Neil Simon's three playlet show Plaza Suite turns into a tour de force for Walter
Matthau as he stars in all three which become funnier as the film progresses.
The first one pairs Matthau with Maureen Stapleton, the two have rented a suite
at the Plaza for their 23rd or is it their 24th anniversary. They have differing views on that and more than they realize. Matthau's such a romantic he's brought some of his work with him. When Louise Sorel from the office brings
him some revisions it's apparent it's not just his work that needs revising.
This one had some laughs, but strictly of the ironic nature.
Matthau is opposite Barbara Harris in the next one. He plays a man from Tenafly, New Jersey who has sought fame and fortune in the west as Horace
Greeley advised. West in the 20th century meant Hollywood and now he's a
hot producer with all the perogatives of that breed.
Harris is a girl he left behind and one gets the impression back in the day she
would not have given him the time of day. But now Matthau has mastered the
skill of the casting couch and he lays out a campaign to win this now married
New Jersey housewife. As for Harris it's amazing when you attach a celebrity
status to someone how your view might change.
Best of the three by far is the last with Matthau and Lee Grant as the parents of a girl having her wedding at the Plaza Hotel. The bride to be their daughter
Mimsy is having wedding jitters and locks herself in the bathroom. Grant tries
and fails to talk her out and then sends for daddy.
Matthau is gradually seeing bankruptcy as the bills for a wedding at the Plaza
pile up and things don't go quite according to plan. But when this crisis occurs
Matthau pulls all the stops out with one of the funniest performances in his
career. He does one of the greatest bits of overacting in a role that had to have it. With all he tries and all the indignities he suffers in his attempts to
get Mimsy out from the john you have to see what does it in the end.
On stage Plaza Suite had Don Porter and Maureen Stapleton playing all of the
main roles in the three playlets. This film is a must for Walter Matthau fans.
You will never see him funnier, not in The Odd Couple, not in The Fortune
Cookie, not in anything.
