Voted the funniest American comedy ever made, Some Like It Hot is a film that has aced the test of time. This feat is made somehow even more impressive when one reflects on the retro elements the film draws on. There is a slice of '30s gangster pictures, a large wedge of '30s/'40s screwball comedy and the entire film is set during the 1920s prohibition era. Yet, despite the historical influences, the film feels eerily modern. Made, although not approved, during the highly-restrictive "Hays Code era", we are treated to cross-dressing lead males and an often scantily-clad Marilyn Monroe alongside jokes and allusions which demonstrate an acceptance, maturity and knowingness that seem far ahead of the prevailing mores of the era.
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play Joe and Jerry, two musicians in Chicago who are living hand-to-mouth and find themselves owing money to virtually everyone with whom they've had professional or social contact. The situation gets worse when the speakeasy they are playing at becomes obsolete after a law enforcement crackdown. With no jobs or any prospects of getting out of debt, one would think the pairs' misfortune could be compounded no further. This turns out not to be the case as they find themselves inadvertently bearing witness to a mass mob shooting. Narrowly escaping but now in mortal danger, they hit upon a rather hare-brained scheme: they will disguise themselves as women in order to join an all-girl jazz band that is leaving for Florida that very night. Thus Joe and Jerry will become Josephine and Geraldine, no make that Josephine and Daphne (Jerry never really liked the name Geraldine anyway). If this plan works out, the pair can escape the mob, earn some money and be free of their debts once and for all. The entire concept is ridiculous, audacious and utterly outrageous, so get in and get set for a thrill-ride because that is just the very point.
As with all great comedies, you have to start with the script. The dialogue is crackling in its wit and inventiveness. This is evident right from the first scene in which a number of delicious linguistic allusions are interwoven. An undercover policeman infiltrates an illegal bar constructed within a funeral parlour and the cop has to announce himself as a pall bearer in order to enter. He is not able to get one of the best seats, however, as these are reserved for those who were "close members of the family", read: the mob. The cop is also rebuffed when he asks for booze as the establishment only serves coffee: scotch coffee, Canadian coffee or sour mash coffee, that is. This sort of repartee continues when we are introduced to the two male leads and ramps up during their exploits as disguised women. A particularly amusing example occurs while Jerry/Daphne is teasing the prospect of revealing his secret to Marilyn Monroe's Sugar Kane, she offers him a drink and says, "That'll put hairs on your chest.", "No fair guessing." Comes Daphne's reply.
The script doesn't just fire in terms of dialogue, the overall set-up plays out wonderfully too. There are a large number of moving parts which somehow blend quite joyously together with all of them centring around Joe and Jerry. Both men are fish out of water as they try to blend in as women in their supposedly all-female band, the threat of detection being an ever-present concern. Then there's the need to stay one step ahead of the mob, who want Joe and Jerry out of the way. To make matters even more complicated, both men develop love interests: Joe finds himself infatuated with the beautiful Sugar Kane and so, to woo her, enters into a second-level disguise as a reclusive millionaire looking for someone to mend his wounded heart. While "Daphne" engenders the unwanted affections of the blithely eccentric and actual millionaire Osgood Fielding III (played by Joe E Brown). As a result of all this, there is constant tension and the film moves at a rapid-fire pace. And yet, somehow, there is room for genuine moments of calm in which characters are developed and sympathies are established. Despite being recognised for its comedic prowess, the film is not pure comedy as there is genuine pathos and elements of drama. Sugar Kane is wounded and betrayed but keeps on making the same mistakes. Joe is manipulative and dishonest and yet the script finds room for him to show a modicum of repentance for his behaviour. Jerry and Osgood, on the other hand, seem to be matched together for the comedic value provided but, low-and-behold, even in their relationship lies a depth which is only discovered in what has to be the greatest final line in the history of cinema. In short, if ever there were a defining example of what a perfect screenplay should look like then this is it.
So many words and I still have not focused on the performances, without the brilliance of which the film would not have worked at all. Curtis and Lemmon put in seminal turns as Jo, Jerry, Jospehine, Geraldine, Daphne, and Shell Oil Junior. Their mannerisms, accents and comedic timing are all sublime and, thus, an utter joy to watch. Curtis' take on Cary Grant's vocal inflections while playing his make-believe millionaire make for particularly amusing viewing and the role-reversing inter-cutting scene in which Marilyn Monroe is seducing Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon and Joe E Brown are taking turns in leading during a tango is both played and directed to perfection.
And so, finally, to the master-mind behind it all: Billy Wilder. He is possibly the most unsung great director that Hollywood ever produced. Wilder's direction provides a frantic energy but it also gives plenty of time and space to allow the story to blossom. In what is such a ludicrous set-up, it would be easy for this film to operate as an exploitative piece of nonsense comedy. Instead it is both a thrill-ride and yet tender, humane and touching. It makes full value of the comedy of two brilliantly talented male actors posing as women without ever making cross-dressing or alternative lifestyles the butt of the joke. Wilder makes sure that it's the characters who take centre-stage, and the characters are essentially confused, vulnerable, weak-willed and utterly imperfect, yet quite loveable and very much relatable as a result. That Wilder is able to achieve so much in just one picture is what, I believe, has led to this film maintaining its relevance for so long. Sixty-three years and counting, if films ought to be judged on their ability to withstand time's test, then it is right that this film should be honoured with the highest accolade it is possible to bestow.
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play Joe and Jerry, two musicians in Chicago who are living hand-to-mouth and find themselves owing money to virtually everyone with whom they've had professional or social contact. The situation gets worse when the speakeasy they are playing at becomes obsolete after a law enforcement crackdown. With no jobs or any prospects of getting out of debt, one would think the pairs' misfortune could be compounded no further. This turns out not to be the case as they find themselves inadvertently bearing witness to a mass mob shooting. Narrowly escaping but now in mortal danger, they hit upon a rather hare-brained scheme: they will disguise themselves as women in order to join an all-girl jazz band that is leaving for Florida that very night. Thus Joe and Jerry will become Josephine and Geraldine, no make that Josephine and Daphne (Jerry never really liked the name Geraldine anyway). If this plan works out, the pair can escape the mob, earn some money and be free of their debts once and for all. The entire concept is ridiculous, audacious and utterly outrageous, so get in and get set for a thrill-ride because that is just the very point.
As with all great comedies, you have to start with the script. The dialogue is crackling in its wit and inventiveness. This is evident right from the first scene in which a number of delicious linguistic allusions are interwoven. An undercover policeman infiltrates an illegal bar constructed within a funeral parlour and the cop has to announce himself as a pall bearer in order to enter. He is not able to get one of the best seats, however, as these are reserved for those who were "close members of the family", read: the mob. The cop is also rebuffed when he asks for booze as the establishment only serves coffee: scotch coffee, Canadian coffee or sour mash coffee, that is. This sort of repartee continues when we are introduced to the two male leads and ramps up during their exploits as disguised women. A particularly amusing example occurs while Jerry/Daphne is teasing the prospect of revealing his secret to Marilyn Monroe's Sugar Kane, she offers him a drink and says, "That'll put hairs on your chest.", "No fair guessing." Comes Daphne's reply.
The script doesn't just fire in terms of dialogue, the overall set-up plays out wonderfully too. There are a large number of moving parts which somehow blend quite joyously together with all of them centring around Joe and Jerry. Both men are fish out of water as they try to blend in as women in their supposedly all-female band, the threat of detection being an ever-present concern. Then there's the need to stay one step ahead of the mob, who want Joe and Jerry out of the way. To make matters even more complicated, both men develop love interests: Joe finds himself infatuated with the beautiful Sugar Kane and so, to woo her, enters into a second-level disguise as a reclusive millionaire looking for someone to mend his wounded heart. While "Daphne" engenders the unwanted affections of the blithely eccentric and actual millionaire Osgood Fielding III (played by Joe E Brown). As a result of all this, there is constant tension and the film moves at a rapid-fire pace. And yet, somehow, there is room for genuine moments of calm in which characters are developed and sympathies are established. Despite being recognised for its comedic prowess, the film is not pure comedy as there is genuine pathos and elements of drama. Sugar Kane is wounded and betrayed but keeps on making the same mistakes. Joe is manipulative and dishonest and yet the script finds room for him to show a modicum of repentance for his behaviour. Jerry and Osgood, on the other hand, seem to be matched together for the comedic value provided but, low-and-behold, even in their relationship lies a depth which is only discovered in what has to be the greatest final line in the history of cinema. In short, if ever there were a defining example of what a perfect screenplay should look like then this is it.
So many words and I still have not focused on the performances, without the brilliance of which the film would not have worked at all. Curtis and Lemmon put in seminal turns as Jo, Jerry, Jospehine, Geraldine, Daphne, and Shell Oil Junior. Their mannerisms, accents and comedic timing are all sublime and, thus, an utter joy to watch. Curtis' take on Cary Grant's vocal inflections while playing his make-believe millionaire make for particularly amusing viewing and the role-reversing inter-cutting scene in which Marilyn Monroe is seducing Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon and Joe E Brown are taking turns in leading during a tango is both played and directed to perfection.
And so, finally, to the master-mind behind it all: Billy Wilder. He is possibly the most unsung great director that Hollywood ever produced. Wilder's direction provides a frantic energy but it also gives plenty of time and space to allow the story to blossom. In what is such a ludicrous set-up, it would be easy for this film to operate as an exploitative piece of nonsense comedy. Instead it is both a thrill-ride and yet tender, humane and touching. It makes full value of the comedy of two brilliantly talented male actors posing as women without ever making cross-dressing or alternative lifestyles the butt of the joke. Wilder makes sure that it's the characters who take centre-stage, and the characters are essentially confused, vulnerable, weak-willed and utterly imperfect, yet quite loveable and very much relatable as a result. That Wilder is able to achieve so much in just one picture is what, I believe, has led to this film maintaining its relevance for so long. Sixty-three years and counting, if films ought to be judged on their ability to withstand time's test, then it is right that this film should be honoured with the highest accolade it is possible to bestow.