Some Like it Hot (1959)

This film, the second consecutive Billy Wilder film I've reviewed, stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon playing women along with Marilyn Monroe. Curtis and Lemmon witness a murder and need to get out of town and the only way out is to play in an all-woman's band headed for Florida. This plot was all well and good until they actually got to Florida. I guess they needed something else to happen in this film so both Lemmon and Curtis decided to find love interests. This seemed entirely unnecessary as these romances appeared to have no shot at working and were almost mean-spirited. I won't reveal what ends up happening, but I didn't really care for any of this and it significantly detracts from the movie as a whole.

As women, Lemmon and Curtis do a pretty good job. The film was shot in black and white to help hide the fact that they were men and they were fairly believable as women not just in their clothing, but also in the way they acted. Marilyn Monroe did a pretty good job and was actually a better actress than I was expecting. Other than a brief cameo in All About Eve, this is the first time I had seen her in a film.

Overall, this had some funny moments, but overall I didn't care for it all that much. The American Film Institute ranks this as the best comedy of all-time and I'm not sure I agree. I haven't seen many comedies, but Harvey and The Apartment were both better. Still, it's watchable and a person who tends to enjoy comedies would probably find this enjoyable.

70/100
C-

UP NEXT: Yet another Billy Wilder film, Ace in the Hole.

Watching that tonight?

cdurbfan22 wrote:

Watching that tonight?

I already watched it, that's how I wrote the review.

I meant the second movie.

cdurbfan22 wrote:

I meant the second movie.

Oh, duh Yeah, I'll probably watch it tonight as it's short (112 min).

Like I said...have fun!