Some Like It Hot (1959)
About This Movie
Two musicians witness a mob massacre and disguise themselves as women in an all female band to hide out in Florida, where one falls for a ukulele player and the other is pursued by a smitten millionaire. Billy Wilder directed with such razor precision that every gag lands perfectly sixty years later. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon are each at their absolute best.
Why It's a Classic
Wilder proved that comedy could be daring, subversive, and technically flawless all at once. The cross-dressing premise could have been cheap farce, but Lemmon commits so completely to his female persona that scenes of genuine romantic confusion emerge alongside the slapstick. Monroe's performance as Sugar Kane is often dismissed as simply playing herself, but her comic timing in the bourbon flask scene and her delivery of 'I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop' are masterfully calibrated. The film's final line, 'Well, nobody's perfect,' is regularly cited as the greatest closing line in movie history. The AFI ranked it the funniest American film ever made.
Fun Fact
Tony Curtis later claimed that kissing Marilyn Monroe was 'like kissing Hitler,' a comment he spent decades trying to walk back. Monroe required up to 47 takes for simple scenes due to anxiety, which drove Wilder to near breakdown. Jack Lemmon's mother reportedly watched the film and told him she thought he made a very ugly woman. The film was shot in black and white because the actors' makeup looked too garish in color tests.
Parent Note
The cross-dressing humor is played for laughs rather than mockery, and the film treats its gender play with surprising warmth for 1959. There are references to mob violence and a brief massacre scene played mostly for shock comedy. Sexual innuendo runs throughout but nothing explicit. The humor is sophisticated enough for adults while remaining accessible to older teens.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 1959
- Type
- 🎬 Movie
- Category
- Comedy
- Age Group
- Adults (Ages 18+)