Movie Info

Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht's classic newspaper comedy--about a conniving editor who talks his star reporter out of getting married long enough to...(read more...) cover a big story--has survived lesser adaptations than this one. (Ever see Switching Channels?) But few have been more disappointing. Billy Wilder teamed Walter Matthau (as the unscrupulous editor) and Jack Lemmon (as the fast-talking reporter), who try to get the scoop on everyone else in the story of a convicted killer who escapes on his way to the electric chair. But Matthau and Lemmon, as good as they are, succumb to the temptation to do shtick--and Carol Burnett shows up in a florid, unfunny performance as a hooker. An attempt to bottle the same lightning that struck with The Sting--but Wilder, Lemmon, and Matthau just can't do it. --Marshall Fine

Director: Billy Wilder

MPAA: PG

Running Time: 105 min.

Release Date: Dec 17, 1974

Cast: Carol Burnett, Charles Durning, Jack Lemmon, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia, Walter Matthau