ANGIE'S TOP FILMS: Some, like me and Marilyn, like it hot.
SOME LIKE IT HOT
(1959)
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon.
Directed by: Billy Wilder.
Rated: Unrated.
According to IMDb, Some Like It Hot was voted the #1 Funniest Movie of All Time. Apparently, everyone loves a good drag film. X^D While I may not agree that this is the funniest movie of all time, I do think it's high up on the list. If you needed any further proof that I love the screwball comedies, this review should settle that issue definitively.
The premise is this: Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) are a pair of down-and-out musicians in 1929 Chicago who have the grave misfortune of witnessing the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Needing to both get out of town in a hurry and find a job to put food in their tum-tums, the pair put on an elaborate drag act and join an all-girl band traveling to Florida. Things get further complicated when saxophonist Joe (aka Josephine) begins falling for the band's singer, Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Monroe) and concocts an elaborate scheme to also pose as a millionaire in order to win her. At the same time, poor Jerry (aka Daphne) is having his own romantic troubles with a real millionaire named Osgood who's determined to marry the not-actually-a-girl cellist.
"No need to be bashful! We're all gals around here!"
This was the first film I ever saw Tony Curtis in, and within the first five minutes I was head over heels. He was such a durn pretty man. Those full lips, those sleepy eyes, that great smile; and he looks damn fine in a tuxedo. And then he puts on this ridiculous "girly" voice and a wig and lipstick and dammit if I wasn't still attracted to him. That, right there, is what you call powerful sexual charisma.
But besides being delicious eyecandy, Curtis is also ridiculously fun in this film. He's smarmy, he's manipulative, he's a born scoundrel and trouble-maker, constantly pulling the hapless and ever loyal heterosexual life-partner Jerry into the worst situations possible. He plays a mean saxophone in the band and then affects a hilariously over-the-top Cary Grant accent when he plays Junior the millionaire. He's always got a witty retort lined up for every occasion, and is usually slick enough and quick enough on his feet to slip out of danger at the last second. Joe's just such a fun character to watch in action, and Curtis really does the part justice. Plus, I love watching him play off of Marilyn, both as Josephine and as Junior, and watching him sincerely fall for her in the course of the film makes me go all wibbly.
"It's not how long it takes to get there, it's who's taking you."
Jack Lemmon, as the belaguered Jerry, is also wonderful in this. The man was damn good at playing the harried straight man, and he gets to go all out in the first half, constantly lamenting his Joe-induced bad luck and trying vainly to stop his friend's harebrained schemes and maintain some sort of dignity. Of course, much of the film's fun comes from Jerry's utter immersion into his female alter ego Daphne. I don't want to ruin some of the film's best jokes or the ending, but let's just say Daphne has a very persistent suitor in the nebbish, awkward, and wealthy Osgood Fielding the Third, and that the film was quite daring to push the envelope as far as it did.
Osgood: "You must be quite a girl!"
Daphne/Jerry: "Wanna bet?"
And then there's Marilyn as the boozy, breathless, beautiful Sugar Kane Kowalczyk. I've been a big fan of Marilyn Monroe my whole life. Sure, she played a lot of stereotypical ditzy blondes, and she wasn't a fantastic actress, but I think she was much more talented than people give her credit for. Plus, she was gorgeous in a full-figured way, which I greatly appreciate; can you believe that by today's Hollywood's standards, she'd be considered overweight? RIDONKULOUS.
LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS GIRL.
Anyway, I really love Marilyn's films because even when she's playing basically the same character as always, she makes her films so fun and energetic. Since I still haven't been able to see Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (inconceivable! I know!), I have to say that Some Like It Hot is my fave Marilyn film.
One reason in particular is because in this film she's not just a breathy, playful sex kitten. She managed to bring a melancholic, disappointed air to Sugar Kane. In between the witty banter and sexy song and dance numbers, we see how disappointed in love/life Sugar has become, and how jaded her past relationships have made her. Sure, she's determined to snag herself a millionaire with a yacht and his own private railroad car -- but when you consider the singer's past, full of betrayal and manipulative men who used her and left when the money ran out, you can understand why she's so focused on simply finding a financially comfortable future.
"Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop."
Some Like It Hot is a really fun film with lots of situations involving mistaken and false identities, song and dance numbers, witty banter, and goofy romance that also pokes fun at Prohibition, the music industry, the mob, and the lengths people will go to have financial security. If you're looking for a laugh-out-loud comedy with some grand performances and songs and a very pretty cast, you really can't go wrong with Some Like It Hot.
"Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs.
Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it's a whole different sex!"
On a scale of 1 to 10: Some Like It Hot sails off with a glamourously goofy 9.
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