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8.9/10
FilmFascination Rating
‘Some Like it Hot’ is without a doubt the best comedy movie I have seen. Even in some of the serious scenes, the director has managed to push in some light comedy into it.
Joe (Tony Curtis), a jazz saxophone player, and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), a jazz double bass player, are friends who play at a joint owned by gangster “Spats” Colombo (George Raft). Along with being broke, they lose their jobs because of a police raid at the joint they played at. While trying to find work they accidentally witness Spats and his henchmen gunning down a rival gang as revenge for tipping them off (inspired by the real-life Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre). They somehow manage to flee the crime scene and avoid getting killed. But it is not long before all the Spats men start searching for these witnesses of the killings.
Though hesitant at first the desperation and fear compel them to disguise themselves as women named Josephine and Daphne to join an only-women band to get out of the town as soon as possible. They both get obsessed with one of the girls they meet there, named Sugar (Marilyn Monroe). Sugar is tired of getting betrayed by male saxophone players. “Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop”, she says. In Miami Joe poses as a millionaire, the heir of Shell Oil, to attract Sugar. And on the other hand, an actual millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) falls in love with Daphne (actually Jerry) and pursues her. From then onwards we are taken on this amusing and hilarious ride of the progress of the relationship between Osgood and Daphne, Sugar and Joe, and on the sideways Spats trying to kill both of them.
The movie is very well crafted with a wealth of intelligent dialogue, so much so that it stays hilarious from start to end. Except for the first gun scene, I was laughing the entire time. And it is not often that a 121 minutes movie keeps the audience entertained and enjoying every minute. It is mostly because of the screwball plot, clever twists, incredible direction, and spot-on comic timing. There are scenes where characters throw punch lines one after the other as Muhammad Ali threw jabs at his opponents. Along with strong and vivid characters what keeps the viewers’ attention throughout is its speedy pace.
Billy Wilder (director) keeps it crisp and does not waste time with unnecessary scenes. For instance, when Joe and Jerry call to take part in the full female band, the next second we see muscular calves in stockings and their faces covered in makeup with a wig. They must have worked to disguise themselves as women which is obvious and isn’t shown. Even when they plan to bet on a racing dog, the next scene we directly see is them repenting the decision. “Oh, why did I let you talk me into this?”, says Jerry. That is why the movie keeps a steady pace with something or the other happening. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on a screenplay by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan from the 1935 French film ‘Fanfare of Love‘. Wilder chose to shoot the film in black and white as Lemmon and Curtis in full drag costumes and make-up looked “unacceptably grotesque” in early colour tests.
The performances are wonderful. Especially from Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. They have played the role of a girl so convincingly that along with Daphne I too forgot they were boys. During the shoot, Tony Curtis and Lemmon first put on the female make-up and costumes and walked around the Goldwyn Studios to see if they could “pass” as women.
It might have given a notion of vulgarity and cheapness to some, but both of the actors have managed to not go in that direction at all. It is impressive how swift they are with their witty dialogues. When a movie reviewer asked Tony Curtis why his “Josephine” was so much more feminine than Jack Lemmon’s “Daphne”, Curtis explained that he was so scared to be playing a woman that his tightly wound body language and shyness, which were feminine traits, added to the effect. Lemmon on the other hand was completely unbothered and hence kept much more of his masculine body language.
Marilyn has a great natural flair for comedy. And should I even start at her singing? She might not have a great voice but is very passionate about the lyrics to the extent that she creates this intimate chemistry with the camera. Her solo ‘I Wanna be Loved by You’ turns out to be one of the movie’s most seductive and mesmerizing scenes. But during filming, Marilyn lacked concentration and suffered from an addiction to pills, due to which she could not memorize many of her lines. The line “It’s me, Sugar” required 47 takes for her to get the word order right. Curtis and Lemmon also made bets during the filming on how many takes she would need to get it right.
But among the trio, Jack Lemmon emerges as the biggest scene stealer. Wilder’s first idea for the role of Jerry was Frank Sinatra who did not show up for the audition. The scene where we see Lemmon humorously playing with castanets when he announces his engagement is an all-time belly laugh (Joe: “I’m engaged.” Jerry: “Congratulations! Who’s the lucky girl?” Joe: “I am!”). The movie also gets immense support from George Raft (Spats Colombo), Joe E.Brown(Osgood Fielding III), Pat O’Brien (Detective Mulligan), and Dave Barry (Bienstock).
Billy Wilder’s movies are known for their classic closing lines. This movie’s closing line is considered to be one of the greatest quotes in a movie. Certainly, you won’t hear it from me. You will have to see it yourself.
Favourite Quotes
Jerry: Have I got things to tell you!
Joe: What happened?
Jerry: I’m engaged.
Joe: Congratulations. Who’s the lucky girl?
Jerry: I am!
Joe: There’s another problem.
Jerry: Like what?
Joe: Like, what are you gonna do on your honeymoon?
Jerry: We’ve been discussing that. He wants to go to the Riviera but I kinda lean towards Niagara Falls.
Sugar: Water polo? Isn’t that terribly dangerous?
Junior: I’ll say. I had two ponies drowned under me.
Sugar: Been waiting long?
Junior: [gallantly] It’s not how long you wait, it’s who you’re waiting for!
Joe: [referring to Jerry] He has an empty stomach and it’s gone to his head.
Joe: We won’t breathe a word!
Spats Colombo: You won’t breathe nothin’ – not even air.
Joe: What happened?
Jerry: I just got pinched in the elevator!
Joe: Now you know how the other half lives.
Jerry: [looks in a mirror] Look at that! I’m not even pretty!
Joe: They don’t care. Just as long as you’re wearing a skirt. It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Jerry: Really? Well, I’m sick of being the flag. I want to be a bull again!
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