Some Like It Hot (1959)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Robert Thoeren (story) and
Michael Logan (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 March 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Family | Music | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The movie too HOT for words!

Plot:

When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

Plot Keywords:

Band | Witness | Yacht | Musician | Massacre

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Marilyn Monroe	...	Sugar Kane Kowalczyk
Tony Curtis	...	Joe - 'Josephine' / 'Junior'
Jack Lemmon	...	Jerry - 'Daphne'
George Raft	...	Spats Colombo
Pat O'Brien	...	Det. Mulligan
Joe E. Brown	...	Osgood Fielding III
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Little Bonaparte
Joan Shawlee	...	Sweet Sue
Billy Gray	...	Sig Poliakoff
George E. Stone	...	Toothpick Charlie
Dave Barry	...	Beinstock
Mike Mazurki	...	Spats' henchman
Harry Wilson	...	Spats' henchman
Beverly Wills	...	Dolores
Barbara Drew	...	Nellie
Edward G. Robinson Jr.	...	Johnny Paradise
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Al Breneman	...	Bellhop (uncredited)
Marian Collier	...	Olga (clarinet player) (uncredited)
Pat Comiskey	...	Spats' henchman (uncredited)
Joan Fields	...	Band member (uncredited)
Mary Foley	...	Band member (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Funeral director / Josephine (voice) (uncredited)
Joe Gray	...	Mobster at banquet (uncredited)
Harold 'Tommy' Hart	...	Official #2 (uncredited)
Ted Hook	...	Official #1 (uncredited)
John Indrisano	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Tom Kennedy	...	Bouncer (uncredited)
Jack McClure	...	Spats' henchman / driver (uncredited)
Penny McGuiggan	...	Band member (uncredited)
Laurie Mitchell	...	Mary Lou (trumpet player) (uncredited)
Colleen O'Sullivan	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Helen Perry	...	Rosella (uncredited)
Fred Sherman	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Speakeasy Patron (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Speakeasy Patron (uncredited)
Tito Vuolo	...	Mozzarella (uncredited)
Sandra Warner	...	Emily (band member) (uncredited)
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Band member (uncredited)

Directed by
Billy Wilder

Writing credits
Robert Thoeren		(story) (as R. Thoeren) and
Michael Logan		(story) (as M. Logan)
Billy Wilder		(screenplay) and
I.A.L. Diamond		(screenplay)

Produced by
I.A.L. Diamond	....	associate producer
Doane Harrison	....	associate producer
Billy Wilder	....	producer

Original Music by
Adolph Deutsch

Cinematography by
Charles Lang		(as Charles Lang Jr.)

Film Editing by
Arthur P. Schmidt

Art Direction by
Ted Haworth

Set Decoration by
Edward G. Boyle

Makeup Department
Agnes Flanagan	....	hair stylist
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist
Alice Monte	....	hair stylist
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist: Miss Monroe (uncredited)

Production Management
Allen K. Wood	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sam Nelson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Tom Plews	....	property master

Sound Department
Fred Lau	....	sound

Special Effects by
Milt Rice	....	special effects
Daniel Hays	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Polly Burson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Gray	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bernie Abramson	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Floyd McCarty	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Don Stott	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bert Henrikson	....	wardrober
Orry-Kelly	....	gowns: Marilyn Monroe

Music Department
Matty Malneck	....	song supervisor
Eve Newman	....	music editor

Other crew
John Franco	....	continuity
Jack Cole	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Evelyn Moriarty	....	stand-in: Marilyn Monroe (uncredited)
Alpha Steinman	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Paula Strasberg	....	dialogue coach (uncredited)
John Veitch	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Ashton Productions
• Mirisch Corporation, The

Distributors

• United Artists (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kommunenes Filmcentral (KF) (1959-1976) (Norway) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1959) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1959) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1964) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2000) (France) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (Italy) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Alamode Film (2002) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Cinemien (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinema Mondo (2007) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Egmont Entertainment (????) (Finland) (DVD)
• FS Film Oy (2001) (Finland) (DVD) (special edition)
• FS Film Oy (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (1988) (Finland) (VHS)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (????) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1985) (2002) (Finland) (TV)
• Nelonen (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• SF Norge A/S (2001) (Norway) (DVD)
• TV2 Norge (2008) (Norway) (TV)
• TV3 (1988) (1992) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1997) (1998) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Hotel del Coronado  accomodations

Also Known As:

Not Tonight, Josephine! (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Mexico:A | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Singapore:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #19281) | Brazil:Livre | USA:PG-13 (DVD version) | Finland:K-16 (1959) | Finland:S (1987) | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | France:-12 (original rating) | France:U (re-rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1989) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Coronado Beach, Coronado, California, USA

Company:

Ashton Productions

Trivia:

Marilyn Monroe recorded a vocal version for the theme to the film. It was to be played over the opening credits, but an instrumental overture took its place in the final version. The title track later appeared on an LP in the mid-'70s, with Marilyn's three other songs from the film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Florida beaches do not have high cliffs. Also, there is a scene where Monroe is sitting on the beach, facing the ocean. She says that the time is 4:00 pm. However, her shadow is clearly being cast behind her. On Miami beaches, this is not possible. Since all of Miami's beaches face east, one's shadow is only cast away from the ocean before noon. On Miami beaches at 4pm, your shadow would lie on the ground in front of you, towards the ocean.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mulligan: All right, Charlie; that the joint?
Toothpick Charlie: Yes, sir.
Mulligan: Who runs it?
Toothpick Charlie: I already told you.
Mulligan: Refresh my memory.
Toothpick Charlie: Spats Columbo.
Mulligan: That's very refreshing; what's the password?
Toothpick Charlie: "I've come to Grandma's funeral." Here's your admission card.
[he gives Mulligan a mourning armband]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Monkees: Some Like It Lukewarm (#2.24)" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Runnin' Wild

As hot as it gets

A Comedy that has it all, and lacks absolutely nothing. "Nobody's perfect" may be an inherent truism, but "Some Like it Hot" is a definite somebody in the universe of cinema, thus it IS perfect in every sense. Swing, sex and slapstick, (three words that immediately come to mind when trying to describe it) , are a mix so delicious, so fruitful in its possibilities that one cannot imagine a film which can live up to them, and yet this one does. Marilyn, her trademark, displeasingly infantile voice aside, is a bombshell of thermonuclear dimensions, whose powers of titillation will not expire so long as there are hormones and/or Viagra. The sexual content, for socio-historical reasons cannot be as explicit as we've come to expect, but there's still plenty of it, from Monroe's see-through outfit to the double entendre worthy of the Farelli Brothers ("What do I do if it's an emergency ? - Pull the emergency break!" ), including overtly gay themes that have a cult following of their own. The Lemmon/Curtis duo operates with gleeful, unrestrained vitality that can only be likened to Chaplin in his heyday. Though not a Musical, the combustive energy of this movie is so stimulating it almost makes you get up and dance.