Some Like It Hot Film Review

Rating: Null/10 (24 September 2009)

Some like it new, some like it old, but some definitely prefer it hot.
This classic comedy has more than enough punches, laughs and kicks to set even the dullest audience roaring with laughter. It is sheer joy from beginning to end and matters little that it is shot in black and white and was made in the fifties. So why is it such a hot movie? Perhaps it is the skill of the three famous names that star in this magnificent movie, Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe that makes it such compelling viewing , or the hilarious situations they find themselves in. Whatever it is, it will have you falling about from beginning to end and desperately wanting more of the jokes, songs and cleverly written, witty dialogue when it finally finishes.
It is no surprise to learn that this film was nominated for not just one, two or even three academy awards but seven. This could have as much to do with the skill of Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis to disguise themselves as women and become part of a group of travelling female musicians, as it has to do with the beauty and radiant charm of the one and only legendary Miss Monroe.
Altogether it has so much to offer it is hard to know where to begin.
The acting is superb and the characters fun, charming and appealing. From the delightful Josephine (Tony Curtis) and the naughty Daphne (Jack Lemon) to the voluptuous Sugar (Marilyn) it is packed full of unexpected twists and turns. We wonder how complicated life can become for these two unlucky musicians Jo and Jerry, who, out of work and desperate, decide to 'become' women in order to get away from a group of gangsters who want to see them dead. Could this be a sexual identity crisis or just a cunning plan to show off their amazing jazz talent and wear painfully high stiletto heels? It isn't long before they set eyes on the stunning blond bomb shell Sugar who, just to add to the fun and appeal, is innocent, cute and nicely naughty. The rebellious but delightful Sugar befriends the two new girls and a beautiful friendship begins. It isn't long before Daphne is covering up for Sugar's secret drinking and having heart to hearts and whiskey in Daphne's sleeping compartment. And yes, Daphne looks great in curlers!
Sugar is happy to confide in her new girlfriends about the most personal issues, including her dreams of meeting a shy millionaire who wears glasses and owns a yacht. Much to Daphne's disgust, best friend Josephine becomes that retiring and innocent millionaire man of her dreams who pretends to own a yacht in order to entertain Sugar and allow her to concentrate on helping him overcome his shyness with women. You guessed it! This therapy comes in the form of teaching him to kiss. It helps greatly that he sounds like Cary Grant and is dressed in stolen yachting clothes even down to the spectacles. Naturally Sugar falls madly in love, not realising that her dream man is, indeed, Josephine. With a few tight costume changes and near misses including hiding in a bubble bath, Jo just about keeps his double identity a secret.
In the meantime, Daphne is being pursued herself, or should I say himself, by the real millionaire of the story; a rather small, old and unattractive man with round, dark rimmed spectacles desperate to find his eighth wife. It seems the more insulting and rejecting Daphne is to his advances, the more he wants her, not realising that Daphne is in fact Jerry. This is a brilliant contrast to the 'real' love that is developing between Josephine and Sugar or do I mean Joe or is that Maxamillion Junior? The hilarious double identities and storyline come to a climax when the gangsters catch up with the two new female jazz players and they find themselves hiding under tables, avoiding machine gunners jumping out of a huge birthday cake, and running for their lives. Heartbroken Sugar thinks that her hero has deserted her and as she pines for him the desire is too much for Josephine who, during a lovely song from Sugar all about how she is 'through with love', decides to suddenly become Joe and kiss her in full view of the audience, still dressed as a woman. Is Sugar so through with love that she has now turned lesbian? No, thank goodness! Shocked but recognising that kiss, Sugar chases after Joe on a bicycle with the gangsters in hot pursuit.
The film ends in its usual hilarious way with all four main characters speeding out to the yacht. Sugar now in love with the recently confessed Joe, a low down unemployed saxophone player, and Maxamillion deciding that he really doesn't mind being in love with a man and that 'nobody is perfect' especially when they have all turned out to be so very definitely hot!