Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Comedies
Review: I enjoyed the whole movie. The cast was great and the movie was full of surprises. The trip to Florida was hilarious on the train and the whole story around Tony Curtis & Jack Lemon
performing in the Ladies Band and the different antics that Tony goes thru dating Marilyn Monroe. It is really a surprise ending but I won't give it away.
Rating:
Summary: I Love It, Still!!!
Review: This is a film that I am familiar with all the way back to my childhood when it used to be shown on TV fairly often. I never missed it. ................ Who can resist a pair of guys like Joe and Jerry, who soon become Josephine and Geraldine ne "Daphne" as Jack Lemmon decides to change his new identity, while boarding a Florida bound train with Tony Curtis to escape mobster "Spats" Columbo. The boys inadvertently witness the St. Valentines Day massacre in a garage, and escape their own rub out with nary a few bullet holes in Jerry's bass fiddle. ............... With no money, and in need of an escape, the boys take their unwitting agent up on a girl band gig, not knowing that the very same hotel they'll be staying and performing at, will also soon feature a visit from "Spats" and his henchmen as guests. From there, one of the greatest feel good comedies ever made begins. ................. The late Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and of course legendary Marilyn Monroe are the stars of the show. When Marilyn's "Sugar Kane" aka Kowalczech arrives like "jello on high heels", the boys melt. While they fight over her among themselves, they have to befriend her as females, due to their forced incognito status. This makes for very awkward and hilarious scenes. Especially funny is the opening. The entire band is stuffed into one tiny berth in the train partying, while Lemmon and Curtis are each trying to get Monroe alone. Later, while the band is in Florida, Curtis as Joe, alternates his "Josephine" with a "Mr. Shell Oil" that borrows hilariously from Cary Grant (on purpose, of course)and has to keep changing outfits to keep up the charade. Finally, when Monroe sings "I'm Through With Love", after being stood up by Joe's alter-ego, Curtis forgets that he's Josephine and kisses Monroe on stage while in drag, causing a commotion.................. There are also fine comic moments as the boys try to escape "Spats" by scaling windows, changing elevators, and even hiding under a rolling desert cart that is serving the crew. ................ Let's not forget the "romance" between Joe E. Brown and Jack Lemmon. The tango scene, rose in lips, is truly a classic. Then, the comic payoff really arrives on the boatride where Lemmon, after failing to convince Brown of many reasons why "It won't work", takes off his wig and says "I'm a MAN". The hilariously resigned Brown then says the unforgettable line; "Nobody's Perfect!!" ............... Those true words became a classic phrase, and "Some Like It Hot" will live on through the years as something that IS perfect. A true masterpiece comedy film that continually stands up to the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone Likes It Hot!
Review: I know, ANOTHER review of this movie is not needed, but, I only write about my favorite films, and this has always been one of them. Most film buffs know the legends surrounding the making of this film, Marilyn's extreme tardiness, not remembering her lines, Tony Curtis' growing distaste for M.M., etc... But, as director Billy Wilder commented: "Working with Marilyn was like going to the dentist, it was hell at the time, but the end result made it worth it." And it is, for this is one of the funniest, seamlessly crafted, classic movies of all time. Set in the Roaring Twenties, Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon are perfect as the two musicians on the lam , in drag, after witnessing The St. Valentines Day Massacre. When the only gig they can get that will provide a quick escape is in an all-girl band, out comes the lipstick. Enter Marilyn as the bands lead singer,Sugar Kane, and the mayhem begins. Marilyn apparently did not want this role, but took it for financial reasons. She was also heavier than she had been in other films, and commented at the screening, "I look like a pig!" Wrong! Only M.M. could get away with the extra pounds, and only M.M. could have played Sugar Kane, taking what was basically a supporting role, and making it the center of attention. As Billy Wilder also said: "Marilyn has the highest on-screen voltage of any actor, when she's on screen, you can't keep your eyes off her." This is especially true when she sings "I Wanna Be Loved By You", her "glow in the dark" beauty and comic rendering unmatchable. With all the reported problems in filming this movie, it's hard to believe when you see the finished product, the movie and Marilyn's brilliant performance both being perfect.(Movie Magic !) This is considered one of Billy Wilder's all-time most successful films(Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Seven Year Itch, I just noticed all his most famous films start with an "S", what's up with THAT??), is always named as one of the top comedies of all time, and, is generally regarded as Marilyn's definitive role. Also starring a veritable who's-who of actors from Hollywoods early days, such as Pat O'Brien, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, and many of those wonderful "Oh, HIM", character actors whose names you don't know, but whose faces are like old friends. In recent times, there has been talk of a needless re-make, what FOOLS these mortals be!, tampering with the Gods! I guess the present day Hollywood air-heads think they can make movie magic strike twice, probably starring Heather Locklear as Sugar !!, GOD help us! I have only one comment: Melanie Griffith in the Judy Holliday role of Billie Dawn in "Born Yesterday." Need I say more?? Sadly nostalgic but uproariously funny, this is a film to pop in when you're feeling low,...silly old life IS worth living.
Rating:
Summary: As great as ever - a MUST SEE
Review: This movie just refuses to get old!It's as hilarious, witty, intelligent and joyous today as it was the day it was made. I recently showed it to some teen-agers, and they were laughing as hard as I and my fellow geezers. Not only doesn't the movie lose anything by being in video format, but it has a continuity that's lacking when you watch it on TV with commercials. For that reason alone, it's worth getting the video.
Rating:
Summary: Runnin' Wild
Review: Another great ensemble film from the talented Billy Wilder. Curtis is at his sleazy best and Lemmom is, well he's pure Lemmon - juice ! Monroe at her " blondest. " The story is a hoot - and thank goodness it was flimed in B/W. It suits the subject and allows the movie buff the opportunity NOT to dwell on makeup issues. Keep an eye out for a coin flipping Edward G. Robinson, Jr. - who gives Mr. Raft one of the best lines and in-jokes of the film.
Rating:
Summary: What's wrong here...
Review: I LOVE this film. My favorite comedy of all time. Deserved every award, and a lot more. I'm pleased to own this DVD because it's the best version available. Unfortunately, it's only a 1.66:1 Letterbox though it was filmed in Panavision. The late Billy Wilder never missed a trick, and I'll bet there was lots of stuff going on in the perifery...I saw this as a kid, and I know you couldn't blink for a minute...this film wasn't nominated for Best Picture ("Ben-Hur" won, overblown epic with one great scene). Jack Lemmon lost the Oscar to Charlton Heston. How humiliating could that be! D'ya think a real 2.35:1 Panavision version will ever happen? There's no question that this is the best. It was fun and refreshing to see Lemmon & Curtis reunited in '65 in "The Great Race", finally out on DVD. Lemmon makes this work, with subtle assistance from the great Joe E. Brown.)
Rating:
Summary: Number One On My List Too!
Review: I first saw this movie in the theater when I was about 10 years old. Loved it then! I've probably seen it about 20 times more since, and each time I love it more! Do yourself a favor. Get this DVD and watch Lemmon, Curtis, Monroe, and Joe E. Brown shine! It is without a doubt, my all time favorite comedy - glad to see the AFI agrees!
Rating:
Summary: Reference to Garry Hixon's review (3-12-02)
Review: "Why would a guy want to marry a guy?" "Security!"..."Anything today?", "Oh YOU! You've got a lot of nerve!", "Thank you!"..."Are my seams straight?"; "I'll say..." "It's like jello on springs..."
Rating:
Summary: jack lemmon is such a lovely!
Review: there is nothing funnier than jack lemmon dancing with joe e brown! actually, there is nothing funnier than jack lemmon in this movie! while i am not a tony curtis fan, even he gave an excellent performance in this comedy. but, oh, that jack! he literally takes my breath away because i'm laughing so hysterically at him. i've seen this at least 25 times, and i'll continue to watch it again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as *hot* as I thought it'd be, but I still *like it*
Review: "Some Like it Hot", for one reason or another, was one of those movies about which I felt like I'd seen a million times, but never had all the way through. It would appear on TV every so often, and I would catch it at the same moment each time (I think I've seen the train sequence several dozen times), and leave well before the end. I recently saw it in a theatre, for the first time all the way through. While it justified its canonized place amongst the best comedies of all time, it wasn't perfect. For one thing, I found the tone all wrong. It's more gruesome and sexy than I would have imagined, especially given the era it comes from. Gruesome, in that sandwiching the hijinks are two scenes of bloody tommy-gun slaughter. They are brutal, brutal scenes, which show everything except the bullets entering the bodies. The comedy had a huge pit to dig itself out of after those scenes. As for its sexiness, let's just say that Marilyn Monroe, and the rest of Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators, revealed more with their wardrobe than I would have expected. Maybe it's my own problem, but I had a tough time focusing on the jokes whilst also focusing on the skimpy underthings. For another thing, there are some characters here that I find terribly annoying and grating, like fake fingernails scratching tracks on an enormous blackboard. True, this is a broad (pun intended) comedy, which demands broad characters. But the nasal wheeze that escapes from Osgood Fielding's (Joe E. Brown) mouth at the end of each sentence reminded me more of a death rattle than a punch line. The mugging done by Al Breneman, as the amorous bellhop, had me trying to reach through the screen to slap him silly. And then there's one of Spats' henchmen, overplayed by Harry Wilson with all the subtlety of a tornado. Thankfully, these horrendous characters are more than offset by the dazzling comic timing of the film's leads. Jack Lemmon, playing more a type than a character (the gullible best friend), shows how at home and comfortable he is in physical comedy. Tony Curtis, an actor who I've never had any time for, is asked to pull off three roles in one (Joe, Josephine, and the heir to the Shell Oil fortune). He does so with grace and aplomb. I couldn't help but be tickled by his intentionally hammy Cary Grant impression. Who else would you imitate while pretending to be a millionaire intent on seducing Marilyn Monroe? And speaking of Marilyn, despite the stories I've heard of her scatterbrained bumbling on-set, she is quite funny (while being super-sexy) as the group's lead singer and ukelelist, Sugar Kane (I've often wondered if she's supposed to be related to Orson Welles' most famous character). The cross-dressing scenes, while obviously crowd-pleasing (just try not to laugh while watching Jack Lemmon negotiate his high-heels), are not as viscerally hilarious as I suspect they once were. Thankfully, I found myself laughing at the in-between moments where the witty screenplay was doing all the work. I.A.L. Diamond and writer/director Billy Wilder's script is not only full of large comedic moments, but also has a high quantity of blink-and-you'll-miss-them jokes. Witness these two exchanges between Sugar and Joe, played so straight that neither of them got a laugh from anyone in the theatre but me (I'll try not to break my arm as I pat myself on the back): SUGAR: I come from a very musical family. My mother is a piano teacher and my father was a conductor.
JOE: Where did he conduct?
SUGAR: On the Baltimore and Ohio. [...and later, on the boat...] SUGAR: Look at all that silverware.
JOE: Trophies. You know - skeet-shooing, dog-breeding, water polo...
SUGAR: Water polo - isn't that terribly dangerous?
JOE: I'll say. I had two ponies drowned under me. Top this all off with the extended (and aforementioned) train sequence, where an impromptu party breaks out in Jack Lemmon's bunk. It reminded me of a similar scene from the Marx Brothers' "A Night at the Opera" (a comparison I don't make lightly), for its emphasis not only on verbal wit, but also the overcrowded mania of the moment. While sometimes flawed, and more often than not dated, "Some Like it Hot" is still, more than forty years after its first release, a terribly pleasurable and frothy comedy. Even if you have an aversion to the overused crutch of mining laughs from putting men in dresses, there's enough else here to make the film more than worthwhile.
|
