Under the Yum Yum Tree News

Earlier this week I was talking to an old friend about movie ratings. He mentioned that on military bases movies were rated in pre-MPAA rating days - something with which I was unfamiliar.

Jack Lemmon was one of the most beloved actors of all time. Audiences could identify with him as an everyday man, though his talent was quite evident in his ability to easily go from comedy to drama in an instant.

A new box set from Sony documents Jack Lemmon's reign as America's ultimate male hysteric, trapped between the corporate conformism of the 1950s and the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Jack Lemmon did some of his best work with Billy Wilder, but even in his lesser films, some of which are collected in this new Sony box set, he is never less than engaged and engaging.

What does the Lehigh Valley have to do with the late Jack Lemmon 's remarkable success? Quite a bit, says the actor's son, Chris Lemmon.

The Jack Lemmon Collection , a six DVD disc set of films featuring funnyman Jack Lemmon , is out this week.

This week, we start with an old friend: Recently, while watching a bland movie ruined by an actor poorly trained in comedy, direction, diction and stage presence, the thought arose as to how much better that particular film would have been if Jack Lemmon had starred instead of the misguided ham.

SERVICE COMEDY: Jack Lemmon, right, cavorts with Mickey Rooney, center, in the 1957 comedy A A'Operation Mad Ball,A A' one of five films in the new Sony set.