Lund, a leading man?

I'm not familiar with his work, except for this movie, but I found him to be very handsome indeed (reminds me a lot of Preston Foster, a huge favorite of mine), as well as Fred MacMurray. I agree about Lemmon, though.

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

I agree with you, OP--the one major issue I have with this film is this John Lund guy as the leading man. If it wasn't for him, I really believe this film would be mentioned in the same breath as many others of Billy Wilder's classic comedies. There's something about the guy that doesn't endear an audience to him; the first scene with him and Dietrich where he's taunting her and semi-tormenting her in her bombed-out apartment come across as downright threatening, as if he thought he was acting in a film noir instead of a comedy. And pencil-thin mustaches on guys in films don't exactly cry out "romantic lead", except maybe on Errol Flynn only.




"Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."

People sometimes expect every leading man to be drop dead gorgeous. I suppose that's what we'd prefer to see; I would, but often the character calls for a specific type or the director doesn't think the audience will buy it.

I don't think it would work if Pringle was a young stud who has his pick of the litter. He is after all hooked up with a broken down, picked over, lounge singer. He also has to romance a super conservative congresswoman. If a super attractive guy suddenly went for her, she might be more suspicious of his motives than she is in the movie.

I do agree about the other actors you mentioned. I never could understand the whole Jack Lemmon appeal. Obviously Wilder loved working with him but I always thought he played the exact same, high-strung, jumpy, neurotic character in every movie I've ever seen him in. He's not exactly an ugly guy; he's just plain; kind of neutral. Then again, he does play a lot of 'every man' roles so his ho hum looks fit.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

I've always liked John Lund. To me he was the poor man's Clark Gable!

… the guy was totally unattractive with a seriously grating voice.
Personally, I found his character much to abrasive

You couldn't be more wrong. I find him agonizingly sexy. He had a perfect laid back charm in this movie which was a good contrast to Jean Arthur's more uptight character. And the roguishness of his personality is shown through in the relationship with Dietrich's character. This movie has actually made me a fan of Lund, as I've explored his other work, he had quite a range, from comedy, to serious dramas, and he did a good job in each part he played.

I think he's sadly quite underrated, and it could be (based on quoted I've read) he didn't feel he was leading man material, so he may have shied away from doing more. Anyway, Lund is what made this movie great, in my opinion.

He wasn't the most charismatic actor, but he was far better looking than the average guy in real life, and a decent actor.