Who Was That Lady?

Who Was That Lady is a light, breezy comedy that coasts along on the easy charm of Tony Curtis and Dean Martin.

The plot sees college professor Curtis’ wife Janet Leigh catch him kissing a co-ed, leading to Curtis’ TV writer buddy Martin helping him concoct an alibi involving the FBI.

Curtis and Martin are great, with Curtis playing the straight arrow to Martin’s scheming ladies man. Both genuinely seem to enjoy their parts and the pair has good chemistry. Their performances, along with James Whitmore, who’s supporting turn as an ulcer-prone FBI agent is sublime, make the movie.

The film’s only real stumbling point is Janet Leigh, who plays Curtis’ character’s wife. While she starts out well, she gets progressively more ridiculous during the second act, eventually ending up squarely in 1930’s screwball territory. This strains the film’s already tenuous credibility, and distracts from the film’s superior lower-key moments.

Thankfully, a solid third act that vanquishes Leigh off-screen saves the film, although you probably won’t be able to shake the nagging question of what someone like Billy Wilder could have done with the material, especially given the thematic similarities to many of his films.