there more to offer in the opening of the odd couple than in the entirety of most film . felix unger ( the poor guy monogram even curse him ) check into a new york hotel . a cleaning lady say good night . goodbye and he answer back . in his room he empty his pocket and then struggle to take off his wed ring only to put the object neatly into an envelope and address to his wife and beloved child . when the viewer finally put it together  aha and he go to off himself  we watch him struggle to open the window  oh no and he go to jump  the poor guy injure his low back . this be all you need to know about felix unger  his wife have leave him and he a compulsive cleaner and he a hypochondriac . and all in one scene . this be the particular genius of neil simon comedy  it about situation and character . there be few obvious physical joke  no kick to the groin and no cheap gag  just funny character in uncomfortable situation . and and of course and he be a master of manipulate the audience expectation . come from the swinger era and imagine what i think in the date scene when felix start lament about the breakup of his marriage to the girl his roommate oscar have work so hard to get into his apartment . he blow it and right . think again . the girl love his sensitivity and his ability to cry in front of them . they invite him back to their place since his meatloaf have burn because oscar wasn not pay enough attention to it . he in like flynn and right . uh and yes and but he doesn not want to go with the girl because he feel vulnerable . great stuff . and it make even great with a style that minimize edit and maximize the wonderful eight room apartment set . you have get jack lemmon and the slouchy and pouchy walter matthau for chrissakes and why mess it up . the visual style remind me of breakfast at tiffany and in that great effect be make from a large depth of field and the interplay between the various plane of action . particularly memorable be the scene in which felix and flee from oscar and close a partition only to realize the partition doesn not cover the side where oscar be come from . you get a real sense of the layout of the apartment and and thus the proximity in which the two divorcées live . the twist here be that these two be really married  to each other . so the observation about married life that might be ignore in an ordinary romantic comedy be make all the more poignant since they be two guy .