The 60-Year-Old Cult Classic Comedy the Coen Brothers Obsess Over That You’ve Probably Never Seen

The filmmaking duo of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen is perhaps the most beloved and renowned directing partnership in cinematic history, and it seems impossible for anyone to feel ambivalent toward them, let alone dislike them. They are a pair that endures today, even though the two haven’t made a film together since 2018. The Coen Brothers belong to a venerable class of directors who make films equally worth scholarly discussions endlessly entertaining. Despite having such high name recognition, it’s difficult to wholly pin down their distinct style and sensibilities, as their versatility ranges from moody noirs to farcical screwball comedies. Their unpredictability, which extends to their solo careers, is crucial to their charm. Unsurprisingly, the brothers have been influenced by the strangest films, and one of their surprising top picks is a low-grade 1965 sex comedy.

‘Boeing Boeing’ is a Guilty Pleasure for the Coen Brothers

Jerry Lewis and Thelma Ritter in 'Boeing Boeing' — Image via Paramount Pictures

Unlike their contemporaries or fellow canonized great directors, including Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers do not possess the loquaciousness when it comes to cinephilia as other master filmmakers who rattle off their most formative movies and filmmaking influences. They are taciturn in the press, unwilling to reveal the true meaning of their texts, and, in general, they carry themselves as inscrutable artists who bait the viewer to imbue their own interpretation of their work.

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In a 1994 interview, leading up to the release of The Hudsucker Proxy, their 1994 flop that has since become a dark-horse favorite for many Coens fans, Joel and Ethan discussed all things movies, particularly the screwball comedies that inspired their updated take on the genre starring Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The two admitted that, while being movie buffs, they were not obsessed with the art form with the same vigor as their peers, as Ethan described themselves as “typical suburban kids who saw a lot of late-night television.” The Coens’ comedy consumption not only speaks to the charm embedded in even their darkest films, but also to their ability to tap into mainstream sensibilities of audiences.

After invoking the work of Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, Preston Sturges, and Bob Hope, Ethan Coen gave an unlikely shoutout to a film few people ever discuss. In the interview, one half of the directing team praised Boeing Boeing, a comedy starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis, as a “great movie,” citing it as “probably the formative movie.” However, this was likely stated in a tongue-in-cheek manner, as the interview article indicates that Ethan wore a “sly grin” on his face. Keeping up with the bit, he later added, “If I could keep only one film on video for all time, it would have to be Boeing Boeing, a terrible 1965 sex comedy.”

‘Boeing Boeing’ and Screwball Comedies Influenced the Coen Brothers

Boeing Boeing, starring two actors who frequently dabbled in zany comedy and over-the-top performances, is a bedroom farce film that follows journalist Bernard Lawrence (Tony Curtis), immersed in a scheme that has him secretly engaged to three flight attendants simultaneously. Things go awry when Bernard’s old friend and acquaintance, Robert Reed (Jerry Lewis), arrives in town and attempts to overthrow his philandering lifestyle for his own benefit.

The film, based on a French play, was directed by John Rich, a prolific television director. It is more or less a retread of the stars’ previous work, with Curtis’ playboy turn recalling his groundbreaking performance in Some Like It Hot. Lewis, coming off The Ladies Man and The Nutty Professor, upends all his expectations by speaking in his normal voice and resembling the closest thing to a straight man he ever encountered. Otherwise, Boeing Boeing is content not to break any new ground in the bedroom farce genre, as the sexual escapades and series of misunderstandings are watered-down tropes better deployed by the hush-hush sex comedies of Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Like any film featuring Jerry Lewis and his madcap energy, it’s easy to retroactively appreciate the film for its gonzo spirit.

Without the screwball comedy genre, we probably wouldn’t have the Coen Brothers. Whether it’s a totemic classic like Bringing Up Baby or Sullivan’s Travels or a middling genre rehash in Boeing Boeing, Joel and Ethan Coen have consistently paid homage to the genre with their signature “idiot” characters, people caught up in the most dire criminal situations and troubling social faux pas. Screwball comedies have stayed with Ethan in his solo career, as both Drive-Away Dolls and the upcoming Honey Don’t! evoke the irreverence of the pair’s work that seamlessly meshed with the brooding cynicism that Joel brought to The Tragedy of Macbeth.

They can dismiss the Tony Curtis-Jerry Lewis film all they want, but there’s no doubt that the repeated viewings were invaluable when directing The Hudsucker Proxy, Intolerable Cruelty, and Burn After Reading, movies that embrace idiocy while treating their characters with the utmost sincerity.