Everyone likes "Some Like It Hot!"

Earlier this year I wrote about Billy Wilder's The Apartment. In 1959, the year prior to The Apartment's released, Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon worked together for the first time on a hilarious classic: Some Like It Hot. Lemmon and Wilder would go on to work together on 7 different films, but Some Like it Hot  marked their first collaboration. While The Apartment  perfectly mixed comedy and drama, Some Like it Hot  is pure slapstick comedy at its greatest. This film really had everything going for it: a great script, a talented cast, and it's box office insurance: Marilyn  Monroe. Rounding out the cast is Tony Curtis and, of course, Jack Lemmon. The three stars carry the film and keep the audience laughing the entire time.

Via.

The film follows musician pals, Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time on Valentine's Day 1929. The two friends accidentally witness the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, and are consequentially on the run from the mob. In hopes of eluding their pursuers, then don dresses, heels, and little make-up, and join an all-girl Jazz band headed to a Miami. Keeping up their disguise however, turns out to be much more difficult than they thought.

Joe and Jerry's alter egos, Josephine and Daphne.  Via.

"We got to get out of town! Maybe we ought to grow beards!" - Jerry 

"We are going out of town. But we're going to shave."- Joe 

"Shave? At a time like this!"- Jerry 

"Shave our legs, stupid!"- Joe

Sweet Sue's Society Syncopators. Via.

 With Joe as Josephine and Jerry as Daphne, the girls  join Sweet Sue's Society Syncopators on a train headed to Florida. There they meet the band's lead singer, ukulele player, and resident troublemaker: Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Monore). 

How the other half lives. Plus, Marilyn Monroe's first entrance!

                                                        

"Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop."- Sugar

Sugar's story.

While Sugar thinks she's found two new gal pals, Joe and Jerry are more than tantalized by the blonde bombshell. But to Joe's dismay, not only does Sugar think he's a woman, she's also only interested in landing a millionaire- a young, cute millionaire with glasses and his own toothbrush. By the time the band arrives in Florida, Joe has already created a plan to land Sugar; he dons yet another disguise, that of a glasses-wearing, yacht-owning, Cary Grant-esque millionaire by the name of Junior.

Tony Curtis as his millionaire personae. I just love Monroe and Lemmon in the background! Via.

Curtis' Cary Grant-inspired Shell Oil Junior.

"Syncopators- does that mean you play that fast music? Jazz?"- Joe/Junior 

"Yea, real hot!"- Sugar 

"Oh. Well, I guess some like it hot."- Joe/Junior

Joe as Shell Oil Junior has Sugar head over heels. Via.

As Joe is wooing Sugar in his millionaire disguise, Jerry has love problems of his own. In his Daphne garb, he has caught the eye of a true millionaire, Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown). Osgood is a quirky, old man who's been married multiple times, and has Jerry/Daphne in mind for wife ten!

"Dirty old man! I just got pinched in the elevator!"- Jerry/Daphne 

"Well now you know how the other half lives." - Joe/Josephine 

"I'm not even pretty!" - Jerry/Daphne

Jerry as Daphne dancing the night away with Osgood (Brown). Via.

On top of all their girl/guy woes, the Chicago gangsters they're on the run from show up in Florida at the same hotel the girls' band is staying at. Suddenly it's not just love on the line, it's their lives.

"The cops are going to find two dead dames and they're going to take us to the ladies' morgue and when they undress us, I tell you Joe, I'll die of shame!" - Jerry

Lemmon and Monroe. Via.

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon were Wilder's first choices for Joe and Jerry. Curtis had been making movies for years prior, but had only recently found box office success in the 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success, and the 1958 film The Defiant Ones. Lemmon on the other hand, had appeared only in small film projects before Wilder discovered him. He was instantly impressed with Lemmon's comedic talent and wanted to cast him right away in the role of Jerry/Daphne. Shortly after Wilder met Lemmon, however, Frank Sinatra began to express interest in the part; while Wilder wanted to work with Lemmon, he also needed a major movie star who would ensure box office success. 

Just cannot see Frank Sinatra pulling off this role.

Fortunately, Sinatra ended up pulling out of the running, allowing Wilder to officially cast the Jerry/Daphne we know and love: Jack Lemmon. And in the end, Wilder ended up with his box office insurance as well; Mitzi Gaynor was Wilder's initial choice for the role of Sugar, but when she became unavailable Marilyn Monroe was given the role. By 1959 Monroe was without a doubt a superstar and held significant box office power. With her name on the cinema marquees, Some Like it Hot  was sure to turn a profit. While Monroe brought her best hip-shaking, eye-batting, and her most sultry, breathy voice to the role of Sugar Kane, she was far from pleasant to work with.

Monroe on set of Some Like it Hot. Via.

Stories of Monroe's unorthodox work ethic and lack of cooperation on movie sets has become the stuff of legends- maybe even as big of a legend as Monroe herself. She was known to be unreliable, moody, and demanding. But based on the stories I've read, she seemed to be at her worst during the filming of Some Like it Hot. Conflict began right off the bat in pre-production, when Monroe refused to be filmed in black and white; she so strongly felt she filmed better in color, that it stated in her contract she would not perform in black and white pictures. Wilder, however, knew from early screen tests that Curtis and Lemmon's drag make-up looked more convincing in black and white. It wasn't until Monroe saw the tests for herself, and could attest to the greenish color the make-up gave the actors, that she agreed to make the movie in black and white.

Monroe's hair and costume being touched up on set. Love her dress here! Via.

Problems continued into filming where Monroe was consistently hours late or wholly unprepared to shoot her scenes. For certain scenes Wilder actually had to tape Monroe's lines to set and prop pieces; a line of dialogue as simple as "Where's that bourbon," took 40+ takes for her to get right. She would argue with Wilder about her character and the script; other times she would get so upset and burst into tears mid-filming, which meant she had to go back into make-up before they could start shooting again.

Monroe's famous performance of "I Wanna be Loved by you."

In Marilyn's defense, she was going through several personal issues during filming- not to mention most of her life. She found out she was pregnant just before filming had started; she had already suffered several miscarriages and was very nervous about miscarrying again (which in fact she did). It was also around this time that Monroe and husband Arthur Miller started having major marital issues, which would soon lead to their divorce. All the same, by the end of filming Wilder announced he was "too old and too rich to ever go through [filming with Monroe] again."

Monroe during the Yacht scene, in one of her famous, sheer gowns. Via.

Monroe's co-stars also became resentful of her; Curtis explained in an interview that by the time Monroe finally delivered her lines successfully, he felt that his performance had lost all enthusiasm. He and Lemmon had to make sure they were at the top of their game for all the 30+ takes it took Monroe. Also, the longer Monroe took to film, the longer the men had to stay in their drag costumes and make-up; usually at the end of filming days, Curtis and Lemmon were soaking their sore and blistered feet in hot water.

Curtis and Lemmon getting glamorized for their drag scenes. Via.

Tony Curtis especially had a difficult time with their cross-dressing costumes. When their were first testing costumes and make-up prior to filming, Curtis was so embarrassed that at first he refused to leave the dressing room; Lemmon, who according to Wilder walked out of the dressing room "floating ten feet high, completely normal and natural," had to take Curtis by the hand and drag him out of the dressing room. 

Lemmon and Curtis goofing around on set.  Via.

Unlike Curtis, Lemmon approached the crossing-dressing aspect of the role with no holds barred. He worked endlessly with the make-up team trying to achieve the perfect "Daphne look." He even offended the professional female impersonator who was hired to help him and Curtis master how to walk like women. Lemmon denied his help saying he didn't want to walk like a woman; he wanted to walk like a man trying to walk like a woman. He knew that was key to comedy of it all.  

Sidney Poitier (Curtis' co-star from The Defiant Ones) visiting Curtis and Lemmon on set. Via.

According to Lemmon, for whatever reason initial screening of the film was a horrible flop; he recalled in an interview that the first test audience was dead silent throughout the entire showing. Thankfully by the next test screening, (after changing literally nothing in the film) the second test audience loved it. They started laughing within the first few minutes and didn't stop for the remaining 115 minutes! In fact, audience members were laughing so hard during certain scenes (such as the scene where Lemmon announces he's engaged to Osgood), that key pieces of dialogue were being missed. Wilder had to re-film certain scenes and add pauses to allow the laughter to die down; that's why in the engagement scene, Wilder gave Lemmon maracas to shake in between his lines. Genius.

"Who's the lucky lady?"- Joe   "I am!"- Jerry

In the end, despite all the on-set difficulties, Some Like it Hot  was a smashing success. It was considered a true hit by both critics and audiences alike. It went on to be nominated for several awards including several Golden Globes and Academy Awards. While it only won one Oscar (Best Costume design for a Black and White film), it won several Golden Globes including Best Comedy Motion Picture, and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy for Monroe. It was the only performance-based award she would ever win. 

Monroe with her Golden Globe award for Some Like it Hot. Via.

While the stories of Monroe's off-screen behavior sound horrific, she still brought a charm and comedy to the role of Sugar that is undeniably wonderful. It makes me even more sad that she had such a troubled personal life; Marilyn obviously had raw talent that she was never able to fully harness due to personal distractions.

Via.

To this day, Some Like it Hot  is considered one of the best classic comedies of all time. It has lost none of its charm or humor over the years. The final line of the movie, delivered by Joe E. Brown's Osgood, is always included on lists of the best movie quotes of all time. It is without a doubt one of the best closing lines of a film that was ever written. Like Roger Ebert once said of the closing line, "If you've seen the movie, you know what it is, and if you haven't, you deserve to hear it for the first time from [Brown]."

Lisa Helene.