Classic Flicks: Some, including me, like it hot

By Joseph Allencherril     11/16/11 6:00pm

Once upon a very sad time, I erroneously thought that I had seen every funny movie in existence. By the age of 12, I had zoomed through the comedic classics of the 1980s and subsequently sailed through the gems of the 1990s. But one day, my parents forced me to sit through Some Like it Hot, a comedy my grandfather would likely have enjoyed in his prime.

As a pre-adolescent, though I had no patience for the black-and-white films of yesteryear, Some Like it Hot immediately converted me from an oldie-film-hater into ?an oldie-cinephile.

According to the American Film Institute's "100 Years … 100 Laughs," Some Like it Hot (1959) is the funniest American movie of the last century. It is normal to be skeptical of such lists, which tend to cater to the predictable public taste, but every so often, a film comes along that captures both the imagination of the public and the hearts of the critics. Director Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot accomplishes such a feat with box office and critical success in both the short term and the long term. Did I mention that it also stars ?Marilyn Monroe?

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Some Like it Hot is at its core a screwball comedy. We first encounter Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), two down-on-their-luck musicians, as they witness the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day massacre. The two musicians flee when they are spotted by the Chicago gangsters, who are led by "Spats" Colombo (George Raft). They ride a train to Florida where they hastily decide to disguise themselves as women to play in an all-female band. Joe and Jerry, now Josephine and Geraldine, both fall for Monroe's character "Sugar Kane," who sings and plays the ukulele in the band. Once in Florida, Joe attempts to gain Sugar's affections when he dons a second disguise as the millionaire Shell Oil heir Junior, a wicked parody of Cary Grant. Meanwhile, Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), a real millionaire, begins to fall for Jerry's second disguise as a woman named Daphne.

Now you might wonder why a film concerning two cross-dressing musicians and a beautiful blonde is worth your time. Some Like it Hot proves that good humor in cinema is timeless. Just because a work of art was created decades ago does not mean that it is only to be enjoyed by the people of its era. If you care to wallow in more of Billy Wilder's best, I recommend Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and The Apartment (1960).

Joseph Allencherril is a Will Rice ?College senior. Classic Flicks is a column reexamining and rediscovering the best that cinema has to offer.

 

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