FILM CHALLENGE: 138) Some Like It Hot

138) Some Like It Hot

Director: Billy Wilder

Year: 1959

Plot Summary: When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

For me, Billy Wilder is about as good a scriptwriter that cinema will ever produce. Nobody writes a film as well observed, as well paced and with as sharp dialogue as the Polish born six time Oscar winner. But while his 1959 comedy doesn't quite have the gripping narrative of Double Indemnity or the important sociological themes presented in The Apartment, Some Like It Hot still remains a delightfully madcap and highly energetic screwball comedy among the very best that came out of the Hollywood studio system.

When reading the plot of Some Like It Hot, the movie immediately strikes you as something silly and utterly foolish. Yet, while it certainly is both of these things, the beauty of it is how Wilder also balances the tomfoolery with an endless onslaught of witty one-liners and smart twists and turns. As the characters increasingly find themselves in more and more ridiculous and troublesome situations, each one is both as unexpected and hilarious as the last, never managing to wear thin the concept of the plot.

But, furthermore, added to mix to make it just that extra bit sweeter are the fantastic performances from Jack Lemmon and the now sadly departed Tony Curtus. Both actors' reactions as they find themselves in more and more of a mess and their rapid-fire delivery of Wilder's lines is what knocks Some Like It Hot right out of the park. Starring alongside them is Marilyn Monroe who, although she rarely gets the movie's more comedic lines, gives it a heart and soul that carries it though the two hours of its running length. As Wilder said it a later interview, Marilyn Monroe may have been a nightmare to work with - she rarely appeared from her dressing room and almost never made it to the set on time - but he wouldn't hesitate to work with her again because she was just pure screen gold.

Go ahead and pick out the flaws in the storytelling, but when it comes to laughs, Some Like It Hot has some of the best and most iconic in screen history delivered by two of the world's finest actors. And you can't complain about that.

4/5

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment