Bernard Lawrence (Tony Curtis) is a reporter based in Paris. His British stewardess fiancée Vicky Hawkins (Suzanna Leigh) hates his housekeeper Bertha (Thelma Ritter). He's very careful with scheduling. He drops Vicky off at the airport, and surprisingly, picks up his other fiancée, German stewardess, Lise Bruner (Christiane Schmidtmer). In addition, there is his Air France girlfriend Jacqueline Grieux (Dany Saval). The tight precise juggling is threatened by any scheduling changes, the new faster planes, and fellow reporter Robert Reed (Jerry Lewis) with no hotel vacancy who insists on staying at his apartment.The idea is cute. Starting with listing the girls' measurements in the opening credits, this is an old fashion sex romp. Jerry Lewis is playing straight in this one. It's not that funny especially in terms of modern sex comedies. There are a few fun moments but no big laughs. It's probably not a classic but a good choice for fans of these legends.

In Swedish the names for those Disney chipmunks are "Piff" and "Puff". That happens to rime with "Fluff" and I'd like that as a summary for this film.Well, all comedies are "fluff", more or less. A comedy always leans on society as it is with no ambition of changing anything of it. The farce or impertinence of, say, Laurel and Hardy, is quite different. These guys made fun of whole constitutions and they were never better than when Hardy had a high position in society and Laurel comes and spoils it all. Also their destructiveness as in Tit for Tat or Big Business has a certain edge to it and we never walk away from a Laurel and Hardy film with more respect for society and instead always with less. In fact, when you look at those two as on insults to society, then you start to grasp their "comedy", which is just the opposite of usual comedy.This film is a usual comedy. This film is fluff with piff and puff. Still, for Tony Curtis sake, it is still watchable. He plays it for what it is worth with a shrug like "OK, I was bought and I'm just a slave like all you others".

Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis reversing roles as straight man and funny man, that alone is brilliant casting. Of course even as a straight man Lewis still manages to steal nearly every scene that he is in with his inimitable comic style. Leigh, Schmidtmer and Saval are delightful as the three nationalities of flight attendants. Thelma Ritter of course is terrific as the maid.One thing that some of the other reviewers seem to have missed is that Robert (Jerry Lewis) actually helped Bernard (Tony Curtis) manage the crisis, rather than contribute to the crisis as some have suggested. The sole cause of the unraveling of the "perfect crime" had nothing to do with Robert's arrival, it was the sudden change in airline schedules due to the faster jets which caused Bernard's house of cards to start falling in. Robert, clearly in awe of the situation, was fully committed to helping Bernard keep the charade going. Yes, as a sub-plot Robert quickly became interested in siphoning off some of the action for himself, something that he had apparently done to Bernard before. However Robert was not a total heel. Initially he had no intention of going after Vicky (British United) when he thought that she was Bernard's fiancée. It was only after he learned that Bernard had two, no make that three fiancées that Robert started making some moves of his own. However in no way did Robert's presence (and move making) jeopardize the operation as some have suggested. Rather his help, oftentimes on his own initiative, turned out to be desperately needed by Bernard as the chaos unfolded. As the new schedules kicked in and one by one each fiancée arrived home sooner than expected, Robert played a vital role in keeping them separated and he also kept an increasingly beleaguered Bernard informed of the latest developments. In fact even before Robert arrived Bernard was using him as an excuse for why there were kidneys left over from breakfast. Robert and Bernard were at once both rivals and partners, a complicated relationship that in my opinion Jerry Lewis played brilliantly. I refer to Boeing Boeing as being a farce because of one minor and one major problem with the plot that makes it totally unbelievable. The minor one is the aircraft references. In the late 50's and early 60's the introduction of jet passenger planes did in fact dramatically alter airline schedules, as the average speed jumped from around 325 mph for piston engine propeller airplanes to around 550 mph for jet airliners. In many cases what were previously overnight trips for the crew were now one day round-trips. However in the movie the drastic schedule changes were due not to the transition from propeller planes to jets, but a transition from existing jets to newer models with higher thrust. In reality, in spite of much higher thrust, jet airliners today fly at roughly the same speed as the original Boeing 707 that was introduced in 1958. Advances in jet engine technology sometimes resulted in increased range which meant fewer stops on some routes, and it is true that there are some minor speed differences between different models of jets (not counting the now-retired Concorde) but neither of these would have resulted in the drastic effect on crew schedules as portrayed in the movie. The original French play which debuted in 1960 was more realistic as it was based on the transition from props to jets which would have been going on at that time. However I can guess that in 1965 when the movie was produced the writers probably desired to modernize the script by having the plot revolve around new models of jets, even though technically this wasn't very realistic. The good news is that the airplane references were pretty accurate, i.e. British United actually flew VC-10's, Air France flew Caravelles, etc. One goof was when Robert informed Bernard that Vicky (British United) has arrived early, Bernard says "But the Super Boeing isn't due until midnight" to which Robert replies "Boeing, Boeing". However it had already been established that the new British United plane that Vicky was on was a VC-10. The VC-10 was built by Vickers-Armstrongs of England, not by U.S. based Boeing. Aircraft inaccuracies in a movie are to be expected and can be forgiven, but the much larger, and perhaps unforgivable plot issue has to do with the fact that each of the three flight attendants lived in Bernard's apartment. That arrangement wouldn't last a week. I could believe that Bernard could juggle three girlfriends by meticulously tracking their schedules, and then coming up with excuses as needed as to why he couldn't see them or have them over when they were in town. However since all three lived in his apartment (which each had a key to) this meant that they would always go there when they were in town, even if he was at work. It would be impossible for Bernard to keep coming up with excuses why they couldn't go home to "their" apartment. Bernard couldn't control their schedules, only track them, so in no time an unavoidable "collision" would have occurred. Maybe if they all worked for the same airline and he was a crew scheduler (or he could bribe one) it could have worked, however they each worked for different airlines and he was a newspaper reporter with no control over their comings and goings. Allowing them to live in his apartment doesn't work even in a movie without total suspension of disbelief. If the writers had fixed this one thing the plot would have been much more believable. Would it have been funnier? I doubt it. So I have no real issue with the plot I'm just pointing out the facts. And actually now that I think about Christiane Schmidtmer being repeatedly dragged and carried unconscious around the apartment, all is forgiven.

A sex-comedy with no sex and very little comedy.Tony Curtis is an American philandering bachelor living in France, who keeps three airline stewardesses on a string, each thinking they are his fiancé. With their worldwide flying schedules, they are never in town at the same time, so through the simple practice of changing their mantle pictures and their underwear drawer, he keeps these simpletons believing that each is "the one and only." Until Boeing introduces its faster jets, totally screwing his screwing schedule.Jerry Lewis is Curtis's friend who discovers his secret and plays along, helping Curtis keep the three bims separated. Curtis's housekeeper, grouchy Thelma Ritter (old as a redwood and twice as gnarly), is in cahoots with him - disapprovingly, mind you - providing those snare-hit punchlines for the blondies carouseling through the apartment.Yes, this is one of those farces where people speak fast and loud to desperately create comedic situations. But comedy is culled from real-life situations gone awry, and when characters don't in the least behave "realistically," the harder it gets to cull the comedy. The less realistically the characters react to their increasingly-ridiculous situations, the less comedy, the more "forced" the farce.And after all the skulking around, we discover that each girl has a separate bedroom anyway! They aren't even sleeping with him! So after the movie pumps itself with sexual innuendo, telling us this guy is so amoral, we find out these shallow skanks are not even sleeping with him in what is supposedly "their" home.And one of the girls - after spending five minutes in a cab with Jerry Lewis - falls for him. Some kinda fiancé! And the big reveal - between all three girls finding each other in the same room, with Curtis and Lewis stuttering their way through explanations - is ridiculously infuriating.Actually, Jerry Lewis does a great job as a semi-straight man. If you completely suspend your disbelief (which is impossible), there are a few mild laughs to be had. But on the whole, the social mores of 1965 really put a damper on this supposed comedy in this age of pop star supersluts who dress and behave like whores.