Thursday 21 July 2016
Billy Wilder | USA, 1959 | 121 mins | Rated PG
“Nobody’s perfect”
Over the years, Hollywood has shown its capacity to deliver the awful, the hum-drum and the jaw-droppingly awesome. Few films slot into the latter category better than Some Like it Hot.
In the finest traditions of film-making, Wilder develops themes from earlier French and German films as well as adopting a plot-line from the roaring 20’s and gangsterism, in order to deliver a feast of breathless non-stop action. The three stars, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, excel themselves as they seamlessly sync together in a black and white classic which is timeless in its appeal. The slapstick is on a par with the best of the Marx brothers and the one-liners come so thick and fast that merely viewing is exhausting.
Wilder sets out to entertain but also challenge the somewhat censorious era of the 50’s US with gender-bending, and sexual innuendo. The National League of Decency, an uptight watchdog of the time, lambasted the film as being, ‘morally objectionable’, for its promotion of, “homosexuals, lesbians and transvestism”.
If you haven’t seen this film, you are in for a treat. If you have, which will be most of you, the chance to watch it again on the big screen and laugh out loud in good company should not be missed.