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Some Like It Hot (1959)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
29 March 1959 (USA)
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Tagline:
The movie too HOT for words! more
Plot:
When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 10 wins
&
8 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(66 articles)
Christmas and new year TV films
(From The Guardian - Film News. 18 December 2009, 5:30 AM, PST)
Christmas and new year TV films
(From The Guardian - TV News. 18 December 2009, 5:30 AM, PST)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 18 December 2009, 5:30 AM, PST)
Christmas and new year TV films
(From The Guardian - TV News. 18 December 2009, 5:30 AM, PST)
User Comments:
A gender-bending comedy ahead of its time
more (279 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Marilyn Monroe | ... | Sugar Kane Kowalczyk | |
| Tony Curtis | ... | Joe - 'Josephine' / 'Junior' | |
| Jack Lemmon | ... | Jerry - 'Daphne' | |
| George Raft | ... | Spats Colombo | |
| Pat O'Brien | ... | Det. Mulligan | |
| Joe E. Brown | ... | Osgood Fielding III | |
| Nehemiah Persoff | ... | Little Bonaparte | |
| Joan Shawlee | ... | Sweet Sue | |
| Billy Gray | ... | Sig Poliakoff | |
| George E. Stone | ... | Toothpick Charlie | |
| Dave Barry | ... | Beinstock | |
| Mike Mazurki | ... | Spats' henchman | |
| Harry Wilson | ... | Spats' henchman | |
| Beverly Wills | ... | Dolores | |
| Barbara Drew | ... | Nellie |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Not Tonight, Josephine! (USA) (working title)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
Language:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Mexico:A |
Canada:A (Nova Scotia) |
Canada:G (Quebec) |
Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) |
Singapore:PG |
USA:Approved (PCA #19281) |
Brazil:Livre |
USA:PG-13 (DVD version) |
Finland:K-16 (1959) |
Finland:S (1987) |
South Korea:15 |
Portugal:M/12 |
Norway:15 (re-rating) |
Norway:16 (original rating) |
New Zealand:PG |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:PG |
Chile:14 |
France:-12 (original rating) |
France:U (re-rating) |
Spain:13 |
Sweden:11 (re-release) |
Sweden:15 |
UK:A (original rating) |
UK:U (video rating) (1989) |
West Germany:16
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Voted #14 on the AFI's List of 100 Greatest Movies.
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Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the end of the tango, the band members yell "Olé", except for the trumpeter, who still has his trumpet up to his lips.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Mulligan: All right, Charlie; that the joint?
Toothpick Charlie: Yes, sir.
Mulligan: Who runs it?
Toothpick Charlie: I already told you.
Mulligan: Refresh my memory.
Toothpick Charlie: Spats Columbo.
Mulligan: That's very refreshing; what's the password?
Toothpick Charlie: "I've come to Grandma's funeral." Here's your admission card.
[he gives Mulligan a mourning armband]
[...]
more
Mulligan: All right, Charlie; that the joint?
Toothpick Charlie: Yes, sir.
Mulligan: Who runs it?
Toothpick Charlie: I already told you.
Mulligan: Refresh my memory.
Toothpick Charlie: Spats Columbo.
Mulligan: That's very refreshing; what's the password?
Toothpick Charlie: "I've come to Grandma's funeral." Here's your admission card.
[he gives Mulligan a mourning armband]
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Portrait d'un homme 'à 60% parfait': Billy Wilder (1980)
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Soundtrack:
La Cumparsita
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FAQ
What songs does Marilyn Monroe sing?A Note Regarding Spoilers
How does the movie end?
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more (279 total)
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What Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis do in "Some Like it Hot" would be par for the course in modern movies every other month, similar fish-out-of-water movies premiere with men posing as women ("Tootsie"), women posing as men ("The Associate"), black people posing as white people ("White Chicks"), and on and on. What makes "Some Like it Hot" different is two things: the strength of its comedy, and the presence of Marilyn Monroe, then at the height of stardom.
Lemmon and Curtis turn in admirable performances both as Joe and Jerry, and as Josephine and Daphne. Tony Curtis does Lemmon one better by creating a third identity, "Junior", in order to woo Sugar Kane (Monroe).
Tying the pair's story into the Chicago Valentine's Day Massacre, where a gang war spilled over into a parking garage, leaving a number of people lined up against the wall and shot, is a deft touch (though the serious tone of these gang sequences contrasts sharply with the bulk of the movie).
The movie does an excellent job building the far-fetched stakes of the movie ever-higher, from their finding refuge from vengeful gangs in a women's jazz band, to their showdown in the Florida hotel, to the eventual revealing of Curtis' and Lemmon's identities. The movie's surprisingly suggestive and risque content is at odds with the time frame of the movie, and even with the period of the movie's creation. The many smart double-entendres and plays on words are very well-written, and alternate between lowbrow and highbrow comedy,
The films only fault might be a couple of overlong musical numbers, performed either by the whole band or soloed by Sugar Kane. Though to be expected in a Marilyn Monroe film, these musical acts are literal "show stoppers" that bring the comedic momentum of the film to a screeching halt. However, it is easy to over look these minor defects in the movie as a whole, because by and large it is quite funny no wonder it s considered a classic and after all, "nobody's perfect".