Marilyn won 3 Golden Globes. Besides Best Actress, Best newcomer in 52, and most popular star in 62. Performance wise, she won the French Oscar, and Italian Oscar for "The Prince And The Showgirl " in 58, and many minor awards thru the years.
This was one of those rare comedies where everything just comes together perfectly… The script. The cast. the setting. The direction. The production. The constant innuendo and jokes to the point where you’re still laughing when the next joke hits you. That rare and rapid-fire combination of perfect elements is only equal to great comedies like “Young Frankenstein” or “Clue”
Great review of one of my all-time favorite movies! When Marilyn is on screen, she has this amazing inner glow. It's like she is lit from within, especially in the " I Wanna Be Loved By You" number. Great cast. Jack Lemon was a stand-out!
"Give him the teeth - the whole personality," "You know, Sugar, if I were a girl - and I am," "We got time off for good behavior," "Three-quarters of a century - makes a girl think," "Bienstock!" There are so many great lines from this film that are imprinted in my brain, always at the ready when I need a chuckle. Combine that with truly menacing characters like Spats Columbo, a sobering dose of violence, the very photogenic Del Coronado, and Marilyn's heart-felt and moving rendition of "I'm Through With Love", and you have an all-time classic which never fades with repeated viewings.
I vivited the Hotel Del several times when I was in San Diego. it's magical and there are phots otaken on the set throughout. Thanks for watching! Best Wishes; Steve
Thanks. But this was not the only movie for which Marilyn Monroe won an award. She also won the Italian version of the Oscar for " The Prince and the Showgirl." Cheers.
One of, if not THE best last lines in a movie :" Oh well, nobody's perfect"....so funny and kind of ahead of it's time, as is the rest of the film. The next year, in The Apartment, is one my other fave last lines said sweetly by Ms. Shirley :"Shut up and deal".
Thanks for my fave review ever, Steve. My dad performed in MM's Anything Goes Band for the troops in 1954, 10 performances in 4 days. He said that she was a "consummate professional, never fluffed the lyrics, and was only late once," when the troops grew so flustered that a military cordon had to be called to protect Marilyn from the hysterical men!
I know the feeling. I've dated a few! LOL! How wonderful that your Dad had such fond memories of Marilyn. I love this film as well and think it's my favoroite comedy. Everything works! Too bad it had to comepete against Ben Hur", although Billy got his Oscar due the following year with "The Apartment", which I love as well, but not remotely in the same league as "Some Like It Hot'! Marilyn should have at the very least been nominated and Jack Lemmon should have won. Always; Steve
I met Eli Wallach at occupational therapy and spent every moment we were together getting Hollywood gossip. He said Marilyn was incredibly smart and read ALL the time
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon would dress in drag and go in the women's bathrooms around the studio lot to see if they could pass as women. To their astonishment, nobody noticed them as men. I always love this movie with the best actors, script, and funniest lines. The ending is a hoot. Thank you, Steve, for your review.
This was my mom's and I favorite movie! We would quote the last line "nobody's perfect" to each other all the time! And laugh everytime! The story goes that Tony Curtis was worried that if he did this movie in drag people would think he was "that kind of guy" and Jack lemmon was worried that dressed in drag he wouldn't be believable as a woman! I think their attitude totally made the characters work!
I love to imagine that Jack Lemmon's line about Tony's voice, "And what is with that phony accent? 'Nobody talks like that'!" is a little nod to Cary Grant as well!
I adore this movie. So funny and the one liners are great !!! Also loved Jack in Bell, Book and Candle. Days of Wine and Roses showed he could also make you cry. Tony and Marilyn definitely held their own comedic wise but Jack stole the show.
For all the stress Marilyn's personal issues brought to the set and her co-workers, and above all, to Wilder, her performance is one of pure intent. Here, she turns the notion of 'dumb blonde' on its head with a well-crafted performance that the audience responds to: You relate to her. You feel for her. We've all felt taken advantage of, and unlucky, at one time or another -- for some, their whole lives. Monroe's take on her character responds to that. You root for her.
You want to take care of her and love her. She could sombine innocent and funny so beautifully. Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
GREAT review for one of the greatest films of all time! I'm surprised it was granted the "Purity Seal" 😁 by the US Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Repression of Sin 😁 , being all that Hays Code sanctimonious chaff still in place at the time. The Italian dubbing was spectacular, I cannot get tired to listen to Monroe's naif chirping and Lemmon&Curtis' side-splitting tiffs and wisecracks! Hysterically funny in both languages! Loved every bit of it! 💗
Well, I never got the "Purity Seal"!...I think I dodged a bullet! LOL! Happy New Year and thanks so much for watching! Happy New Year and Please Stay SAFE! Best Wishes; Steve
Steve, you are such a hoot! Your're an endangered species! Don't make 'em like you anymore. I pity the young gays who have no idea what fun we old campy queens are! Thanks for being there.
So nice to see someone who likes the old classics as much as me! Someone commented you should be on tcm. I totally agree! As Fernando Lamas would say , you are absolutely mahvelous😊
I saw this on the big screen in a classic movie revival. Marilyn was sensational. People laughed at her for studying acting. However, she really grew as a performer. She was a serious actress. It's too bad "Something's Got to Give" was not finished. Marilyn had abandoned the "baby doll" voice and used her own distinctly feminine voice and she looked radiant in the completed footage.
I so agree. She'd really become a master of comc technique and knew just how to work everything. Of course her massive insecurities got inthe way, but as Wilder often said , the resilts far outweighed the aggrivation. As to her beauty, she thought she'd lost her looks, but in reality she'd lost her "babay fat" and was now more beautiful than ever! A really great loss. Thanks so uch for watching and Happy New Year! Best; Steve
I remember when this film first came out that we were all saying to one another it was the most wonderfully funny film we'd ever seen - and it still is. It's as fresh and hilarious today as when it was first released, which is amazing considering how difficult it was to make. Even Wilder completely lost control after about 60 takes, but what you're watching is magical and the script has never been bettered.
Nehemiah Persoff plays 'Little Napoleon' the gangster. Wilder had seen him do his famous and hilarious impersonation of Mussolini at parties and had him do it as the murderous mobster chief.
Steve! Thank you So much for this review! MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALLLL TIME! An amazing review. I've been waiting to see if you would ever review this and you did! and you're brilliant.. thank you so much, i love your recommendations and you've turned me onto so many great films. I've been obsessed with Some Like it Hot for my entire adult life. I even go to The Hotel Del Coronado where this was filmed from time to time just to spend time where the actors did. Thank you steve, you're the best
I love the Hotel Del! I love the photos of the movie down in the shopping area. Ther they all are, frolicking on th beach again. That place is magical!
George Raft taught Jack Lemmon and Joe E Brown to tango. Also a little historical note: The Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888. L Frank Baum wrote several of his Oz books there and also designed the chandeliers for the ballroom.
Wow Steve. You never cease to entertain and entice me to watch an oldie but goodie. I loved Jack Lemmon in Mass Appeal, one of his last movies. Tony Curtis is just too gorgeous for a man. Kind of like Elvis, freaky. Thanks for another awesome review!
Tony Curtis was on a ship in the Navy during WWll. For two years the only movie on board was Bue Gest starring Carey Grant. They saw it so many times they would turn the sound off and acted it out, and Curtis got the lead role, that's where he perfected his impression
Barbette, the female impersonator and trapeze artist, tried to teach Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon how to act and walk like women. He became so frustrated with Lemmon that he quickly packed up and sailed back to France.
That's correct, and it's why Curtis was nervous about working with his idol, Grant, after having imitated him in Some Like it Hot. Grant was a great sport about it, however.
Some Like It Hot is a riot! All the actors are perfect! Jack Lemon was an amazing actor who could play any part! I remember an interview with Mr. Lemon on Actors Studio, where Jack mentioned that he got lost in a character in Days of Wine & Roses when Joe Clay has his nervous break down. Blake Edwards had to physically get him out of the character, he was really having the nervous break down from living the character. A great actor!
To me, the best lines in the movie are "And why would a guy wanna marry a guy?? Security!!!" And I love 'Running Wild!!' And Steve, you may have to re-name your channel. The LAST thing you are is tired and old!
Awwww, thanks, Buddy! You're too kind! I love this one too and it's still my favorite comedy. Lemmon's timing is through the roof! Thanks for watching and have a lovely summer, Buddy! Steve
There were lots of blondes but only one Marilyn Monroe. Her film performances amaze me even more as time goes by. This is also one of my favorites and all the leads and the movie itself are perfection. Jack Lemmon as a guy who almost starts to believe that being a woman wouldn't be so bad. He has some real zingers that end up being some of the best lines in the film. Steve, even the clips you showed had me laughing out loud.
Said director Billy Wilder after the film's great success (paraphrase): "My grandmother would always arrive on time. But who wants to watch my grandmother?"
As I recall in one of Tony Curtis's interviews he stated that Marilyn was a chore to work with because of her lateness and not being able to remember her lines. They also asked him what it was like to kiss her and he replied "It was like kissing Hitler". Poor Marilyn was a lost soul.
Tony said things I often wished he hadn't. Wilder said she was difficult as well, but the results , as he and everyone else could see, werer astounding. Thanks for waching. Steve
The reason why Marilyn & Jack couldn't win were: 1- Jack was on the sauce for most of the shoot. 2- Marilyn did need 26 takes for her "Where's the gyn/cut - Where's the bottle of/cut - Where's the hot water/cut - Where's the.....etc.......This info came from my friend Tony!
I recently found the hardbound Winter 1978 issue of Horizon magazine containing an article about filming SLIH, much information there about the how the film came about & inside jokes/references most viewers probably unknown to most viewers. The author writes unfavorably about MM but time and increased knowledge of MM have proved the wrong in that department.
I have to correct my earlier comment: I should have said Winter 1973 for anyone interested in the article. I watched this review again all the way through. TOQATM reviews are great! Thank you, Steve!
Thank you for the focus on the result! We gaze at great cathedrals without deriding ill treatment of the poor so involved. Yes MM had troubles, but the result ennobles her.
Well, despite her difficulties the end result was rermarkable. And, in the end, it's the works that are seen and remembered long after the artists are gone.
I am with the TOQ, SOME LIKE IT HOT is as good as it gets! But a note: I think OPERATION PETTICOAT was filmed after SLIH, which means that Curtis was impersonating Cary Grant before they had worked together. (According to the IMDB, SLIH was released in March 1959; OP released in December 1959.)
Release dates have nothing to do with film schedules. SLIH was shot after OP had already been put in the can. Back in those days they scheduled releases based upon what was best timing after post production.
This film was like lightening in a bottle...the Fates must have joined forces to bring together the perfect director with the perfect script and the perfect cast to create this masterpiece of comedy. It us a shame Marilyn didn't get an Oscar nomination for this. For all the problems during the making of this film with Marilyn's legendary lateness, her forgetting her lines (supposed it took her 40 takes to get the line "where's the bourbon?" correct), her struggling with her substance abuse, her marriage to Arthur Miller beginning to crumble, her having a miscarriage in the set, its a testament to not only the director, the crew and the cast but also to Marilyn, to be able to rise above all the problems to create such genius piece of film making
Love your movies reviews :-) So funny and insightful at the same time! Would you consider to review a Lana Turner's movie soon (I'm thinking about either Imitation of Life or Madame X)? I love Lana! Please:-)
I'll meet you halfway, maybe..."the Postman Always Rings Twice" or 'Green Dolphin Street". Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
In the interest of Jack Lemmon movies have you seen Mister Roberts? I always thought he was rather annoying in Some Like It Hot (though I still love the movie) but I liked him a lot in Mister Roberts, which also features standout performances from two of my favorite actors (Henry Fonda and James Cagney) and of course William Powell. I'd even go so far as to call Mister Roberts better than Some Like It Hot.
