Title – Some Like it Hot (1959)

Director – Billy Wilder (The Apartment)

Cast – Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe

Plot – Musicians for hire Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) go undercover as female band members after they witness a mob hit. Complicating matters is the fact both men find themselves attracted to fellow band member Sugar Kane (Monroe) who is none the wiser about who her new friends are.

“Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop”

Review by Eddie on 13/01/2021

One of the most widely loved comedies of all-time, Some Like it Hot is a film deserving of its high standing among the critic and audience circles as renowned director Billy Wilder crafts a wild comedic outing that had the dream pairing of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis to go along with one of starlet Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic performances.

With the stars well and truly aligning for this tale of Lemmon and Curtis’s musician’s for hire Jerry and Joe going undercover as a pair of female band members to escape mobsters that want them dead after they witnessed an organised hit, only to have matters complicated by the fact they both fall in love with Monroe’s simple yet alluring fellow band mate Sugar, Hot is a relatively straight-forward fish out of water comedy that thrives off smart script work and execution and the powerful presence of its main trio.

All well-known and loved for their abilities to light up the screen and elevate material to the next level, Wilder lets his performers really run with Hot’s over the top story and frenetic pacing that even by today’s standards is filled with regularly occurring zingers, innuendos and awkward moments that are all wonderfully realized, whether they be high-brow, low-brow or somewhere in between.

In particular its a pure cinematic joy to watch Lemmon and Curtis go toe for toe as they try and navigate their new surroundings and do their best to be lady like even though the alluring and seductive Sugar is there at all moments to unknowingly try and thwart their grand plans to evade the mob by becoming a whole new person and gender and as they get further and further into the situation they find themselves in, the banter and interplay between the two esteemed actors only grows stronger.

In the midst of all of this however is Hot’s true trump card, that being Monroe who is at the peak of her powers as Sugar, a somewhat dimwitted alcoholic who means well and only wants to get by in the crazy world she finds herself in, Monroe perfectly plays out Sugar’s arc and features in a number of Hot’s iconic scenes that includes a glorious train-held band practice and some highly intense romantic interludes with Curtis later on.

Final Say – 

A true joy of a film that is another wonderful addition to Billy Wilder’s iconic filmography, Some Like it Hot is an all-time great comedy that also acts as some of its casts best and most entertaining pieces of work.

4 1/2 pairs of high heels out of 5