Word: lemmons
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Because he was "always on probation or some damned thing," Jack Lemmon '47 used to play in Harvard productions under the name of John Orange. He has been acting ever since, although his eminently respectable Boston background pre-supposed a more solid career. "I starved for the first couple years out of college," he recalls. "That's why I haven't been back to Boston for fourteen years ... while all my friends were making money, I was making nothing, just waiting...
...Lemmon's return to Boston for the pre-Broadway run of his play, "Face Of A Hero," has been a triumphant one. Between rehearsals and interviews, he is plagued by old friends who "know him when" and who want to shake his hand. "It's more frantic here than other places," he explains sheepishly. "After all, it's my home...
...Lemmon has appeared in some twelve movies, two of which earned him Academy Awards. Although he has made his reputation as a comedian, he says he couldn't care less whether he plays comedy or serious drama. He chooses on the basis of the part and the people involved in a production. Of Marilyn Monroe, with whom he co-starred in "Some Like It Hot," he says, "I like her very much. She is a terribly unusual and unique person, not just because of her looks but because she has a fascinating obtuse quality...
...story, briefly, tells of David Poole, an ambitious county prosecutor (played by Jack Lemmon), who is able to forget that he is witness to a suicide in order to convict an innocent suspect and become a Hero. Albert Dekker as the sheriff eggs him on toward his hollow stand for Right and Justice, and James Donald as the deputy prosecutor warns him of the power the accused's family wields, which just set him more firmly in his course. But only a Negro secretary, Elizabeth Falk (portrayed by Ellen Holly) knows his secret...
Acting performances are, with one glaring exception, adequate or better. Miss Holly, in a pivotal part as Poole's Negro secretary, is often ludicrous in her intensity. But Lemmon is a success in his first big serious role; if he learns to vary his expression and tone of voice, he will be superb. As the sheriff, Dekker is magnificent, the dominant figure every time he is on stage...