Some Like It Hot

I can't think of a more essential comedy than 1959's SOME LIKE IT HOT.  The American Film Institute agreed, placing it #1 on their "100 Years ...100 Laughs" list several years back.  It is a film that takes a fairly basic premise and allows it to flower in many expected directions, but maybe not the way you would figure.  Especially perhaps in the late 1950s.  Some of the themes here were not common in American cinema.  Did writer/director Billy Wilder's film forge new ground?

Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) are jazz musicians with a decent gig in a Prohibition era gin joint.  When the police raid the place, the boys scramble for the next job, not so easy in 1929 Chicago.  There is a unique opportunity for a sax and bass player...in an all girl band.  Jerry recognizes the potential perks; Joe thinks his buddy is nuts, and certainly doesn't want to wear women's clothes.  But when they witness a mob hit and are discovered, sure to be marked for death.....the duo, now known as Josephine and Daphne, find themselves stumbling in heels on a train with Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators bound for Miami.

They repeatedly have to remind themselves that they are girls, quite a challenge among the attractive, rowdy ladies who brazenly defy their stern leader Sue (Joan Shawlee) and manager Mr. Bienstock (Dave Berry).  Then Josephine and Daphne meet Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), the band's lead siren.  Needless to say, there are complications and unwise decisions.  Such as Joe's donning a second disguise as an oil tycoon in order to woo Sugar, who is on the hunt for a rich nice guy.  This plan is aided inadvertently by Daphne's relentless suitor Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), a real millionaire who owns a big yacht.  And you know those mobsters will eventually find their way to Miami...

Is there anything Wilder can't do? The legendary director worked in several genres, and found a real niche in farce with frequent collaborator I.A.L. Diamond. This comedy is near perfect.  Everyone is fabulous, but mad props to Lemmon, who owns this role in a, ahem, fashion I've rarely seen.  A brilliant confidence that should be a model for any student of the craft.  I'm wondering if Wilder even had to give him much direction.  SOME LIKE IT HOT maintains just the right mischievous tone, right to that final boat ride.