A qualcuno piace caldo

Admittedly biased, "Some Like It Hot" can certainly stand on its own merit with or without my thunderous round of applause. More than a decade ago, I had the privilege of performing both the Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon roles in "Sugar," the musical adaptation of "Some Like It Hot" which originally starred Tony Roberts, Robert Morse and Elaine Joyce on Broadway in the 70s. Though it hardly compares to the film's original (how could it???), the musical nevertheless is still a big hit with live audiences. I can't remember ever having a better time on stage than I did with "Sugar," and it's all due to the irrepressible talents that instigated it all.

In the 1959 classic, Curtis and Lemmon play two ragtag musicians scraping to make ends meet in Prohibition-era Chicago during the dead of winter who accidentally eyewitness a major gangland rubout (aka the St. Valentine's Day Massacre). Barely escaping with their lives (their instruments aren't quite as lucky), our panicky twosome is forced to take it on the lam. Scared out of their shoes (sorry), the boys don heels and dresses after they connect with an all-girl orchestra tour headed for sunny Florida. Killing two birds with one stone, they figure why not go south for the winter while dodging the mob? Once they hit the coast, they'll ditch both the band and their humiliating outfits.

Enter a major detour in the form of luscious Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane, given one of the sexiest (yet innocent) entrances ever afforded a star. Snugly fit in flashy 'Jazz Age' threads, a blast from the locomotive's engine taunts her incredible hour-glass figure as she rushes to catch her train to Florida. The boys, stopped dead in their high-heeled tracks by this gorgeous vision, decide maybe the gig might not be so bad after all. As the totally unreliable but engagingly free-spirited vocalist/ukelele player for the band, Sugar gets instantly chummy with the "girls" when they cover for her after getting caught with a flask of booze. As things progress, complications naturally set in - playboy Curtis falls for Monroe but has his "Josephine" guise to contend with, while Lemmon's "Daphne" has to deal with the persistently amorous attentions of a handsy older millionaire.

What results is an uproarious Marx Brothers-like farce with mistaken identities, burlesque-styled antics, and a madcap chase finale, all under the exact supervision of director Billy Wilder, who also co-wrote the script. Lemmon and Curtis pull off the silly shenanigans with customary flair and are such a great team, you almost wish THEY ended up together! Curtis does a dead-on Cary Grant imitation while posing as a Shell Oil millionaire to impress Marilyn; Lemmon induces campy hilarity in his scenes with lecherous Joe E. Brown (who also gets to deliver the film's blue-ribbon closing line). As for the immortal Monroe, she is at her zenith here as the bubbly, vacuous, zowie-looking flapper looking for love in all the wrong places. Despite her gold-digging instincts, Monroe's Sugar is cozy, vulnerable and altogether loveable, getting a lot of mileage too out of her solo singing spots, which include the kinetic "Running Wild," the torchy "I'm Through With Love," and her classic "boop-boop-a-doop" signature song, "I Wanna Be Loved by You."

The film is dotted with fun, atmospheric characters. Pat O'Brien and George Raft both get to spoof their Warner Bros. stereotypes as cop vs. gangster, Joan Shawlee shows off a bit of her stinger as the by-the-rules bandleader Sweet Sue, Mike Mazurki overplays delightfully the archetypal dim-bulbed henchman, and, if I'm not mistaken, I think that's young Billy Gray of "Father Knows Best" fame (the role is not listed in the credits) playing a snappy, pint-sized bellhop who comes on strong with the "girls."

For those headscratchers who can't figure out why the so-called "mild" humor of "Some Like It Hot" is considered such a classic today, I can only presume that they have been brought up on, or excessively numbed by, the graphic, mindless toilet humor of present-day "comedies." There was a time when going for a laugh had subtlety and purity - it relied on wit, timing, inventiveness and suggestion - not shock or gross-out value. It's the difference between Sid Caesar and Andrew "Dice" Clay; between Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon and Chris Farley and David Spade; between "I Love Lucy" and "Married With Children"; between Lemmon's novel use of maracas in the hilarious "engagement" sequence, and Cameron Diaz's use of hair gel in a scene that ANYBODY could have made funny. Jack Lemmon could do more with a pair of maracas than most actors today could do with a whole roomful of props. While "Some Like It Hot" bristles with clever sexual innuendo, today's "insult" comedies are inundated with in-your-face sexual assault which, after awhile, gets quite tiresome -- lacking any kind of finesse and leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. I still have hope...

Having ultimate faith in my fellow film devotees, THAT is why "Some Like It Hot" will (and should be) considered one of THE screwball classics of all time, and why most of today's attempts will (and should be) yesterday's news.

Any camera loved Marilyn the best… In all her films, Marilyn dominated any photographer not just because of her ability with a script but ceaseless attention to the camera... More than anyone else on the set, she knew the importance of her sex appeal…The 'fifties belonged to Marilyn, and in that decade it almost seemed as if the world belonged to her also…

Sugar is one of Monroe's most loved and memorable character... She presents herself as a sensitive woman quick to feel compassion or affection, sensual and readily impressionable which is Sugar Kane... It was her greatest role and certainly her greatest film...

The film opens in 1929 Chicago during Prohibition, where Spats Colombo (George Raft) and his gang gun down seven men in a car garage… A couple of small-time Jazz musicians witness it and flee…

To avoid the mob, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) disguise themselves as women and attach themselves to an all-girl band… Joe calls himself Josephine and Jerry calls himself Daphne…

The orchestra takes a train to play an engagement in Florida... On board, the two men have a hard time keeping cool with all the beautiful girls around, especially during a late-night pajama party in a Pullman sleeper… Needless to say, Joe falls in love with the sensual Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), a luscious ukulele player and singer with the troupe…

Once in Florida, Jerry meets a really wealthy bachelor Osgood Fielding (Joe E. Brown).

Of course, Jerry is still dressed as Daphne, and the seven time divorcée proceeds to pursue Daphne… Joe wants to romance Sugar but knows that he needs a wealthy front…

The boys think they are safe until the gangsters arrive at the same Miami hotel to attend a gangsters' convention…

Marilyn sang three songs in the film: "I'm Through with Love," "I Wanna Be Loved By You," and "Running Wild."

The movie's closing line is one of the most celebrated in movie history…The film won an Oscar for Best Costume Design and was nominated for six Academy Awards…

Irresistibly funny this black-and-white shot comedy is a definite must-see!

In 1929, in Chicago, the musicians and friends Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) flees from the night-club where they are playing during a police raid. Without any money, they seek a job position for saxophone and bass players in another band and they are invited to play in a concert for one night only in a distant town. Joe borrows the car of a former girlfriend to travel and when they arrive in the parking garage, they witness the "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" led by the infamous mobster Spats Columbo (George Raft). The criminals discover Joe and Jerry hidden in a corner and when the killers are ready to execute them, they succeed to escape. Joe and Jerry disguise, dressing like women and they head to Florida by train with an all-girl band using the names of Josephine and Daphne. They get close to singer Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe) and Joe falls in love with her but she believes he is a woman. Meanwhile the millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) harasses Daphne inviting her to visit his yacht. When Spats and his henchmen arrive in the same hotel where Joe and Jerry are lodged for a mafia convention, the two musicians feel that they are in a dangerous situation.

Yesterday Tony Curtis died and I decided to watch "Some Like it Hot" again. This film is another masterpiece of Billy Wilder and certainly one of the best comedies of the cinema history. Jack Lemmon is hilarious and responsible for some of the funniest moments especially when Osgood flirts with Daphne. Marilyn Monroe performs the perfect dumb blonde stereotype. Last time I had seen this movie was on 18 August 2000. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Quanto Mais Quente Melhor" ("The Hotter, the Better")

Sit back and enjoy this comedy, I don't believe in greatest this and that when it comes to films, but boy, this is superb.

The acting here is fantastic, all actors, even Monroe are on top form.

The direction by Wilder is superb, the guy's style in this picture is perfect. He directed this film in a very clever way, by using one camera for the majority of the scenes, he could easily edit the film together without studio interference.

The script is well written. The dialogue between Lemmon and Curtis is beautifully balanced.

Monroe is just too hot for the screen in this picture. Although, Monroe had major off-screen problems (83 takes to get things right) she is fantastic on-screen. She may not have the best lines, but what the heck! She plays the role very well.

Overall, this is awesome, it really is.

Some Like it Hot will have a Danish re-premiere on Marilyn Monroes 75th birthday June 1st 2001, and making the text for some advertising material in that connection I saw the movie again and liked it more than ever. Most comedies about men in womens' clothings have a vulgar humour. This is, of course, not the case for films like "Tootsie" and "Some Like it Hot" in which Billy Wilder using black and white instead of colours turns down the importance of the change of sex in many ways so that you can concentrate on the comedy which is extraordinarily well timed with a spiritual dialogue. The acting of Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe, not to mention Joe E Brown, Pat O'Brien and George Raft is out of this world, and of course it is possible to make a mafia war comical. Some scenes almost remind you of a Marx Brothers' movie. Like when a small berth in a train sleeping car in a few seconds is overcrowded with beautiful girls mixing Manhattan-drinks in their hot-water bottle while Jack Lemmon is desperately trying to remind himself that -- just then -- he is a girl, and Marilyn Monroe in seconds (with her back towards the camera!) produces perfect small, square ice-cubes out of a huge ice block. The music is enchanting like the Marilyn Monroe-songs which are all so well known.