A review of the classic 1959 film”Some Like It Hot”
Although at the time of its release, it was controversial in some quarters and not universally supported by critics, audiences immediately adored it and still do, making “Some Like It Hot” one of the best-loved comedies of all time. In many ways, this is a Billy Wilder movie because he co-wrote the witty screenplay and produced and directed this fast-paced and entertaining caper. So many lines of dialogue are quotable but the final line is just perfect.
However, great credit also goes to its talented leading actors: Tony Curtis as ‘Josephine’ and Jack Lemmon as ‘Daphne’, the cross-dressing jazz musicians pursued by murderous mobsters in the Chicago and Florida of 1929. Above all, though, this has to be seen as Marilyn Monroe’s film. As the singer and dancer Sugar Kane, she is quire simply captivating. Famously, she had been experiencing all sorts of personal problems and this film was seen as something of a come-back. Indeed she was real trouble on set, but Wilder managed to coax her into this most enchanting and memorable of performances.
The last time I saw “Some Like It Hot” in 2026, the British Film Institute was showing a major Monroe season to mark the centenary of her birth. The film was introduced by the season’s curator Kimberley Sheehan who put the work in context, arguing that the star was far from the ‘dumb blonde’ seen by some studio executives but instead, in spite of her insecurity and anxiety, a serious and talented actor. The word ‘icon’ could have been invented for the lasting persona of the great Monroe.