**** and More for Classic Comedy Film

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2007)

Billy Wilder was really at the top of his game with this screwball comedy hit of 1959.
When loser-musicians Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) witness the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, they look to leave town at once. While in freezing Chicago, they seek out an opportunity to join an all girls' band that's headed towards Florida.
Our 2 heroes soon adopt the names of Josephine and Daphne and that's when the hilarity really begins.
The film has a top-notch cast including Marilyn Monroe in the part that was made for her-Sugar Kowalski- a love stricken loser who loves to hit the booze to drown out her problems. Joyce Jameson, a frequent artist under Wilder, is in rare form as Sweet Sue, the head of the band. Joey E. Brown as the millionaire who falls for Daphne is just divine and George Raft, as Spats, the guy who is the head of the gang and after Josephine and Daphne, is in perfect form. Pat O'Brien is simply memorable as the chief of police.
After a wonderful existence in hiding out in Florida, the 2 come face to face with the gang when the latter shows up there for a salute to the Friends of the Italian Opera.
The writing is near perfect along with the performances. Curtis' imitation of Cary Grant is memorable.
"Some Like It Hot" should have been nominated for best picture in 1959. It would have lost anyway to "Ben-Hur" but this film is truly a tribute to comedy. Anway, wasn't this better than the nominated "Anatomy of A Murder?"