Review of Some Like It Hot (1939) by Danielle F — 23 Jun 2011

What starts out as a simple runaway plan to escape the mob turns into a comical adventure on a Florida island for two musicians. The musicians Gerry (Jack Lemmon) and Joseph (Tony Curtis) are two small town nobodies from Chicago, who literally run into some bad luck when they witness the shooting of a rival gang at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. It appears to be a serious situation, but leave it to Billy Wilder to turn it into a comedy of errors that ultimately lead our two antiheroes on a train with a girl band...dressed hilariously as women. Along the way and once they reach the island, they join up with Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) who seems to be the miss-fit of the band, she looks to the two "ladies" for guidance an friendship. And they give it to her, but not after both falling love with her.

"Some Like it Hot" is the king of smarmy screwball comedies. But not only is it a chain of screwball events, there's clockwork paced funny dialogue said by Lemmon and Curtis, who's performances are outstanding even by today's standards. It takes a lot of guts for two well known Hollywood actors to dress as women, but "Some Like it Hot" was the first to do it, and pull it off right. Before "White Chicks," or "Mrs. Doubtfire" there was "Some Like it Hot," and all those movies owe a bit of gratitude to this film for starting something uniquely hilarious. It's a shame the formula of "Some Like it Hot" has been over-used and recycled. The jokes and gags in this film (much of the ones said by Joe E. Brown), are timeless and never get old. This film had m laughing the whole way through.

The way the story is set up is ingenious. You've got one male, dressed as a female, trying to woo Monroe's character by putting up a faulty accent and alternate persona. Lemmon's character, is not so lucky, and without giving away spoilers, just ends up with the lousy circumstances that make for comical irony while seeing Curtis' character (luxuriously on a date with Monroe), intertwined with Lemmon's despondent attitude towards his "lover." And aside from the jokes, "Some Like it Hot" did have a good story that wasn't bland or old but merely fun and exciting. The smooth song numbers sing by Monroe are complimented by the gorgeous cinematography of Coronado Beach (meant to be Miami, but really filmed in California). This is one of Monroe's more flirtatious but at the same time compelling performances, and Wilder's funniest comedies.