Some Like It Hot

Rating:
Summary: This comedy is timeless
Review: Marylin Monroe is stellar in her role as the ditzy seductive blonde singer chased by two straight male musicians in drag. Huh? Yes, I knew I'd whet your curiosity buds. Now go rent or buy the movie, it's one you won't forget. :)

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Rating:
Summary: A comedy that broke some new ground ...
Review: Of course, everyone knows that a combination of Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marylin Monroe has the potential to be something special. But, why is this movie worth watching? First off, the movie is genuinely funny with only a small number of laughs coming from silly antics. In this film, Lemon and Curtis provide a fabulous comic balance with the tension needed to make it interesting provided by the presence of Miss Monroe. Billy Wilder was not afraid to introduce the concept of cross-dressing with a purpose. Of course, the movie is first meant to be funny, next a love story and finally a social commentary on the roles we accept due to gender. At the end of the movie you might ask yourself, Do I like it hot?

Rating:
Summary: Classic Comedy
Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT has been called the greatest comedy movie of all time. That's a pretty big niche to fill and, let's face it, individual opinions will vary. I have several personal favorites. THE GREAT RACE, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, HARVEY, TOOTSIE, IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD and A SHOT IN THE DARK come to mind, and I could name some others. Nor do I try to rank them in any particular order. I love them all, and this one sits right up there with them all on my shelf.

Individual favorites aside, this film is just very funny. Curtis and Lemmon are wonderful together as two down-on-their-luck musicians who find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time and, disguised as women, join an all-girl band to get out of Chicago. Could these guys pull off such a stunt in real life? Probably not, but that doesn't make the situation any less humorous. Hysterical scenes and great lines abound. Monroe brings just the right amount of coquettishness and vulnerability to provide a center of gravity for all the madcap antics going on around her. At just over two hours in length, it's somewhat longer than your average comedy, but there's no reason for that to be a problem with a movie as entertaining as this one.

SOME LIKE IT HOT isn't my all-time favorite comedy, but it's a genuine classic and one I'm happy to have in my collection. In addition, this DVD has some nice extras, including a 30 minute interview with Curtis, the movie's only surviving star. The one drawback is that the movie was filmed in black-and-white, but for anyone who likes classic comedies, this is one DVD you want to have.

Rating:
Summary: The gorgeous Eleanor Parker
Review: Eleanor Parker is just as beautiful as Monroe, but her breasts are smaller.

Watch Parker act up a storm in "Interrupted Melody", playing the polio-stricken opera diva Marjorie Lawrence.

Rating:
Summary: Not everyone likes it hot...
Review: Some Like It Hot is surely one of Hollywood's most enduring masterpieces. It teams the irrepressible charm and wit of double-act Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis with the irrepressible beauty and idiocy of Marilyn Monroe, and throws in a zany, complicated storyline to boot. It's one of the best golden-age comedies from the legendary Billy Wilder and stands the test of time as a true Classic.

Lemmon and Curtis play two down-on-their-luck jazz musicians who, upon witnessing the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in prohibition-era Chicago, trade their suits for wigs and dresses and go on the run, disguised as two new members of an all-female Jazz Band. Marilyn Monroe plays the typecast Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, a troublesome member of the group, but does it with such elegance and comedic timing, that we can't care too much if the character is a tad predictable. Curtis falls for Monroe, and assumes a double-life: by day he's the big-boned bull-fiddle player Josephine, and by night, the enigmatic and tragic millionaire Junior. Lemmon, meanwhile, tries to fight off the romantic advances of Osgood Fielding III, a lecherous old playboy on the hunt for a new wife. Chaos, as always, ensues.

The chemistry between Curtis and Lemmon is incredible. We find it wholly believable that they would assume such drastic disguises because of their completely convincing on-screen friendship. So, too, is the case with the comic timing of the duo - never missing a beat, they deliver some of the best audio and visual jokes of the movie with style and charisma. Monroe, too, is wonderful in her role, she exudes glorious femininity and radiates massive amounts of innocence. She doesn't have many deliberate jokes, but her entire performance is one huge laugh. You can't take a woman in a spray-on dress very seriously, especially not when she bemoans her constant 'fuzzy end of the lollipop' scenarios. She is beautiful, pneumatic, joyful, and above all else, she is entertaining.

My one problem with 'Gentlemen' is that it's just too long. Do we really need to see the resolution of the Spats sub-plot in the Hotel? At 121 minutes, what is basically a one-joke movie (chaotic slapstick caused by dual identities) begins to grate just a little, and not even the charisma of Curtis, the slapstick of Lemmon or the winsomeness of Monroe can save this. It does somewhat mar what is otherwise a wonderful picture, and one I can thoroughly recommend for fans of comedy, classics and good old-fashioned entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: "Nobody's Perfect"- But This One Comes Close
Review: Famed director Billy Wilder once said "Movies should be like amusement parks, people should go to have fun". With "Some Like It Hot", one of his best and well-known films, he certainly created an amusement park of laughs, tears, and excellent performances by its three stars. Set in Chicago in the 1920's, it follows the story of desperate musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) who after witnessing a gang bang shooting organized by powerful mob boss Spats Columbo, run for their lives. Their disguise? As "Josephine" and "Daphne", the newest additions to Sweet Sue's All-Girl Band en-route to sunny Florida. While adjusting to their new-found femininity, they meet Sugar Kane (a dazzling Marilyn Monroe), the band's lead singer and resident party girl who always gets "the fuzzy end of the lollipop". Such mayhem ensues on the un-forgettable trip as Joe and Jerry run from the mob, keep up their disguises, and fall in and out of love with women (and men!) under the Florida sun. The Special-Edition DVD includes never-before-seen pictures from behind the scenes, the original press-book gallery, and the trailer, recovered from old film archives. A truly great film, "Some Like It Hot" is sure to keep audiences raving for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: An amusing movie
Review: While I would certainly call this an amusing movie, I cannot comprehend how it was chosen the "greatest comedy of all time". Frankly, I don't even think it is Lemmon's or Curtis's finest work. I far prefer "The Fortune Cookie", "The Odd Couple" or "Good Neighbor Sam" for Lemmon, and "Operation Petticoat" or "The Great Race" for Curtis.

This is not to say that this movie isn't completely enjoyable...though the premise is too outlandish to be believable. To think that Marilyn (and the rest of the band) could not tell that Tony and Jack were two guys in drag is stretching reality way too far.

Rating:
Summary: the best comedy ever
Review: This really is the funniest single movie ever made. Its completely flawless, sweet, suspenceful, and brilliantly acted and paced. And on top of all that is an innocent magic that can't be reproduced no matter how hard any one tried. This movie holds up to repeated viewing and is a must have.

Rating:
Summary: Drinks and Skirts
Review: The 1959 comedy "Some Like it Hot" directed by Billy Wilder and produced by MGM Studios is a must see. For 120 minutes this black and white film takes us back to the days of bootlegging, mafia, and traveling musicians. In 1929 downtown Chicago we meet Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) who are working as musicians in a hidden bar fronted by a funeral home. When the "Feds" bust the gangsters behind the place once again Joe and Jerry are out of work. To make it worse they wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time and wind up witnessing a mafia hit order by Chicago's head gangster "Spats". Joe and Jerry are forced to flee Chicago with a women's band headed to Florida. Daphne and Josephine (Lemmon and Curtis) make quick friends with the party girls of this upbeat band.

Meeting Sugar (Monroe) will make it hard for these two "skirt-chasers" to keep in disguise. Sugar is the innocent blonde who is hunting for a rich millionaire but keeps falling for broke saxophone players who leave her singing " I am Through with Love" and holding tight to her silver flask. Once in Florida it is non-stop laughs as Joe attempts to court Sugar by night and be a good friend Josephine by day. Joe and Jerry experience a whole new world as they parade around in their skirts trying to fight off the adoring men and their advances. The comedy continues as by complete coincidence the mafia holds the convention posing as Opera Supporters at the same hotel. Joe and Jerry find themselves on the run again when "Spats" and his men end up in the same elevator with them.

After viewing this movie it is easy to see why it won a "Golden Globe" award in 1960 and is on the AFI's "Top 100 Comedies" List. The star line up Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon combined with the wonderful sound track makes the movie a classic. I give it 4 stars because this is a movie you could watch over and over and still laugh.

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST OPTION TO SEE MARILYN MONROE AT HER BEST.
Review: "Some Like It Hot" is considered by many people the best comedy of all time. Depending on what kind of comedy you prefer, that asseveration may or may not be true, but is undeniable that this movie is a high quality comedy that must be seen by any movie fan.

Starred by Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and the gorgeous Marilyn Monroe. Arguably, the three of them bring their best performance of their careers. Each one of them in this movie uses a different comedy style, and with very effective results. Jack Lemmon as a frenetic and desperate Jerry / Daphne, Tony Curtis as a cool, calm and conquering Joe / Josephine, and Marilyn Monroe, in her best performance ever, as the sexy and tender Sugar Kane.

"Some Like It Hot" is packed of hilarious situations, and clever and humorous dialogues. Despite the fact that the film was released almost 45 years ago, still manages to be a very effective and funny comedy, without a doubt "Some Like It Hot" is one of the most representative movies of the comedy genre. Indispensable.