Some Like It Hot




Nobody's perfect.

A comedy ranked as high as Some Like It Hot on many a critic's list has to be good, right? Wrong.

The story starts with an introduction to 1929 Chicago in the midst of the prohibition era. In a gangster filled bar fronted by a funeral home, we meet our two, uh, heroes. Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) are musicians trying to make it on what little they have. But the bar is raided and they're quickly out of a job and in debt. Having exceptionally good luck, they witness a mob murder on their way to their next job and are quickly on the run. Without any other options, they dress up and pass themselves off as girls to get into a women's band. There they meet the beautiful Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe). Soon the trio is in Florida, playing off the gag, while dodging the gangsters.

So why isn't Some Like It Hot good? Because it's superb. Few comedies ever catch the degree of fun that this movie flouts so easily. It is a well made-comedy, with the best coming from the leads. Billy Wilder navigates the romp through screwball territory, all the while throwing out witty and memorable one-liners.

This is a classic comedy that doesn't suffer from having a full suit of stars. Whether it's Curtis posing as a Cary Grant millionaire or Lemmon tangoing with Joe E. Brown, it's got to be Some Like It Hot. I strongly recommend it.



-The Gnome