"I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop."

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2006)

When I first heard Tony Curtis doing the Cary Grant send up I thought to myself, no, that can't be, I must be hearing things. Fortunately, Jack Lemmon dubiously assures the viewer otherwise when he states that 'nobody talks like that'.
That's just one of the many gems to be found in "Some Like It Hot", the Billy Wilder screwball comedy set in 1929 Chicago, with an opening scene that takes out a liquor filled coffin by mob chasing cops. Spats Colombo's (George Raft) gang members resemble Dick Tracy caricatures, notably led by Mike Mazurki, who I can't think of as anyone other than 'Iron' Mike from his pro boxing and wrestling days. He and fellow Spats henchman (Harry Wilson) have a great natural gangster look that make up artists spend hours trying to achieve today.
Of course the film stars Marilyn Monroe doing Marilyn, the 'boop-boop-be-do' accent of her song number had me envisioning Jack Kennedy at his birthday party. Though undeniably gorgeous in her first appearance on screen at the train station, I was left rather intrigued with the era's vision of female beauty considering today's preoccupation with borderline anorexics. In the scene with Tony Curtis attempting to cure his aversion to women, Monroe actually looks quite plump in the middle and on her upper arms. And was it the lighting or the cut of her dress, but there were times when her appearance seemed almost lurid. One thing's for certain though. Another reviewer in this forum compared Monroe to the 1950's version of Pamela Anderson. Sorry, but it was Marilyn who broke the mold for all others to follow.
For my money, the best performance of the film goes to Jack Lemmon. While Lemmon and Curtis held their own for most of the film, Jack's Daphne character was inspired following the engagement to Osgood Fielding (Joe E. Brown). He genuinely had me going 'huh?' as to his actual intentions of marrying Osgood, and those maracas clinched it - that was a hilarious piece of work.
It was fun seeing Brown again, I remember watching him as a kid in the 1950's. The one title I can recall is "Sons o' Guns", and even though I can't remember that story, I can always picture Brown's cavernous mouth enunciating some unknown grimace. He uses the trademark here as well, maybe a couple times too many, but he still gets his share of chuckles.
As far as the movie's reputation, I won't deny it's place among the greats of film history, though I find myself somewhat divided in my own feelings. Certainly it has it's moments, but at the same time it has something of a dated quality where the laughs are laid out in front of you, almost to the point of slapstick. I'd rather have it come across in the dialog rather than the buffoonery, sight and sound gags rather than hysterics. For a film that relies a bit more on the latter, it still works in the hands of an accomplished director and a talented cast.