Matthau & Lemmon's first movie together

The 1966 film, The Fortune Cookie is a gem in more ways than one. It’s written and directed by story-a-plenty Billy Wilder, the plot has humor, heart and great acting; but the milestone it should be remembered for is the pairing of legendary actors Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau together for the first time. Who knew then that the duo who would mark their fame as the old couple Felix and Oscar, would give audiences another 32 years of delightful screen time together.

The Fortune Cookie in today's terms, would be McDonald's coffee drinker meets OJ's lawyers. When cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) gets a little too close to his work while filming a football game of the Cleveland Browns, player 44, Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich) hits Harry and knocks him unconscious.

Harry's taken to the hospital where his family - mom, sister Charlotte, and brother-in-law and attorney Whiplash Willie - wait impatiently in the hall. When Willie hears about the time Charlotte and Harry played parachute off the rooftop and Harry ended up with a compressed vertebrae, Willie licks his get-rich-quick lips.

Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau in "The Fortune Cookie" © MGM

Before Harry can ask for his coat to leave when he wakes up, Willie gets rid of nurse Ratchet (Maryesther Denver is priceless as the nurse) and tells Harry he has serous injuries. He can't move one leg, his back is injured and three fingers are numb. Harry wiggles everything and then catches on - "I'm perfectly alright," says Harry as he starts getting dressed.

"There's nothing I hate worst than a patient who makes his own diagnosis," states Willie. This is the beginning of the wonderful push-pull relationship Matthau and Lemmon carried on throughout their movies together. Matthau is excellent in the role as a curmudgeon. He put so much energy into the part, he had a serious heart attack while filming - blamed on too much smoking and chronic gambling. But he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.

Willie exasperates Harry, convincing him that his mom needs a trip to Florida, his sister needs a fur coat, and maybe if Harry has some money, his ex-wife Sandy might come back to him. Harry ignores the Fortune Cookie delivered in his lunch that reads "You can't fool all of the people all of the time" and relents. Harry can't deny that he's still in love with Sandy (Judi West), so the scam is on.

A complication arises when Boom Boom shows up feeling remorse for causing Harry's accident. He brings Harry a new electric wheel chair, and follows Harry back to his apartment where he becomes his nursemaid. The more the two are together, the more guilty they both feel. Harry for lying, Boom Boom for the injury. Soon he starts drinking and missing practices.

Meanwhile slick Willie is scamming the doctors - you'll have to watch to see how that's done - and playing tag with the insurance company's lawyers. But when Harry says he's had enough and is pulling the plug, Willie always has one more card to play. He calls Sandy and gets her all interested in helping Harry, of course, she now knows there may be a big settlement. Judi West makes her debut in the film and doesn't offer a great performance; she only made a few films after this.

As Sandy arrives she's all sweet cream in the middle of a bowl of mixed cereal. The lawyers have the apartment bugged for sound and a cameraman across the street. Not to worry, Willie spots the bugs in a flash and the performances are on. He even alerts Sandy and she's in, for a price of course. Now that Harry has someone new to take care of him, Boom Boom has nowhere to go but the bar, where he ends up in a brawl and is cut from the team. To keep Harry in the scam game, Willie sets up a foundation that will give part of the settlement to help handicap people. The big check comes in and everything turns upside down.

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are two of the finest actors of classic movies in film history. Alone each was absorbing to watch in how they portrayed their characters to a fault. Together they were magic.

Walter Matthau & Rue McClanahan in "Out to Sea" © 20th Century Fox

The Fortune Cookie is filmed in black and white but the photography is crisp, clear and precise and the camera helps convey the story almost as much as the actors. A superb film to watch again and again.