Century 1959: Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot. Billy Wilder. 1959.

Another Monroe film!

This one’s pretty much on fleek. Can’t really fault it much, other than that I seem to remember the repartee being snappier? And I would guess that if I were to google around a bit I might find thought pieces about this being a transsexuals-as-predators-by-proxy film or something…

So I didn’t.

But while there’s elements of that, I think it manages to be non-creepy by focusing so much on the sexual harassment the girls receive from, well, everybody around them. Even the bell-hop who tells Josephine that she doesn’t have to leave the door open for him, because he’s got a skeleton key.

I mean, it’s funny as fuck, but there’s plenty of films that are funnier. I think what makes the film is really Monroe’s performance as a slightly dim girl, but one who has a depth and melancholy about her. She’s the emotional centre of the thing.

The extras on the DVD are slightly frustrating. It’s a half-hour interview with Tony Curtis by Leonard Maltin. Curtis is spilling the beans like crazy, seeming like he really wants to tell us everything that he knows and feels about the making of this film, but Maltin rarely follows up on anything. He’s got a script of questions that he’s following, no matter what interesting things Curtis is saying. Such a wasted opportunity.

The DVD extra thing with the women from the band is fabulous, though.

This blog post is part of the Century series.