Some Like It Hot

(1959)

"The movie too HOT for words!"

I recently picked up a special edition DVD of the classic "Some Like It Hot", and upon arriving home with it, tossed out my old battered fullscreen VHS version. I watched this film again last night, with the added bonus of seeing it for the first time in widescreen, and was immediately struck once again by how perfect a movie it is.

You've got a Billy Wilder film with female impersonators played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe with a screen name that reeks of porn and/or strippers - "Sugar Cane". What more could you ask for? This wondrous mix combined to make one of the greatest comedies in the history of film.

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon portray down-and-out musicians who accidently witness a mob massacre and immediately flee from the mob, as George Raft's character says, "I don't like no loose ends." In desperation, they disguise themselves as women -



- Curtis as "Josephine", and Lemmon as "Daphne", in order to join an all-girl band and leave town.

Once "Sugar Cane" (Monroe) sashays past the pair on the way to the train they're about to board, all bets are off. Staring after her as she walks away, Lemmon, as "Daphne" exclaims, "Would you look at that...that's just like jello on springs!"

I'll omit the rest of the plot summary. What I will remark on is how really filthy this movie is for its time. And very gay! The innuendos and double-entendres are priceless. Jack Lemmon, who had one of the most expressive faces in film, gives an amazing performance. Tony Curtis looks scarily convincing as a woman (Lemmon just looks really ugly), and Marilyn Monroe is hypnotically beautiful and funny at the same time.

Marilyn Monroe - a woman whom the camera truly loved. Pregnant during the making of the film, she looks just slightly more voluptuous than usual for the time - in fact gorgeous - and in closeups, ethereal, vulnerable, and breathtaking in a way that almost brings tears to the eyes.



Joe E. Brown gives a hilarious performance as "Daphne's" suitor -



- and Tony Curtis gets to give his (passable, but still very funny) Cary Grant impression. Side note: There has been the legendary rumor for years that Curtis said that "Kissing Marilyn Monroe was like kissing Hitler" because of problems on the set with her erratic behavior. In recent years Curtis has claimed that he never made that statement. Whatever the truth, the pair do exhibit really wonderful chemistry in their love scene together, and the skin-colored/sequined dress Marilyn Monroe wears for that sequence is absolutely perfect. Here she is shown in between takes in it; she couldn't sit down well in it, so a special board/rest was set up for her:



This is a film that still stands the test of time; a true ten-star classic.