In Detail

Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is a rising young public relations executive when he meets Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), a pretty secretary, at a business party. Joe and Kirsten are both ambitious, and they are on the road to success when they fall in love and marry.

Soon after, however, Joe coaxes Kirsten to begin drinking with him on a regular basis. The movie plays like an extended ad for Prohibition, three decades after it ended. There is a kind of nervy, self-loathing sycophant whom Jack Lemmon can play better than any other actor: he did it in ‘The Apartment’, and there is a harrowing variant in this film.

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