legendary comedy genius

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2005)

SPOILERS Each year a television executive ponders how to fill an evening's television. Rather than putting original thought into the process, one idea that he constantly comes back to is the "Top 10" list. Spending hours upon hours discussing the best horrors, the best musicals, the best number ones of the 1980s, these lists vary amongst a million different ideas. One of the most popular though is the Top 100 Films of All Time. This list tends to contain some of the all time greats and all too often it sadly has "Star Wars" at number one. One film which always features though, and remains perhaps the funniest comedy of all time is Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot". With magical performances and some of the greatest comedy moments of all time, it remains as fresh today as it did upon it's release.
Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) are down and broke musicians in alcohol free Chicago. As the Mafia continue to fight between themselves, life goes on for our two heroes. That is until they witness a Gangland killing. Now on the run, they disguise themselves as women and hide in a female band troop. Relocated to Florida, the two spend their time keeping themselves hidden and talking to the beautiful, yet "not too smart" Sugar Cane (Marilyn Monroe).
Unlucky to have been released at the same time as the Epic "Ben Hur", it might be one of the biggest travesties in Oscar history that "Some Like It Hot" never received a Best Picture nomination. It did however receives nods for Wilder's direction and Lemmon's acting. Lemmon in particular is superb as Jerry/Daphne, the more emotional of the two men, who finds himself being chased by the dozy Osgood Fielding III (Joe E Brown). With some of the best lines in the film, Lemmon thrives, and on a personal note, he's only outperformed this performance with "Avanti" and "The Odd Couple", the first of which being another Wilder creation.
This film also has another treasure about it. In a time where Hollywood starlets are making a bit of a reappearance, it's amusing that one or two of them (most notably Scarlett Johansson) model their appearance on the biggest starlet of them all. Whilst noticeably more built up during this film (being pregnant at the time), Marilyn Monroe is beautiful from the first scene on the train station through to the end. Monroe simply oozes beauty and thrives in a role which she wasn't originally the choice for.
Perhaps the crucial thing about "Some Like It Hot" is just how good the script is. With lines which just smack of sexual referencing, it causes belly laughs throughout. It never resorts to the sort of lowbrow humour of most of our modern comedy, and it demonstrates how light hearted comedy should be done. It's perhaps the finest comedy film of all time, and it should be mandatory viewing for any film fan.