Some Like It Hot

Released: March 29, 1959

Studio: United Artists

Genre: comedy/romance

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 25.00 Worldwide: ?

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 437.70 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Billy Wilder

Screenwriting: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Joe E. Brown, George Raft

Review:

“Billy Wilder was at the height of his powers when he made this uproarious” ^TV and “expertly constructed farce.” ^ML The “wonderfully-satirical, funny comedy” ^FS is “sensational from start to finish, with dazzling performances by Lemmon and Curtis, a memorably comic turn by Monroe as Sugar Kane, and Oscar-winning costumes by Orry-Kelly.” ^LM

The movie was “deliberately shot in black-and-white to avoid the pitfalls of camp or transvestism.” ^T95 Because it “featured cross-dressing and homosexuality” ^MSN it “was released without receiving a certificate of approval of the Production Code Administration, which enforced the Motion Picture Production Code of moral guidelines. The code was decreasing in importance at the time because of increased social tolerance. Because of its success, Some Like It Hot was considered to be a main catalyst for the code to completely be abandoned.” ^MSN

Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) are two unemployed jazz musicians who accidentally witness the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. To escape Chicago hitmen, led by “dime-flipping, spats-wearing ringleader Spats Columbo (Raft),” ^FS they dress in drag and join an all-girl band headed to Florida. “They’re a couple of goners” ^A07 when they meet “luscious, voluptuous singer Sugar Kowalczyk (Monroe)” ^FS “(‘Look how she moves! It’s like Jell-O on springs!’).” ^A07

To attract her attention, Joe, in a “dead-on lampoon of Cary Grant,” ^TV also dresses as a wealthy, yacht owner. “Daphne (impressed with his own new sexy image) distracts the real millionaire – a smitten, oft-wed Osgood Fielding III (Brown).” ^FS The latter leads to “the greatest fade-out line in film history:” ^FS “Brown’s bland ‘Nobody’s perfect’ when his fiancee (Lemmon) finally confesses that she’s a he.” ^TO’95