"Jack & Walter, The films of Lemmon & Matthau."

As a “Baby Boomer,” I have grown up loving Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies. While they each had many good solo movies, together they were a team, a match made in heaven. This book not only talks about each actor, but also tells us about each movie they made together, and the relationship they had with each other.

They were good friends from their first movie. In time they grew to love each other and enjoyed working together. They were so in-tuned to each other that at times the directors just let them run with or without the script.I have really enjoyed seeing the pictures in this book and the dialogue that goes with it. I have laughed and felt the sadness also.

A high point is the fact that their movie’s transcends all ages. My children who are now grown and have children of their own, still want to see the movies I have of Jack and Walter when they come to visit.I feel director John Davis summed it up best-“I will tell you why these guys were so perfect…they’re Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Their chemistry is so great that it doesn’t matter what they’re playing. It could be brain surgeons or Yiddish surfboard salesmen. It’s the simple fact that they are Jack and Walter, and nobody can do it like they can.” Or as Jack Lemmon would always say before a scene, “its magic time.”



If it had not been for the outstanding work by the author Ben Costello; most of us would never of had a chance to know the real Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. I can only imagine the many hours of research and interviews he did to create this fascinating book. For those of you who will buy this book, I leave you with these words--from the first page to the last "Its magic time."

I give this book an G rating.