Billy Wilders has a perfect command over the screwball genre

Rating: 8/10 (31 December 2019)

In my review of "Parasite" (2019, Bong Joon Ho) I said that mixing crime and comedy is best done by Joel and Ethan Coen. Now I have to admit that also Billy Wilder understands this job.
In "Some like it hot" the mix is heavily tilted towards comedy, the role of crime being limited to giving an inducement. But that does not diminish the achievement of Wilder in any way. I have long evaded this film because I am not a great lover of comedy's with men in women's cloth. They tend to be rather silly ans insiped. Think of films as "Tootsie" (1982, Sydney Pollack) and "Mrs Doubtfire" (1993, Chris Columbus) not to speak of a play like "Charlie's aunt". It is the merit of Billy Wilder but also of his main actors that they make such a funny film out of such an antiquated concept. When the story moves from Chicago to the seaside of Florida it almost becomes a naughty version of "Les vacances de Mrs Hulot" (1953, Jacques Tati).
I already mentioned the main actors. They all did a splendid job. Jack Lemmon was at the peak of his career and would make "The apartment" the next year (aslo with Billy Wilder). Tony Curtis, often casted for his good looks in the beginning of his career, had proven his ability for serious acting in "Sweet smell of success" (1957, Alexander Mackendrick) and "The defiant ones" (1958, Stanley Kramer) in the previous years. For Marilyn Monroe it is one of her last appearances. She is still sexy and innocent at the same time, as if fully unaware of the effect that her body has on men. In "Some like it hot" she sings "I wanna be loved by you" in a very sensuous way, dressed in a robe that shows (almost offers) her breasts in the most advantageous way.
During the film two relationships evolve. One is between Jack Lemon as Daphne and Joe Brown as an old millionaire. In this relationship Joe does not know that Daphne in reality is a man. This relationship is hardcore screwball, but on a very high level. The other relationship is between Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane and Tony Curtis playing a fake milliionaire. In this relationship Marilyn does not know that Tony Curtis in reality doesn't have a dime. This relationship outgrows the screwball character and even becomes a real romance. Especially poignant is that the Marilyn Monroe character says she always falls in love with the wrong men and is finally looking for a serious and quiet one. Just as in real life one is inclined to think.