Time’ before every take? He was a human leprechaun and just being around him was magical.”