A hundred years after Newton native Jack Lemmon entered the world, the West Newton Cinema celebrated the award-winning actor by screening four of his classic movies and hosting his family over the weekend. West Newton Cinema Foundation president Elizabeth Heilig said the idea originated with Jack’s daughter, Courtney Lemmon, who reached out after her family participated in a centennial celebration of Jack in New York City. Courtney wanted to bring something similar to Jack’s hometown.
Elevators
Jack Lemmon’s life began in an elevator in Newton-Wellesley Hospital on February 8, 1925. His mother Mildred had been in a bridge game with Jack’s father John and some friends. John urged her to leave as her water was starting to break. By the time they arrived at the hospital, there was no time to get her to a delivery room, so she gave birth to Jack in the elevator. “My mother swears it was going down, not up,” Jack once said in an interview.
Lemmon’s birth became a fitting metaphor for a career defined by timing, wit, and a touch of chaos.
Elevators returned as a motif in Jack’s life when he starred in the 1960 movie The Apartment. In the film, Fran Kubelik, played by Shirley MacLaine, is an elevator operator in the office building where C.C. Baxter, played by Jack, works. On Saturday afternoon, the West Newton Cinema screened the movie as the second installment in the movie marathon.
The Apartment follows Baxter as he loans his apartment to company executives for their extramarital affairs. Baxter obliges until his manager Mr. Sheldrake uses the apartment to host his mistress Kubelik, in whom Baxter has an interest. Baxter must choose between the girl he loves and his career. Lemmon’s performance is comedic and heartbreaking. Audience members laughed, sighed, and clapped throughout the movie.
When the lights came up, the mood shifted from mid-century Manhattan to modern-day Newton.
Lemmon-flavored intermission
After the film ended, guests migrated into the lobby for the cocktail reception to enjoy lemon cake, lemon martinis, lemonade, and hors d’oeuvres, in honor of Jack.
One guest, Dan Smalley, told Fig City News that ever since he was a kid, he has been a fan of Jack’s work. His favorite Jack Lemmon film is Save the Tiger, for which Jack won an Oscar. Smalley, a physics teacher at Needham High School, said he appreciated the vulnerability that Jack brought to his roles.
Smalley said he values screenings like these, which bring the community together to watch old movies.
“I love it because it gives you a window into when the movie came out,” Smalley said.
Hollywood DNA
As part of the celebration, noted film critic and columnist Ty Burr moderated a conversation with Courtney Lemmon and her husband Peter McCrea in the theatre, with Chris Lemmon and his wife Gina Raymond participating via Zoom.
Heilig said audiences were excited and touched to meet the Lemmon family.
The current residents of the Lemmon family’s old Newton home came to the event and brought two copies of the original house deed, which they gifted to Courtney and the Cinema.
“It was almost like a little bit of a homecoming for them,” Heilig said.
The two siblings both spoke affectionately about their father’s Newton roots.
Jack went to Ward Elementary School, followed by the Rivers School and Phillips Andover Academy.
Chris shared that Jack adored Newton. Chris’s son attended Lasell University, and his daughter Sydney attended Boston University, keeping the family’s ties to the area. Chris said Sydney wanted to attend the event, but he was off working on an acting job.
The family emphasized how Jack’s infatuation with acting started in a school play. A “very serious role,” Chris said, had opened up when a kid got sick so Jack stepped in.
“He put on his coat and his hat then came shuffling out, and everybody started laughing,” Chris said. “That was the beginning.”
This early taste of laughter, Chris said, inspired his pursuit of acting. While studying at Harvard University, Jack took part in Hasty Pudding Theatricals, where he performed in drag for the first time.
In Drag
Later that night, the Cinema screened the 1959 film Some Like It Hot, which starred Jack alongside Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe. The film follows two male Jazz musicians, played by Curtis and Lemmon, who disguise themselves as women to escape gangsters after they witness a mob hit — joining an all-female band and heading to Florida.
The two films screened on Saturday showed Lemmon’s range, from endearing corporate employee trying to find meaning to scheming jazz musician pretending to be a woman.
The Odd Couple finale
The screening of the 1968 film The Odd Couple on Sunday afternoon capped off the weekend. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The two late friends starred in many movies together, and Walter’s son Charlie Matthau and Chris joined via Zoom to take part in a discussion about their fathers.
Heilig emphasized the emotional resonance of hearing the pair talk about their fathers’ friendship.
“They were really quite close,” Heilig said. “In addition to the fact that they are just enormously talented, there’s this underpinning of deep affection.”
The sons mentioned how their two families used to have Thanksgivings together.
On Saturday night, Gina recalled a story of her father going to the Lemmons’ house in the Palisades in California. As her father was leaving, he witnessed Jack and Walter share a moment overlooking the harbor, when Walter kissed Jack on the head.
“They just loved each other,” Gina said.
Preserving film history
Heilig said she lost track of how many times she has watched Some Like It Hot, but seeing it in a theater offered a fresh perspective.
“I just had a new appreciation for the movie after seeing it on the big screen,” she said.
Heilig said the weekend drew multiple generations, from grandparents to grandchildren, all watching together.
Heilig sees the tribute as a perfect example of the Cinema’s purpose.
“That’s why we’re here,” Heilig said. “Events like this capture perfectly what we have to offer.”
For Newton moviegoers, the weekend was not just a Hollywood celebration; it was a reminder that one of cinema’s brightest lights began his story right here.
