Some Like It Hot (1959)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Robert Thoeren (story) and
Michael Logan (story) ...

Release Date:

29 March 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

The movie too HOT for words!

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.

Plot Keywords:

Ulcer | Beautiful Woman | Leg | Dream Girl | Bryn Mawr College

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Not Tonight, Josephine! (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (DVD version) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:Livre | Finland:K-16 (1959) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Singapore:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #19281) | Mexico:A | Finland:S (1987) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | 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:

Coronado Beach, Coronado, California, USA

Company:

Ashton Productions

Trivia:

Named the funniest movie of all time by the American Film Institute

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jerry pulls the emergency break on the train, all the girls fall sideways and not forward with the stopping train.

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]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Soundtrack:

Sugar Blues

As Joe E. Brown famously said: "Nobody's perfect"... well I beg to differ. Some Like it Hot is just that little bit perfect - * * * * *

You would not really expect a comedy from 1959 to make you laugh, that is what makes Some Like It Hot the timeless classic that it is, times has never affected this, but it is sure as hell one of the best comedies of all time, it may be in black and white, it may be slightly clichéd, it may be a bit sexist, but who gives a rats ass about that? Some Like It Hot overcomes date and does for comedy like what Tony Curtis did for the movie industry, this is a fairground attraction of feel-good cinema with plenty of new comedy that took the genre to a whole new level, it cracks jokes that even modern audiences will love, if it were a modern comedy, it probably wouldn't work, first, Billy Wilder couldn't have been alive to make it, and second, we don't Have Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon anymore, and three, we very unfortunately don't have Marilyn Monroe anymore.

Marilyn Monroe is the sex symbol of all time, I'm a 15 year old British red neck from the rough end of East Anglia, you would expect people like us to be infatuated with Angelina Jolie or Jordan, but I find Marilyn Monroe to be a super sexy female with many talents that she did not realise she had, she tragically ended her own life a few years after this classic and shes even more famous than she was when she was alive, Monroe added sugar to whole movie, so much they even named the character after it, she gives a whole new light to many movies she was in, even though she had some trouble getting along on set (She described her embraces with Tony Curtis as 'kissing Hitler' (the name she gave the bullying Wilder)), she always proved to be a great asset for the movie, she was branded many things during her career, things that people regret thinking her of, I first saw Some Like It Hot when I was very young, it was my favourite for quite some time then and it still makes my lists a very proud one, Monroe was one of the reasons it was so great when I first saw it and will always remain that way.

Tony Curtis was the heartthrob of the young century and you can see why, hes handsome, hes versatile, hes an overall, very talented individual, here he shares the screen with Monroe and Jack Lemmon, once you have a cast like that, there's nothing to expect but pure comedy, Curtis has always been in my eyes, the limelight of the movie industry during the early century, the first time I saw Tony Curtis's talent was in 'Houdini', a biographical movie about Harry Houdini, Curtis was in the title role and he did very well, when I watched Some Like It Hot I found he was very restrained, he made a very good impression of himself for a cross dressing comedy, but I can almost say that he looks good in a dress! Jack Lemmon was Oscar nominated for this and very rightly so, he must be the funniest person in the movie, and he gets all the best lines, Lemmon could not have done any better if he tried, the thing he does right is give his character comedy in his traits, he cross dresses and manages to make the audience explode in fits of laughter when he wants to, this is the highlight of Lemmons career and certainly his best work which adds very very much to this already brilliant film. A performance that he will always be remembered for and will always be the funniest thing about this classic comedy. Lemmon establishes himself among other comedians all over Hollywood, but the only difference is, he got there first, he does comedy the way Tarantino does samurai movies, once you see the great screen presence that is Lemmon up there on that screen, you have yourself in for a great ride, one that is too good for words, the audience is what gives Lemmon his power to act (as he said himself once), here the audience would give him as much power as Churchill, power that is much to well received to turn down, the sort of audience power that every actor wants.

The script is also terrific, written at such comic accuracy that you can not help how something that pure was written by a human being. The jokes cracked are those because of the superb script, fashioned to fit the actors and screen time, a hidden talent to be found in all the people who have anything to do with this triumph. Many other comedies in its time were mediocre compared to this, but in a way, its also very influential towards over comedies surrounding the time it was made, give it time, you will like it, give it even more time, you will love it.

I paid to see this movie and I will pay to see it again, a marvellous and brilliantly funny source comedy where the three performances dominate and the jokes are worthy of its name in just about every way possible, this is the movie that is impossible to dislike, no matter what kind of person you are, Some Like It Hot will definitely appeal to your good side.

* * * * * out of * * * * * 10.0/10.0