The Notorious Landlady (1962)

One of these days someone will explain to me why really crap films are available on DVD (and I'm not thinking of only recent ones) and why certain studio classics have just disappeared from public view.  So in my down time -- such as it is -- I burn my own DVD copies from my elderly beta tapes, so at least I have some sort of resource to fall back upon.  Not that I can claim that this is one of the great comedies of all time, but it is certainly a superior one, co-written by Blake Edwards, with Jack Lemmon in his third picture with Kim Novak and with Fred Astaire (in a non-musical role) in great support.  While it is set in London and feels pretty authentic, it was completely filmed in California and tells the story of recent-appointee to the US Embassy Lemmon finding digs with Novak who both her neighbours and Scotland Yard think has murdered her husband.  One of these busybodies is Estelle Winwood who just about holds the record for the longest career in motion pictures; she was 79 here and went on for another 18 years.  Both Astaire and Lemmon fall for Novak's charms -- she was never a great actress but always a highly attractive screen presence -- and are determined to prove her innocence.  This pleasant movie also makes great use of popular music to frame its action and I particularly liked the chase at the denouement where the background was 'The Gang's All Here'.  So where's the DVD?