SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959/DVD/COLL ED/2 DISC/WS 1.66/CH-ENG-SP-SUB/FR-PO-TH-BO DVD

Some Like It Hot
The launching pad for Billy Wilder's comedy classic was a rusty old German farce, Fanfares of Love, whose two main characters were male musicians so desperate to get a job that they disguise themselves as women and play with an all-girl band in gangster-dominated 1929 Chicago. In this version, musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) lose their jobs when a speakeasy owned by mob boss Spats Columbo (George Raft) is raided by prohibition agent Mulligan (Pat O'Brien). Several weeks later, on February 14th, Joe and Jerry get a job perfroming in Urbana and end up witnessing a gangland massacre in a parking garage. Fearing that they will be next on the mobsters' hit lists, Joe devises an ingenious plan for disguising their identities. Soon they are all dolled up and performing as Josephine and Daphne in Sweet Sue's all-girl orchestra. En route to Florida by train with Sweet Sue's band, the boys (girls?) make the acquaintance of Sue's lead singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe, in what may be her best performance). Joe and Jerry immediately fall in love, though of course their new feminine identities prevent them from acting on their desires. Still, they are determined to woo her, and they enact an elaborate series of gender-bending ruses complicated by the fact that flirtatious millionaire Osgood Fielding (Joe E. Brown) has fallen in love with "Daphne." The plot gets even thicker when Spats Columbo and his boys show up in Florida. Nominated for several Oscars, Some Like It Hot ended up the biggest moneymaking comedy up to 1959. Full of hilarious set pieces and movie in-jokes, it has not tarnished with time and in fact seems to get better with each passing year, as its cross-dressing humor keeps it only more and more up-to-date. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane Tony Curtis as Joe/Josephine Jack Lemmon as Jerry/Daphne George Raft as Spats Columbo Pat O'Brien as Mulligan Joe E. Brown as Osgood E. Fielding III Nehemiah Persoff as Little Bonaparte Joan Shawlee as Sweet Sue Billy Gray as Sig Poliakoff George E. Stone as Toothpick Charlie Dave Barry as Beinstock Harry Wilson as Spats's Henchman Beverly Wills as Dolores Edward G. Robinson Jr. as Johnny Paradise

Crew Edward S. Haworth - Art Director Doane Harrison - Associate Producer I.A.L. Diamond - Associate Producer Orry-Kelly - Costume Designer Milt Rice - Costume Designer Sam Nelson - First Assistant Director Billy Wilder - Director Arthur P. Schmidt - Editor Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score) Emile LaVigne - Makeup Charles B. Lang - Cinematographer Allen K. Wood - Production Manager Billy Wilder - Producer Edward Boyle - Set Designer Milt Rice - Special Effects Fred Lau - Sound/Sound Designer Billy Wilder - Screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond - Screenwriter Irene Caine - Costumes Supervisor Robert Thoeren - Short Story Author M. Logan - Short Story Author

Some Like It Hot
Possibly the best cross-dressing film of all time, Some Like It Hot is a testament to both the humor of hairy men in heels and Billy Wilder's ability to stretch a one-joke premise into a two-hour film. Still hilarious after all these years, Some Like It Hot was remarkably ahead of its time, providing both timeless laughs and sly gender commentary. The film also stands out as a classic example of the heights to which all-out farce can aspire, achieving an uncontrived giddiness through both plot manipulation and the finely tuned work of its performers. As the film's reluctantly dragged-up musicians, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis give almost flawless fish-out-of-water performances. Their frustrated befuddlement when confronted with the terrors of walking in heels or adjusting fake breasts still feels fresh and unforced, unlike the self-conscious posturing of other actors in subsequent drag films. As the aptly named Sugar Kane, Marilyn Monroe is at her bubble-headed, sexy best, her voluptuous sensuality providing a perfect foil for Lemmon and Curtis. One of Wilder's best films, Some Like It Hot retains its intergenerational appeal, proving that under the frothy icing of 1950s sex comedies lurked some very dense cake. Some Like It Hot remains one of the few films that can still make drag seem a novel and innovative subject. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
 

Billy Wilder: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated) Billy Wilder: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Director (nominated) Billy Wilder: Directors Guild of America, Best Director (nominated) Charles B. Lang: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Black and White Cinematography (nominated) Edward Boyle: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Black and White Art Direction (nominated) Edward S. Haworth: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Black and White Art Direction (nominated) I.A.L. Diamond: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated) Jack Lemmon: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Actor (nominated) Jack Lemmon: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Foreign Actor (winner) Jack Lemmon: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com (winner) Marilyn Monroe: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or C (winner) Orry-Kelly: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Black and White Costume Design (winner)

American Film Institute, 100 Greatest American Movies (winner) British Academy of Film and Television, Best British Film (nominated) Golden Globe, Best Picture - Comedy (winner) Library of Congress, U.S. National Film Registry (winner) National Board of Review, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: English, French Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc New documentary: The Making of Some Like It Hot New documentary: The Legacy of Some Like It Hot New full-length commentary featuring interviews with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and more "Nostalgic Look Back" with Tony Curtis "Memories From the Sweet Sues," the all-girl band featurette "Virtual Hall of Memories" Original pressbook gallery Original theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1: Vistavision MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 122 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- Some Like It Hot - Feature Film 1. Titles [1:32] 2. Grandma's Funeral [5:38] 3. Out of Work Again [5:04] 4. "You Gotta Be Girls" [5:52] 5. Spats Deals With Toothpick [5:50] 6. Daphne and Josephine [4:59] 7. Sugar Kane [5:50] 8. Partying With Sugar [9:07] 9. Ice! [4:34] 10. Millionaires! [4:52] 11. "I Want to Be a Bull Again" [3:15] 12. Just Call Me Junior [7:32] 13. Not Tonite Josephine [4:56] 14. "Poo-Poo Pi Doo" [4:15] 15. "When I'm With a Girl" [11:52] 16. A Tale of Two Dates [5:02] 17. Jerry's Don't Ask, Don't Tell [2:45] 18. Girl Talk [1:16] 19. Friends of Italian Opera [3:06] 20. "You Ever Been in Chicago?" [1:44] 21. "Shutup and Keep Packing" [1:09] 22. White Orchids and Diamonds [4:06] 23. You'll Forget Him Sugar [1:16] 24. Wise Guys Get Wise [3:10] 25. Happy Birthday Spats [5:35] 26. "Hey, That's No Dame" [3:18] 27. Making a Getaway [:39] 28. "Nobody's Perfect" [2:58]