(Some Like It Hot, 1959, Billy Wilder)
Some Like It Hot is easily one of the most perfect comedies ever made. It's has mobsters, cross-dressers, musicians, and dirty old men. It stars Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Joe E. Brown, and Marilyn Monroe. And it was directed by Billy Wilder. I mean, it has a lot going for it. So, even though I had vowed to watch more of the "weird movies" on The List, I decided to revisit Some Like It Hot in honor of Tony Curtis's recent passing. It felt like the right thing to do, and after a week of being sick I decided that I deserved something that was going to make me laugh.
Here's a basic rundown of the plot of Some Like It Hot: two musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and in order to escape being murdered by Spats Columbo they disguise themselves as women and join an all-girls band whose star is Sugar Kane (played by Marilyn Monroe). Tony Curtis's Joe becomes Josephine and Jack Lemmon's Jerry becomes Daphne. Of course, this being a comedy, much of the "dress up as women and escape the mobsters" plan goes awry. Joe ends up falling in love with Sugar, and he carries out that love by pretending to be the millionaire owner of Shell Oil. Jerry, on the other hand, ends up as the object of someone else's affection, which would be just fine if it weren't for the fact that the someone else is a man, and that man falls in love with Jerry's female alter-ego Daphne. Joe E. Brown's Osgood falls hard for Daphne, and Jerry is willing to play along with it in order to reap the benefits of being loved by a millionaire. Then, if that's not complicated enough, Spats and his gang all show up at their hotel and Joe and Jerry must escape, all with the added trouble of dealing with their respective paramours.
I usually try to avoid plot synopses in these posts unless I'm writing about a movie that I expect few people to have seen or if the plot is especially complicated. Some Like It Hot has neither of those problems. I expect most people to have seen it, and the plot is definitely not that complicated. In this instance I pretty much just used the plot synopsis to take up space. That may seem shameless, but the truth is this: I don't have a whole lot to say about Some Like It Hot other than that it's a great film and everyone should see it. I could ramble on about that for a few hundred words, but that's boring and unexciting, so I just gave kind of a rundown of the plot, even though that's kind of boring and unexciting also. And now I'm rambling on about the reason for the plot synopsis because I'm really reaching for things to write about here, people.
I do want to close with this, though. I bumped Some Like It Hot to the top of my Netflix queue the day that Tony Curtis died because I thought it would be an appropriate way for me to honor his passing. I'm not a wild Tony Curtis fan, but I know that he was a very popular actor, and I thought it was a good idea to somehow recognize the end of the life of someone who contributed quite a bit to the American film industry. However, while watching Some Like It Hot, I was struck by something. Tony Curtis was, up until a month ago, the last surviving star of Some Like It Hot. He may have even been the last surviving cast member, but I have absolutely no way of proving that, so I'm going to stick with "last surviving star." Which is incredible. This film was made in 1959, just barely over half a century ago, and none of the stars of the film (or the director, for that matter) are alive anymore.
While Some Like It Hot is definitely a funny movie, I had a seriously sobering moment when I came to that realization. It was an interesting glimpse of human mortality and the impermanence of life, and even though I was laughing like crazy at Tony Curtis ripping of one of Jack Lemmon's "chests," I was kind of happy for that moment of reflection. For me, in a way, the fact that none of the stars of the film are still alive somehow elevates it. It made it distant and unreachable, and for some reason it was that much better for it. Now more than ever it feel like I was watching not just a film, but a piece of history, and it makes me feel good to know that this particular piece of history will live on and make people laugh for many, many years to come.
Here's a basic rundown of the plot of Some Like It Hot: two musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and in order to escape being murdered by Spats Columbo they disguise themselves as women and join an all-girls band whose star is Sugar Kane (played by Marilyn Monroe). Tony Curtis's Joe becomes Josephine and Jack Lemmon's Jerry becomes Daphne. Of course, this being a comedy, much of the "dress up as women and escape the mobsters" plan goes awry. Joe ends up falling in love with Sugar, and he carries out that love by pretending to be the millionaire owner of Shell Oil. Jerry, on the other hand, ends up as the object of someone else's affection, which would be just fine if it weren't for the fact that the someone else is a man, and that man falls in love with Jerry's female alter-ego Daphne. Joe E. Brown's Osgood falls hard for Daphne, and Jerry is willing to play along with it in order to reap the benefits of being loved by a millionaire. Then, if that's not complicated enough, Spats and his gang all show up at their hotel and Joe and Jerry must escape, all with the added trouble of dealing with their respective paramours.
I usually try to avoid plot synopses in these posts unless I'm writing about a movie that I expect few people to have seen or if the plot is especially complicated. Some Like It Hot has neither of those problems. I expect most people to have seen it, and the plot is definitely not that complicated. In this instance I pretty much just used the plot synopsis to take up space. That may seem shameless, but the truth is this: I don't have a whole lot to say about Some Like It Hot other than that it's a great film and everyone should see it. I could ramble on about that for a few hundred words, but that's boring and unexciting, so I just gave kind of a rundown of the plot, even though that's kind of boring and unexciting also. And now I'm rambling on about the reason for the plot synopsis because I'm really reaching for things to write about here, people.
I do want to close with this, though. I bumped Some Like It Hot to the top of my Netflix queue the day that Tony Curtis died because I thought it would be an appropriate way for me to honor his passing. I'm not a wild Tony Curtis fan, but I know that he was a very popular actor, and I thought it was a good idea to somehow recognize the end of the life of someone who contributed quite a bit to the American film industry. However, while watching Some Like It Hot, I was struck by something. Tony Curtis was, up until a month ago, the last surviving star of Some Like It Hot. He may have even been the last surviving cast member, but I have absolutely no way of proving that, so I'm going to stick with "last surviving star." Which is incredible. This film was made in 1959, just barely over half a century ago, and none of the stars of the film (or the director, for that matter) are alive anymore.
While Some Like It Hot is definitely a funny movie, I had a seriously sobering moment when I came to that realization. It was an interesting glimpse of human mortality and the impermanence of life, and even though I was laughing like crazy at Tony Curtis ripping of one of Jack Lemmon's "chests," I was kind of happy for that moment of reflection. For me, in a way, the fact that none of the stars of the film are still alive somehow elevates it. It made it distant and unreachable, and for some reason it was that much better for it. Now more than ever it feel like I was watching not just a film, but a piece of history, and it makes me feel good to know that this particular piece of history will live on and make people laugh for many, many years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment