Title: Some Like it Hot
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon
Directed by: Billy Wilder
Number on the AFI List: 22
Year: 1959
I'm glad to say that I've seen this movie a few times before and I love it more and more each time! Some Like it Hot is a quick witted, hilarious situational comedy starring Marilyn Monroe as Sugar, Tony Curtis as Joe/Josephine, and Jack Lemmon as Jerry/Daphne. Jerry and Joe find themselves being witnesses to a hit job by the mob in Chicago (led by Spats Colombo), so in order to get the heck outta dodge they dress up as women and join a women's band playing at a hotel in Florida. Both have to overcome their manly desires to maintain their disguises, although Joe/Josephine creates another alter ego in order to pursue Sugar as man. Part Twelfth Night, part gang movie, Some Like it Hot starts off with a bang (multiple bangs from guns, to be precise) and ends with some of the funniest dialogue in movie history.
It's interesting to watch this movie in light of recent events in America with transgenderism and same sex marriage pushing against cultural comfort. This movie was made when both of those things were taboo. In fact, the movie affirms cultural hegemony by making sure both men are attracted to women, even when dressed up as women, and when Jerry/Daphne is proposed to by Osgood Fielding, there is no question that the marriage won't work out.
Political and social notions aside, this movie is hysterical from start to finish and is a prime example of great comedy.
Question: Why do all gang members have weird noses? Can we talk about this for a second? These two are prime examples (notice how Spats Colombo, on the right, looks totally normal, while his henchmen look a bit...more interesting).
Anyway, thats neither here nor there.
Favorite moment: When Daphne and Osgood are dancing the Tango, juxtaposed with Joe and Sugar having a good time on the yacht. Hysterical.
Will I watch it again: Absolutely!
