USA: WALTER MATTHAU HAS HIS HAND AND FOOTPRINTS CAST IN CEMENT OUTSIDE MANN'S CHINESE THEATER AND ATTENDS PREMIERE OF HIS NEW COMEDY "THE ODD COUPLE II" IN LOS ANGELES

Record ID: 693149

  • Title: USA: WALTER MATTHAU HAS HIS HAND AND FOOTPRINTS CAST IN CEMENT OUTSIDE MANN'S CHINESE THEATER AND ATTENDS PREMIERE OF HIS NEW COMEDY "THE ODD COUPLE II" IN LOS ANGELES
  • Date: 2nd April 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 2, 1998) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MANN'S CHINESE THEATER WALTER MATTHAU GETS OUT OF LIMOUSINE JACK LEMMON TALKING WITH WALTER MATTHAU, SAYING, "WHERE ARE THOSE FANCY SHOES THE KIDS GOT? WALTER MATTHAU SAYING, THEY TOLD ME TO WEAR ROTTEN SHOES. JACK LEMMON SAYING, THAT'S THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE EVER OBEYED DIRECTION THAT I KNOW OF
  • Embargoed: 17th April 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4TUN0V74H0B14G8NKZV2XII71
  • Story Text: Legend Walter Matthau has been immortalised.
    Well, at least the actor's hands and feet were when they were cast in cement in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood last week (April 2).
    Matthau's screen partner Jack Lemmon was there to lend his support and the pair teamed up again this week (April 6) for the premiere of their new film.
    The pair continue their long-running collaboration in the new comedy "The Odd Couple II" -- the sequel to the smash-hit 1968 feature film version of playwright Neil Simon's Broadway comedy.
    "Odd Couple II" begins 30 years after its predecessor with retired sportswriter and incurable slob Oscar Madison (Matthau) living in Sarasota, Florida.
    It has been 17 years since the slovenly 74-year-old last saw his former roommate, the obsessively neat Felix Ungar (Lemmon).
    Judging from what he says about their often fractious cohabitation in his New York apartment, Oscar doesn't care if another 17 years pass without a reunion.
    When Brucey (Jonathan Silverman), Oscar's son, calls from Los Angeles to announce his impending marriage to Hannah (Lisa Waltz), Felix's daughter, Oscar views the union as a mixed blessing.
    Predictably, Oscar and Felix begin to bring out the worst in each other as soon as they meet at Los Angeles airport.
    As they drive a rental car to the desert community where the wedding will take place, Felix repeatedly -- and noisily -- clears his allergy-prone sinuses.Meanwhile, Oscar blissfully puffs away on smelly cigars.
    Felix demands frequent restroom stops.Oscar loses the road map.Felix whines.Oscar growls.And so it goes.
    After their car breaks down, stranding Oscar and Felix in unfamiliar territory off the major highways, "Odd Couple II" evolves into a kind of road movie for grumpy old ex-roomies.
    In the course of an extended journey, they are accused of smuggling illegal aliens, the pair is accidentally sprayed by a low-flying crop-duster and finally, they're vamped in a small-town bar by two flirtatious women.The latter, the sequel's version of the original's giggly Pigeon sisters, are played by Christine Baranski and Jean Smart.
    This isn't the first "Odd Couple" sequel to appear in recent years.Robert Krane wrote and directed "The Odd Couple: Together Again," a well-received television movie that premiered in 1993.
    The television production, which also involved the wedding of Felix's daughter, starred Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, stars of the 1970-75 ABC sitcom, which was based on the original movie.
    Matthau and Lemmon have appeared in several other films together including Billy Wilder's 1959 farce "Some Like it Hot," "The Fortune Cookie," for which Matthau received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and the more recent comedies "Grumpy Old Man" and "Grumpier Old Men." Matthau also received a Tony award for his performance on Broadway in 1965 for "The Odd Couple.
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