Jack Lemmon box set has real gems, some yawners

Jack Lemmon was Hollywood's go-to good guy in the first phase of his nearly five-decade film career, a hapless everyman who found himself in situations over which he had little or no control.

Most of these films were comedies, and the trend began immediately with his first two movies, costarring roles in 1954 Judy Holliday vehicles.

Over the next decade, Lemmon rose to stardom — and made some of his biggest hits — while demonstrating a wide acting range in comedy ("Some Like It Hot," "Irma la Douce") and drama ("Fire Down Below," "The Days of Wine and Roses"). And sometimes both in the same film ("Mister Roberts," "The Apartment").

The newly released "Jack Lemmon Film Collection" (Sony, 1954-64, b/w and color, six discs, $59.95) is a long-overdue box set that includes five of Lemmon's comedies from this period, which helped shoot him quickly to the top of the Hollywood heap.

His greatest successes from this period — including the films mentioned above — have long been on DVD, but this set features several unsung pictures that fans have been requesting for years.

No one will argue that these five are up there with the classics, but there are an awful lot of fans who would like access to films the studios don't consider high priorities, and this is a set that will be gobbled up by Lemmonphiles everywhere.

Two are new to home video, but the other three were previously released on VHS. And while some are better than others, Lemmon's growth as an actor is apparent, especially when the films are watched chronologically.

"Phffft" (1954, b/w) is Lemmon's second film with Holliday (after "It Should Happen to You"). They play a married couple who divorce after eight years only to find single life less than satisfying.

Some clever dialogue and funny sight gags give this one a boost — and a real novelty is seeing Kim Novak in a character spoof of Marilyn Monroe.

"Operation Mad Ball" (1957, b/w) is one of the new-to-video titles. The film came two years after Lemmon's Oscar-winning turn in "Mister Roberts," and he plays another Ensign Pulver-type military character, a private assigned to the morgue on a post-World War II Army base in France.

The central plot has Lemmon mounting a covert bash for the enlisted men — to include female officers! — behind the back of his hypocritical by-the-book captain (Ernie Kovacs in his first film).

Frantic and occasionally funny, with performances that are all over the map. Lemmon is surprisingly low-key while Mickey Rooney (who shows up in the final third) is way over the top.

The biggest laughs come from