Wilder spoofs and hits the right notes.

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2008)

This is to me quintessential Billy Wilder, spoofing the gangster genre and cheekily bending the genders in a joyous romp that is standing the test of time in this perceived new age of movie watchers. The cries of it being a one joke movie don't carry weight because the final result is two hours of tongue in cheek winking entertainment that shatters that particular charge.
The cast here are uniformly excellent, Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis bounce of each other in a sort of lowest denominator camp extreme that makes for mirth in abundance, and Monroe may just give the greatest spoof {of herself} performance in cinema history as she plays up perfectly to her image so played out in the press of the time. George Raft throws his lot in with a delightful caricature show, whilst Joe E Brown almost steals the film as Osgood, in fact he gets the icing on the cake final line that is now considered right at the top of the tree for closing lines.
The off screen troubles with Monroe are some source of reference, and it really isn't my wish to waffle about stories that are available to you at a click of your mouse, what we know is that Wilder with the help of I.A.L. Diamond managed to create a much loved film that all involved can take as a legacy of success that the masses will enjoy for generations to come, it is what it is, 10/10.