I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History

24. A New Relationship with Norman Jewison

24 A New Relationship with Norman Jewison O ur next release, The Fortune Cookie, was considerably less expensive and took place in a quite different locale, Cleveland , Ohio. The Fortune Cookie probably stemmed from the fact that Billy Wilder was a great football fan and a regular viewer of Monday Night Football. He postulated an accident happening to the football sideline cameraman, who happens to be cursed with a brotherin -law who is a shyster personal-injury lawyer. Billy’s idea, from the beginning , was to tailor this vehicle to the respective talents of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Walter had played the lead on Broadway in Shot in the Dark and then had done the play The Odd Couple, which vaulted him into stardom as a comedic actor. The role of Whiplash Willie, the shyster lawyer , to be played by him, seemed like a probable tour de force in a film that could be a comedic romp. We eagerly embraced the concept. It certainly didn’t present the censorship problems of Kiss Me, Stupid, and what could be more American than apple pie, motherhood, and football ? We thought this would be a noncontroversial comedy with tailormade roles for two superb actors. I was disappointed that Billy didn’t choose a better-known actress than Judi West for the leading female role. Billy had seen her in Arthur Miller’s play After the Fall and became enthusiastic about her. He felt 235 confident that he could get a good performance from her, but I felt that had the role been played by a more recognizable film name, the combination of two men and a woman would have been more attractive to audiences . Both Some Like It Hot and The Apartment had that two-menand -one-woman combination. Art Modell, who owned the Cleveland Browns, was most enthusiastic about cooperating with us, and we began production of the picture in Cleveland. It went along well, and we soon moved the company back to Los Angeles to do the interiors when, catastrophically, Walter Matthau suffered a severe heart attack. This occurred about three-quarters of the way through production. Walter’s condition was precarious. In the beginning , his doctors weren’t sure he would survive. The film was insured and the actors were covered by cast insurance, but it was clear from the dailies that Walter’s performance was outstanding in a once-in-alifetime role. Jack Lemmon’s role didn’t give him a chance to do very much. He was confined to a wheelchair, which limited him terribly. I’m sure he accepted the role primarily out of respect and friendship for Billy Wilder. As it developed, he began a friendship and a partnership with Walter Matthau that endured throughout their lifetimes, and they became close friends. Jack recognized that Willie was a marvelous part for Walter, and he was happy to play the secondary role in order to support Walter in the bravura performance that he contributed to The Fortune Cookie. Walter Matthau’s illness incapacitated him for three to four months, but fortunately our cast-insurance policy paid the costs of holding together all of those elements that had to be maintained until production could be resumed. Those essential elements consist of sets, wardrobe, set dressings, props, furniture, and cast. Even with all this, the financial burden of the delay to the insurance company was not terribly heavy. However, neither was Walter Matthau when he was finally able to return to work. As a matter of fact, he was about forty pounds lighter than he was when he was taken ill. To this day, if I happen to see the picture playing on television, the difference in his before and after weight jumps out at me. But apparently no one else was seriously troubled. Walter resumed his role, and the film was completed. After his experiences with Peter Sellers on Kiss Me, Stupid, Billy Wilder was beginning to think he was jinxed. But it didn’t happen to 236 A New Relationship with Norman Jewison / him again until his next picture. I thought The Fortune Cookie was going to be both critically and commercially successful. It was not another Some Like It Hot or The Apartment or Irma La Douce, but I thought it would do very well and that Walter Matthau’s performance would carry it. Unfortunately, it was only mildly received. We...