Utter Perfection

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2002)

Why don't they make 'em like they used to? Marilyn, Jack, Tony, Joe E. Brown, George Raft, etc....you just can't compile a cast like that anymore. Perhaps that's what makes the film work so well, the casting. As in all Wilder films, everyone was *just* right for their part, and trying to come up with alternatives proves fruitless, especially for Marilyn's role [what can be said about her that hasn't been said before? The "I Wanna Be Loved By You" sequence is one of the sexiest in cinema, and it was accomplished completely through suggestion. Notice Wilder's extremely effective use of the spotlight in combination with the black and white cinematography; Marilyn never looked more luminous].
I really can't imagine Frank Sinatra in the Tony Curtis role (Wilder's first choice, apparently), because Curtis does an amazing job, as does Lemmon. They are convincing as women without going over the top (although Lemmon comes close), and Curtis's Cary Grant impression was spot-on. Wilder was a genius, pure and simple. Who has had a better track record? [Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Witness For The Prosecution, One Two Three, Lost Weekend, Double Indemnity (another universally acknowledged masterpiece), Ace In The Hole, Sunset Boulevard.....the list just goes on and on].
What's supremely interesting about this movie is that, over the past 40 years, its appeal has not waned. It's just as raucous and hilarious now as it was then, albeit less shocking. But if you want shocking, go see Scary Movie. And if you want comedy (the best of all time, no less), go see Some Like It Hot. So good it should be required viewing.
Note: Another reviewer commented that Marilyn seemed "chunky," but this is because she had a real woman's body, not the "anorexic with implants" image we are weaned on in today's world; this is the secret to her enduring sex appeal. If Pamela Anderson Lee were playing Sugar, would it be half as sexy (or half as funny) as it is today?